Auburn football: 1 strength and 1 weakness from first half vs. Arkansas
Auburn football heads into the second half of their Week 7 SEC West matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks holding a 14-10 lead.
KJ Jefferson’s touchdown toss to Treylon Burks that left 18 seconds on the clock swung the momentum after a Bo Nix interception gave the Hogs the ball following a couple of scoring drives.
That said, Nix had been laser-focused before then, completing 12 of his first 13 throws–including a spectacular 39-yard TD completion to Ja’Varrius Johnson–collecting 141 yards through the air.
The second half should be a barn-burner for both barners and those that say ‘Woo Pig’ to cheer on their football team alike. The first half was defined by this strength and this weakness for the Tigers:
Auburn football first-half strength: Tight end play
First of all, major kudos to the entire WR core for stepping their game up in a big way after a seven-drop week with the #1 team in the nation in town.
A major redemption effort was needed after the dud against Georgia. And redemption was found for the pass-catching core of the Auburn offense.
But, we’d be remiss if we didn’t particularly shoutout Brad Bedell’s tight end group. Bedell, we were told, was not someone that Tiger fans should be excited to see Bryan Harsin bring over from his Boise State regime. But the switch from OL coach to TE coach may have been the adjustment needed for the unit he oversees to flourish.
Between Landen King, John Samuel Shenker, and Luke Deal, the group caught five passes and were instrumental in moving the ball down the field for the orange and blue.
Auburn football weakness: Tackling
The Tigers defense has not been bad in the first half. They made a critical fourth-down stop and only ceded 10 points to an offense that put up 51 last week.
That said, it’s been noticeable how easy it has been for Arkansas ball-carriers to break tackles and pick up extra yardage due to a poor success rate at the initial point of contact. More holes need to be plugged by the front seven and tackling needs to improve across the board.
AU’s undefeated SEC West record won’t remain in tact if it doesn’t.