Auburn football comes out of Fayetteville, Arkansas with their best win of the 2021 season and remains undefeated in SEC West play.
With the bye week coming up, there will be plenty of buildup to the first home game in three weeks on October 30th with Ole Miss coming to town. But before we pivot to the Rebels, we must eulogize a brilliant performance on both sides of the ball for the Tigers against the Razorbacks.
Whether it was spectacular scoring plays from a set offense or a chaotic play caused by the AU defense, everything was working for the orange and blue on this Week 7 Saturday.
Here are some individual player grades for the Tigers:
Auburn football QB Bo Nix: A-
We can’t quite give Bo Nix an A considering how much momentum was swung in Arkansas’ favor with his second quarter interception to Hogs CB Montaric Brown.
That said, we can absolutely give him the very next best thing considering the massive plays and–more importantly–the poise, and dare I say, focus, he showed in dicing the Razorbacks pass defense to the tune of 292 yards, and two touchdowns on 21/26 passing.
Key plays were made with his feet, including a critical 23-yard touchdown run that sealed the deal at Razorback Stadium. Nix undoubtedly had his best game of the season against a ranked opponent, and avoided a sixth straight loss to a ranked team as Tigers QB.
This is the kind of confidence-boosting win that keeps hopes of a New Year’s 6 bowl game alive and makes things incredibly interesting if Ole Miss can take care of business against Tennessee tonight and LSU next week.
Auburn football WR core: A+
It doesn’t get better than the WR core–which has been a lightning rod of controversy within the offense given the firing of Cornelius Williams and integration of Eric Kiseau as the new WR coach–recovering from a stinker of a week against Georgia to rise to the occasion and upset the #18 team in the country on the road.
Demetris Robertson’s 71-yard bomb from Bo Nix was the most noteworthy TD toss and gave the Tigers an 11-point lead in the third quarter. That said, Ja’Varrius Johnson’s 39-yard TD catch set the tone for what was a brilliant day from the receivers.
Auburn football TE room: A-
The only thing holding the Tigers tight ends back from a solid ‘A’ was the uneven play of Landen King, who dropped one pass and inexplicably fell behind the first down marker on third down on another, in his debut. That said, the kid from Humble, Texas is too much of a physical specimen not to shake it off and be a contributor moving forward.
That said, he still accounted for two of the TE’s eight catches on the day and had the most yards. Luke Deal was the group’s leader with four.
Auburn football RB Tank Bigsby: B+
With another performance where Tank Bigsby looked good but not dominant, the preseason Heisman hype the sophomore rusher came in with are fading away with each passing week.
That said, he still is supremely talented and prone for a big play, and collected a few of those in a 68-yard, one-score performance. Bigsby needs more games like this, especially on days where Jarquez Hunter isn’t able to create much on the ground himself.
Auburn football DL: B-
KJ Jefferson and the Razorbacks RBs had little trouble bursting through the holes in the defense and ended up collectively racking up 232 yards on the ground.
At times, the Arkansas OL was bullying around Nick Eason’s DL, but a switch was flipped at halftime, and the Tigers got two sacks from Colby Wooden in the second half.
Marcus Harris from Montgomery, Alabama also recovered a Jefferson fumble in the end zone for a TD to swing the game significantly in the third quarter. Overall, it was an up and down effort that had more positives than negatives.
Auburn football LBs Chandler Wooten and Zakoby McClain: A+
I’m going to go ahead and group these two beasts together after a brilliant and busy game for the Tigers LB duo.
Zakoby McClain, as he does, led the team in tackles with 14. Chandler Wooten had 10, but his came at critical and key times.
The good times are rolling after a massive win to set up a key stretch run in the season’s final five weeks. War Eagle!