The 116th worst defense in the country meets the 113th worst offense on Saturday, which means something has to give. Either the porous Hogs defense will finally step up and make plays, or the meager Auburn offense will do just enough to get by.
Arkansas expects Auburn to run different formations to confuse the Hogs and get a running game going. Auburn has already shown that they will run the wildcat formation, but you can expect there to be different looks with former Shiloh Christian quarterback Kiehl Frazier. Frazier has been unable to adapt to the pace of the college game so far as a first-year sophomore starter. He has two touchdowns to seven interceptions and is barely completing 50% of his passes.
The Arkansas defense met with the media after Wednesday's practice and talked about Auburn's offense.
Defensive Coordinator Paul Haynes:
- Auburn is a fast team with their running back being their strengths. They will mix up a lot on offense and is something they will have to prepare for.
- Auburn will give you everything in terms of formations and offense plays along with wild cat.
- Depending on what they see offensively the defense will blitz more if they can. They do not want to let a dual threat quarterback break them down.
- Haynes feels good about the two freshmen who will possibly start at CB for the Hogs. They had a good practice, but they will not over fill their plate
Defensive End Chris Smith:
- Smith believes they will have success against stopping the run, they will need to execute on technique but he knows Auburn has a lot of crazy formations so they will have to be well prepared.
- The attitude on the defensive side of the ball has been good, a lot of guys fired up ready to go out at play well.
Linebacker Alonzo Highsmith:
- The goal is the same as every week and that is to stop the run and make them pass the ball. They want to contain Kyle Frazier.
- The team is like a family, through the ups and downs they are going to stick together and play hard no matter what.
INJURY UPDATE: Chris Gragg, Tevin Mitchel and Kaelon Kelleybrew are NOT cleared to play. Eric Bennett Rohan Gaines and Dennis Johnson are cleared to play.