Auburn football worn down by Arkansas, suffering fourth straight defeat
AUBURN — When Bryan Harsin was hired as Auburn football's head coach, the Tigers hadn't lost four games in a row since 2012. They've now done so in both of their seasons under Harsin.
Auburn hung with Arkansas until it no longer could, falling 41-27 Saturday afternoon as the Razorbacks bullied the Tigers after halftime. Harsin's record on the Plains sunk to 9-12 and 4-9 in the SEC.
The Tiger faithful had waited 28 days since Auburn's last home game. A good portion of them didn't even stay through the third quarter.
Arkansas wears Auburn down in second half
Coming into Saturday, the Razorbacks had a clear area to exploit, with their rushing offense, ranked 11th in the nation, facing Auburn's 118th-ranked run defense.
In the first half, the Tigers (3-5, 1-4 SEC) mostly held things together up front, surprisingly. Arkansas didn't have a run of longer than 13 yards in the first half. However, Auburn allowed receivers to get open at will. KJ Jefferson hit them, throwing for 152 yards to buoy the Razorbacks (5-3, 2-3) to a 17-13 halftime lead.
The floodgates started to break on Arkansas's first drive of the second half, a nine-play, 64-yard touchdown march. Raheim "Rocket" Sanders smashed them open with a 76-yard run on the ensuing Razorback possession, leading to another score. Rashod Dubinion's second touchdown, midway through the fourth quarter, sucked whatever life was left from Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Arkansas finished with 290 yards on the ground, 220 of them coming after halftime.
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Auburn relies on Robby Ashford and Tank Bigsby
Arkansas' biggest weakness — a pass defense ranked fourth-worst in the country — wasn't necessarily one for the Tigers to exploit, as their shaky offensive line combined with Robby Ashford's skill set isn't conducive to a high-volume dropback attack.
Instead, Auburn moved the ball with a steady dose of Ashford scrambles and dump-offs. With Tank Bigsby struggling to get going outside of a 41-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the Tigers put most of the offensive burden on Ashford to make plays.
Screen passes to Bigsby (six catches, 37 yards) functioned as an extension of the running game. Ashford frequently waited for the Razorbacks' blitz to come before escaping trouble and either turning upfield and running (19 carries, 87 yards) or finding open receivers in the flats.
While Auburn gained 468 yards, its highest total against a Power 5 opponent, a good chunk of those yards came in garbage time. The offense had a makeshift feel to it without a consistent downfield passing game or power running scheme.
Tigers can't find any momentum after halftime
Auburn allowed its first five opponents to score in the last two minutes of the first half, which Harsin thought led to a lack of momentum. Saturday, the script was reversed. Ashford looked sharp in leading a two-minute drill, taking the Tigers 52 yards in 50 seconds to set up a field goal before halftime.
Auburn had the ball first in the second half and a chance to take control. But the Tigers' drive fizzled out at the Arkansas 31 when Bigsby was stopped for no gain, a catch by Bigsby gained three yards and Ashford was sacked. Anders Carlson's 52-yard field goal was blocked and the Razorbacks took a 24-13 lead three minutes later.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com, by phone at 334-201-9117 and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football suffers fourth straight defeat with loss to Arkansas
