10 Things to Know - Auburn
The Razorbacks travel to Auburn to open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network. Here are 10 things to know before the Hogs and Tigers tee it up on the Plains.
1. Auburn leads the all-time series 14-12-1 in a series dating back to a date in Memphis at the 1984 Liberty Bowl. The Tigers took the series lead thanks to winning four of the last five meetings with the Hogs’ win coming in a 4OT thriller in 2015. Arkansas last opened up its SEC slate with Auburn in 2014 when the two teams opened the season at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
2. Both Arkansas head coach Chad Morris and Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn are former high school coaches with Morris coaching high school ball in Texas and Malzahn coaching in Arkansas. Both won state championships at the high school level before making the jump to college. The duo also both spent time as the offensive coordinator at Tulsa.
3. De’Jon Harris made 12 tackles against North Texas last week to register his second straight 10+ tackle performance after the junior made 11 stops at Colorado State. Harris has led the Hogs in tackles in each of the last two games after Dre Greenlaw paced the team with 10 tackles – all in the first quarter – in the season opener against Eastern Illinois.
4. Armon Watts has a sack in each of the first three games, the first three sacks of the senior’s career. Derrick Munson and D’Vone McClure are the only other Hogs with sacks this season.
5. Arkansas travels to the Plains of Auburn to open Southeastern Conference play against the Tigers. The SEC opening match-up with Auburn is the first since 2014 when the Razorbacks opened the year at Auburn on opening weekend. That game also marks the last time the Razorbacks did not open SEC play against Texas A&M, who the Hogs will take on the Aggies in Arlington, Texas next weekend in the Southwest Classic.
6. WR La’Michael Pettway is off to a hot start for the Razorbacks through the first three games. Pettway leads the team with 11 receptions for 173 yards and three scores. The junior has at least one catch in eight straight games dating back to last season. He snagged four passes for 49 yards last weekend against North Texas. The former Nashville (Ark.) Scrapper ranks 14th in the SEC with 11 receptions and 57.5 receiving yards per game.
7. Senior center and Denmark native Hjalte Froholdt has continued his consistent play into his fourth year on the Hill, leading the team with 211 snaps played. According to Pro Football Focus, the Razorbacks’ center has yet to allow a sack over his last 565 snaps of pass protection dating back to last year. This season, Froholdt has made the switch from left guard to center, making the move during preseason practice. Froholdt originally signed with the Razorbacks as a four-star defensive lineman out of IMG Academy in 2014.
8. The Razorbacks’ roster has 75 underclassmen, the second-most in the Southeastern Conference. Only Georgia’s 87 underclassmen outrank the Hogs in the league. With 75 underclassmen on the roster, that equates to 62% of the Razorbacks’ roster as freshmen and sophomores. Arkansas is one of 39 schools in the FBS with underclassmen making up 60+% of the roster and one of six SEC rosters with that distinction (Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Auburn, South Carolina).
9. The Razorbacks average starting field position last week against North Texas was their own 20-yard line while the Mean Green’s average starting position was their own 43-yard line. The Hogs surrendered eight drive starting positions in Arkansas territory, not including three more North Texas drives that started near midfield. While the Mean Green were starting near midfield, they kept the Razorbacks deep in their own territory with 16 of the Hogs’ 20 drives starting at the 25-yard line or worse, including seven inside the 20-yard line. It marked the second straight game the Razorbacks had a worse starting field position than their opponent (Colorado State 28-yard line, Arkansas 27-yard line). In the opener, Arkansas started their drives with an average field position of their own 39-yard line compared to Eastern Illinois’ starting field position of their own 24-yard line.
10. The Arkansas defense forced seven 3 & Out drives on Saturday vs. North Texas to push the team’s total to 12 through the team’s first three games. Add in two 3 & Out drives against Eastern Illinois and three against Colorado State and the Hogs’ defense has forced 3 & Outs in 24.5% of the drives they’ve faced.
