The Arkansas Razorbacks have struggled to find any type of success thus far in the 2018 season, and neither prognosticators nor recent history like their odds in their upcoming road battle with the Auburn Tigers.
Auburn leads the all-time series 15-11-1 and in games played at Jordan-Hare Stadium 8-5-1. Arkansas has not won at Auburn since 2011, when both programs had different coaches—Bret Bielema and Gene Chizik, respectively. That year, the Razorbacks thumped the Tigers, 24-7, with a defense that shut down Auburn’s offense entirely and created five turnovers.
The first meeting between Auburn and Arkansas occurred in the 1984 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., resulting in a 21-15 Tigers win. The teams began to meet annually once the Razorbacks joined the Southeastern Conference in 1992.
Though Auburn has won four of the last five meetings (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), the series was traditionally more evenly matched at 11-10-1 before Gus Malzahn took over as Auburn’s head coach in 2013.
Rumors of Malzahn returning to Arkansas, where he once served as offensive coordinator, continued to surface as recently as last year, but a seven-year extension with the Tigers in 2017 put those to rest.
Arkansas will now look for redemption on the road after an embarrassing 44-17 beat-down by North Texas last Saturday, but don’t expect the Razorbacks to find it against quarterback Jarrett Stidham and the Tigers.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 on the SEC Network. H&A
This article was originally posted by Hall & Arena.
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