By Brant Daughtry
Pride
Auburn and Arkansas are set to meet up for the 32nd time on Saturday. This series started in 1984, and has been played every year since 1992. Auburn has dominated the series recently, as the Tigers are on a six-game winning streak. Five of those six wins have been by at least 15 points. Auburn also leads the series all time 19-11-1.
But, in a similar way to the Ole Miss game, this game feels different. While Arkansas isn’t having the same type of success as the Rebels, the Razorbacks are a tough team, and they do very well what Auburn has struggled against defensively: run the ball. In fact, only three teams run the ball more than Arkansas. Army, Navy, and Air Force, service academies who run the triple option and throw maybe five times a game.
Sam Pittman is in his third season as head coach at Arkansas. When he took over the team, Arkansas was in maybe the worst spot the program has ever been in. Now, they’re rapidly climbing. Pittman is an old offensive line coach, and he’s built his program on the backs of the guys up front. Running the ball is his favorite past time, and he lets you know.
The defense is good, not great, and is led by super-senior linebacker Bumper Pool, who earned pre-season 1st team All-SEC honors this year. Their pass defense has been pretty bad though, as they’ve been giving up over 300 yards a game through the air. If Auburn’s pass protection can hold up, look for the receivers to have their best game of the year.
This season, Arkansas entered the season highly ranked, and climbed to a top 10 spot after starting 3-0. However, after three straight losses, they fell back out of the top 25. They did win their last game against BYU in dominant fashion, but remain out of the top 25 for now.
The quarterback for the team is KJ Jefferson, a very big, very strong, and very fast quarterback. He blurs the line for me between quarterback who is a great athlete and great athlete playing quarterback. He can sometimes look brilliant, and other times look very pedestrian. So far this season he’s completing 67% of his passes and has over 1,400 yards passing with 14 touchdowns to only one interception. He also has run the ball ver effectively, having over 340 yards rushing with four scores. All of those numbers are pretty good. However, in certain games, he’s looked less than impressive. Some games have him completing about half his pass attempts, which keeps the numbers relatively low. It’s easy to say in today’s age of football, but as KJ Jefferson goes, so goes Arkansas.
Players to Watch For:
Running back Raheem “Rocket” Sanders, #5: If you have a nickname like Rocket, you’d better live up to it. And Raheem Sanders certainly does. Rocket has already posted over 1,000 yards of offense this season, and leads Arkansas in touchdowns with eight. Arkansas wants to run the ball down your throat, and Sanders is option No. 1 when it comes to making it work.
Linebacker Bumper Pool, #10: Bumper Pool is one of those players that you swear should’ve run out of eligibility two years ago. He’s been playing regular snaps since 2018, and became a starter as a sophomore in 2019. He’s made tons of All-SEC and All-American teams over his career, and is the unquestioned leader of the Arky defense as a 5th year senior. He’s also the team leader in tackles with 66, and actually holds the Arkansas record for tackles in a career.
When a season has gone bad, why continue to play? All the goals that you had at the beginning of the season are no longer attainable. Your coach that you play for is likely a dead man walking. The perception of the program, both nationally and locally, is rapidly circling the drain. All the hours of work you’ve put in, the early morning workouts, banging your head in practice, late night film studies, weight lifting. All the work you put in to even get to be a part of a college football program, and it goes like this? Why continue down the road that seems to be endlessly spiraling? The answer is actually pretty simple. Pride. When things aren’t going well, your ambitions are lost, your leader seems to already have his head on the chopping block, you play for pride. You are proud of yourself, of the work you put in, of the brotherhood you have in the man beside you. When all seems lost in the sport of football, you play for pride. It may not win many football games. But sometimes, it’s all you have.
