No. 17 Arkansas, No. 21 Auburn meet again after 4-OT battle

It’s quite another matter when Las Vegas is confident.

The Razorbacks, who already have played five nationally-ranked teams, play No. 14 Florida (5-1, 3-1) November 5 and No. 19 LSU (5-2, 3-1) November 12 at home before finishing on the road at Mississippi State (2-5, 1-3) and Missouri (2-5, 0-3).

In my weekly pregame article, I laid out two “must do’s” for the Hogs if they were going to pull off the win on the road against Auburn.

Auburn allows an average of just 13.2 ppg., this season. After being sacked three times and hurried seven an Auburn defender rolled into his right leg from behind and Allen headed for the medical tent. Malzahn had maintained play-calling responsibility in losses to Clemson and Texas A&M.

The play itself was one the offense has had in the playbook for a while.

Kerryon Johnson injured his ankle against Mississippi State two games ago, and even with the bye week, he wasn’t able to play against Arkansas.

“Sean White continues to improve”, Malzahn said Saturday night. Carlson nailed his 119th straight PAT to give Auburn the lead 7-0, and they never looked back.

Auburn is third nationally in scoring defense (14.1 points per game) and only Texas A&M topped 20 points against the Tigers. Auburn leads 35-3.

Against teams like Arkansas and LSU, teams that run more traditional offenses, Matthews has shown the ability to play well near the line of scrimmage against the run.

KEY MATCHUP Arkansas’ offensive line against Auburn’s pass rushers.

Steele has coordinated a much better Auburn defense so far than the heralded Will Muschamp, the current SC head coach and past Florida head coach and a former national champion defensive coordinator at LSU and Texas, coordinated previous year at Auburn.

Regardless of anyone’s thought process, however, this much was certain: Auburn needed to consolidate the gains made against Mississippi State. Arkansas’ fastest receiver and its most risky one in 2015 from midseason on, Reed had not made the big plays this season of last.

“We played a good team and things didn’t go our way”, he said.

October 22, 2016: Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn during an NCAA football game between the Auburn Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks at Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.

Auburn spent much of fall trying to work out its depth in the backfield, with Johnson widely expected to be the go-to guy, followed by Pettway.

Auburn’s next game will be in Oxford when the Tigers take on their SEC West rival in the Ole Miss Rebels.

Then again, it’s easier to stay on the field when completely healthy. Pettway has rushed for 361 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games.

Bentley led SC (3-4) to touchdowns on its first two series, then threw a pair of pretty fade passes for touchdowns, the first from 16 yards out to K.C. Crosby and later a 24-yarder to Bryan Edwards to lead 27-7. Kam Martin’s 51 yard tight-rope run was spectacular.