By DON KAUSLER JR.

Arkansas and Auburn open SEC play Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., and given the fragile psyche of these 2-1 teams, a Porcelain Cup might be an apt reward.

Postgame emotions must be handled with care.

The home team, Auburn, is favored by 3 points, which means visiting Arkansas and Auburn are virtual equals.

The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CDT. It can be seen on ESPN. At midweek, tickets on the

second-hand market were going for as low as $14 each.

Both teams are still stinging from recent nonconference losses. Arkansas overachieved in a 39-31 double-overtime loss on Sept. 7 at No. 16 Oklahoma State. The Razorbacks, a 10½-point

underdog, blew a 2-touchdown halftime lead.

Auburn underachieved in a 21-14 loss to California on Sept. 7 at home. The Tigers were an 11½-point favorite.

Neither team looked great last week. Arkansas spotted UAB a 17-3 lead but came back to win

37-27. The Razorbacks were a 24½-point favorite. Auburn defeated New Mexico 45-19 but led

17-13 at halftime. The Tigers were a 25½-point favorite.

The Razorbacks are looking for payback after Auburn routed Arkansas 48-10 last November in Fayetteville.

The stakes are high. The loser could be destined for a losing season. The winner

could escape mediocrity … for a week. A victory wouldn’t necessarily secure Arkansas Coach

Sam Pittman’s job, but the temperature on the simmering hot seat might dip a bit.

FIRST DOWN

Wizards: A year after both teams struggled on offense, this game will match two of the best

offensive minds in college football: second-year Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze and first-year

Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.

Look at the teams’ 2024 improvements. …

Arkansas leads the nation in rushing touchdowns (15) after 3 games. It ran for 9 touchdowns in 12 games last season. The Razorbacks have converted 27 of 40 third-down plays (.675) to lead the nation in that category. Their rate last season was .380 (67 of 175).

Arkansas ranks 5th nationally in total offense with an average of 587.5 yards per game. It

is ranked 11th in rushing offense (259.0) and 12th in passing offense (328.3). The 2023 Razorbacks ranked No. 107 with an average of 326.5 total yards. They were

No. 94 in rushing yards per game (139.0) and No. 105 in passing yards per game (187.5).

Auburn is No. 23 in the nation in total offense with an average of 472.3 yards per game through 3 games. It is No. 42 in rushing offense (188.7) and No. 35 in passing offense (283.7). The Tigers were No. 92 in 2023 with an average of 351.2 total yards after 13 games. They were No. 24 in rushing yards per game (189.0) and No. 124 in passing yards per game (162.2).

Pittman says he has “high respect” for Freeze.

“He does a wonderful job,” Pittman said. “He did a wonderful job when he was at Ole

Miss before and a really, really smart guy. … smart offensively. I’m sure he is defensively,

too. But offense is kind of his baby, and he does a wonderful, wonderful job. …”

Auburn went 6-7 last year under Freeze, losing to Maryland 31- 13 in the Music City Bowl.

“There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll do a great job there,” Pittman said. “They play hard. I

mean, they look the part. I think they’re going to be a really good team throughout the entire

season. I think they’ll be a hard out for whoever plays them.”

SECOND DOWN

Weapons: This game will feature two of the best running backs in the SEC: Arkansas newcomer Ja’Quinden Jackson, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound senior, and Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter, a 5-10, 209-pound senior.

Jackson, a transfer from Utah, ranks No. 5 in the nation in rushing with 397 yards in 3 games. He has run for at least 100 yards in each game. He has scored 6 touchdowns – 2 more

than he scored in all of last season – and is averaging 8.4 yards per carry.

Hunter has run for 273 yards, including 152 against New Mexico, and is averaging 7.6 yards per

carry.

Quarterback is an interesting matchup. Arkansas’ Taylen Green, a 6-6, 232-pound junior pictured above (Craven Whitlow), is a

transfer from Boise State. He has thrown for 806 yards and 3 touchdowns; 2 of his passes have

been intercepted. Green also has run 41 times for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns. Mobile

quarterbacks have given the Auburn defense trouble.

Auburn’s Hank Brown, a  6-4, 208-pound freshman, will make his second career start after replacing Payton Thorne, who was benched last week after having 4 passes intercepted in the loss to Cal. Brown completed 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards and 4 TDs last week without an interception.

Brown was attacking a New Mexico pass defense that ranks No. 124 in the nation. Arkansas isn’t that bad, but it ranks No. 86.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Brown said of this week’s challenge. “It’s definitely an uptick

in competition. They’re definitely going to be a better defense than what we faced last week.”I’m

excited for it. They’re a fundamentally sound defense. You kind of know what you’re getting.”

One weapon for Arkansas who was quiet against UAB was sophomore tight end Luke Hasz. He

was on the field for 40 snaps but didn’t catch a pass. Hasz has been targeted 7 times in 3 games and has 5 catches.

“We certainly have targeted plays for him,” Pittman said. “One thing or another, it might be an

errant throw, protection. He might get covered, but we understand the value of him. We’re

certainly trying to get him the ball.”

THIRD DOWN

Weaknesses: Defense is neither team’s strength. Arkansas has registered 15 tackles for a loss, but rushing the passer is the Razorbacks’ biggest problem. They have had 45 quarterback pressures, which ranks sixth in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus, but they have had 5 sacks, 1 from a defensive lineman). Star senior defensive end Landon Jackson has yet to record a sack. Arkansas wants to put pressure on Brown.

“Anytime you get a new quarterback, you want him to not be pressured,” Pittman said this week.

“They did such a good job of protecting for him (Brown). He looked really comfortable running

in the game, running the offense and was very, very accurate. If you didn’t know he was a

redshirt freshman, you wouldn’t have known it watching the game. He did a wonderful job. They

did what he does well and they protected him.”

Auburn’s defense allowed a season-worst 448 yards to New Mexico, including 291 yards passing and a season-worst 157 yards rushing. The Lobos averaged 6.0 yards per rushing attempt.

“We did get 2 takeaways, but we seemed chaotic and unsure,” Freeze said. “We didn’t tackle well. I didn’t think our effort was great. Hopefully that’s a good learning lesson for us.”

New Mexico had runs that gained 20, 19 and 15 yards and passes that gained 55, 41, 33 and

21 yards.

Freeze blamed undisciplined play in the secondary.

“S

everal of those plays were in post-high safety, and the high safety, when the quarterback

starts scrambling, decides he doesn’t need to be a post-high safety anymore,” Freeze said.

“‘Let me run up and try to help out my friends.’ No. If you’re deep, you stay deep. That

happened twice. …

“We still have growth to take place. I don’t think we’re playing with great poise back there.

Our discipline, our eyes are in the bad spots at times.”

FOURTH DOWN

Woes: On the availability list that was released Wednesday night, 6 Arkansas players are out

and 1 is questionable. Two Auburn players are out and 4 are questionable.

Jaylon Braxton, considered the Razorbacks’ top defensive back, will miss his second

consecutive game. Center Addison Nichols is listed as probable. He played only 3 snaps

against UAB after re-aggravating an ankle injury.

The other 5 Arkansas players who will be sidelined Saturday are defensive backs Miguel

Mitchell and Hudson Clark, offensive lineman Patrick Kutas, tight end Andreas

Paaske and wide receiver Khafre Brown. Wide receiver Dazmin James is questionable.

For Auburn, defensive back Tyler Scott and tight end Brandon Frazier are out. Frazier has a

broken foot. Wide receiver Cam Coleman, defensive back Antonio Kite, kicker Alex

McPherson and offensive lineman Izavion Miller are questionable.