By DON KAUSLER JR.

 Almost given up for ashes, the Arkansas football team is alive and … well, who knows what could happen next?

The Razorbacks revived what seemed like a lost season with a 39-36 overtime victory Saturday at Florida. The end of a 6-game losing streak was a result of a new offensive coordinator, a week off to refresh, a resuscitation of an injured star running back, a kicker who continued to shine and a quarterback who returned to previous form.

It was an impressive debut by Kenny Guiton, who was promoted from receivers coach to interim offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and play caller on Oct. 22, the day after a 7-3 loss at home to Mississippi State.

“… I don’t know how he could have done a better job than what he did on Saturday, to be perfectly honest with you,” fourth-year Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman said Monday. “With everything. Just imagine you had fall camp, and you played that way your first game.

“Then you add all the things that went on, and you had a 2-week window to prepare. I thought he called a freaking great game and had them off balance. I thought he did a great job.”

Now, how about an encore? Arkansas (3-6 overall, 1-5 in the SEC) will play host to Auburn (5-4, 2-4) at 3 p.m. CST Saturday (SEC Network) at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Arkansas is a 2½ -point favorite.

FIRST DOWN

Big surprise: The first play of the Florida game set the tone. Tailback AJ Green took the snap and handed to quarterback KJ Jefferson, who ran right and threw to tight end Ty Washington for 25 yards to midfield. Thus began a touchdown drive that ended with an 8-yard pass from Jefferson to Green.

Just like that, Arkansas had 4 more points than it scored in Dan Enos’ last game as offensive coordinator.

The Razorbacks finished the Florida game with season highs in total yards (481) and rushing yards (226). Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, previously limited by a knee injury that he sustained in the season opener, ran 18 times for a season-high 103 yards. Jefferson ran 17 times for 92 yards and 1 touchdown.

Pittman said Monday that he asked Guiton to prepare 5 “special” plays for the game at The Swamp, where the Razorbacks won for the first time.

Guiton also is preparing 5 “special” plays for the Auburn game.

“He’s got a lot of swag about him,” Pittman said of Guiton. “He’s got a lot of confidence. Not overbearing now, but he’s got a lot of confidence. The kids can feel it. Kids have a lot of confidence in him.”

First-year Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze called the change at play caller “a pretty stark difference.”

“The guy who’s calling it now, his background is with the former offensive coordinator,” Freeze said, referring to Kendal Briles, “so I think it’s a pretty good bet that you can throw a lot of film out, unless you’re just looking at personnel, and probably need to pull a few games from last year, in my opinion, to go with what they did at Florida.”

SECOND DOWN

No surprise: Jefferson continues to break school records this season. At Florida, he completed 20 of 31 passes for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns. One pass was intercepted. Jefferson broke Tyler Wilson's school record of 593 career completions.

Jefferson will enter the Auburn game 159 yards short of Wilson's career passing yards record (7,765) and 1 touchdown pass away from breaking Brandon Allen’s record of 64 career touchdown passes.

Jefferson already holds the school record for total career yards (9,327).

"It's a humbling experience, surreal moment," Jefferson said. "It's a blessing for one, just to be able to come in and do the things that I did at the quarterback position at a very high level on the big stage in this conference. …

“I wouldn't be where I am at without my teammates. Those guys always push me to be the best that I can, also putting me in great situations and bailing me out sometimes.

"The records and everything, it's a big deal to me. I want to be able to break the record, the touchdown record, and also the passing yards record. I'm just trying to focus. I still want to play within the system and make sure I'm not forcing the ball in tight areas and just being careless with the ball … just because I want to break the record. I'm going to let the game come to me and just take advantage of it."

Earlier this season, against Texas A&M, Jefferson broke Matt Jones’ record for touchdown accountability. Jefferson now has 86.

“Setting records is over longevity, obviously, but when you’re playing well and you’re setting records, I think it even means more,” Pittman said. “What a nice game he had Saturday.

“But for the program, obviously I think he was a big key and has been — well, I know he is — the reason for turning the program around, and certainly this year has been disappointing with all the close losses, but our season is not over. He’s been as valuable as anybody we’ve had in our program, and I’m very happy he’s our quarterback.”

THIRD DOWN

The kicker: Arkansas junior Cam Little is tied for No. 11 in the nation with 16 field goals after making kicks from 22, 37, 41 and 49 yards at Florida,. He has missed 2 attempts this season, including 1 Saturday, for a percentage of .889. He kicked a career-best 56-yard field goal this season on Oct. 7 at Ole Miss.

Little’s 49-yard field goal – with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter – tied the Florida game at 33-33 and ultimately sent the game to overtime. Florida’s Trey Smack missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt with 3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. A 5-yard penalty for illegal substitution preceded the kick.

Little was 1 of 3 kickers named the Lou Groza Stars of the Week. He also was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. His 8 field goals from 40-plus yards this season are tied for the most in the nation.

“What’d he make, a 50-yarder to tie it up there in the end?” Pittman said after the Florida game. “Wasn’t that incredible? And then their guy misses. We get into overtime.

“That’s why you do it. To see the looks on the kids’ faces like that. I like money. I like all kinds of stuff, but I like seeing them kids happy more than I like anything else as far as football goes.”

Little, from Moore, Okla., has made 49 field goals in 58 attempts (.846) in 3 years. At least 3 games remain this season. He is 12 field goals away from tying Zach Hocker’s career record of 61 set from 2010-2013. Little has scored 268 points in his career. Hocker holds the school record with 354.

FOURTH DOWN

Familiar face: Freeze is no stranger in Fayetteville. This will be his fourth game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, where his record is 1-2. Auburn will be the third school he has represented.

Freeze was the Ole Miss coach when his Rebels lost 30-0 in 2014 and 34-30 in 2016. Last season, he brought No. 23 Liberty to town with a 7-1 record. The Flames won 21-19.

Ole Miss was ranked No. 8 going into the 2014 game. It was rainy, windy and cold. The 2016 game also was played in rain. Last year, it was 56 degrees at kickoff, and it did not rain.

“The first thing I was concerned about, my experience in Arkansas in November had not been pleasant,” Freeze said Monday during his weekly news conference when asked to recall last season’s game. “The 2 times we went there when I was at Ole Miss, the weather was atrocious.

“I was just thankful that when we went with Liberty, it was actually a nice day, and it appears this Saturday is going to be fairly nice.”

The forecast Saturday calls for 63 degrees and mostly sunny skies.

The Flames were a 14½ -point underdog last season.

“I tell our teams the truth, and I remember telling them, ‘Listen, you’re the underdog, and you shouldn’t win this game, but that’s what makes it fun,’ ” Freeze said. “ ‘Go and give it a shot, and while you play the game, you don’t have to be better 10 times. You just have to be better that day.’

“Our kids played really hard that day and stopped their run pretty much, so that’s something we need to do this week also.”

Winning at Arkansas in Liberty’s fifth season as an FBS team helped Freeze get the Auburn job.

Liberty was 34-15 in Freeze’s 4 seasons. He led Arkansas State to a 10-2 record and Sun Belt Conference championship in 2011 and Ole Miss to a 39-25 record from 2012-2016, including Sugar Bowl and Peach Bowl appearances.

Freeze resigned shortly before the 2017 season for off-the-field reasons, including allegations of NCAA rules violations.

“Obviously, Liberty gave him a chance,” Pittman said. “He took full advantage of that. The bottom line is that he’s a good man, and he’s earned his way back, and I’m happy for him.

“Now we want to beat him on Saturday, but I’m happy for what he’s done. He got back into this SEC deal now. It’s a different story, and he knew that because he had been so successful at Ole Miss. He’ll have Auburn rolling, and they are right now.”

Auburn is coming off a 27-13 victory over visiting Mississippi State and a 31-15 victory at Vanderbilt.