Auburn and Arkansas battle for position in SEC West

story by College Sports Matchups Wire Services

After winning its first five games a year ago, a loss to Arkansas sent Auburn into a tailspin.

The No. 7 Tigers hope to avoid a similar fate Saturday when they take on the visiting No. 13 Razorbacks in a meeting of the top two offenses in the Southeastern Conference.

Arkansas has won the last two meetings, including a 44-23 victory last year in Fayetteville in which quarterback Ryan Mallett threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers entered that game 5-0 but lost three straight and five of their last seven beginning with the loss to the Razorbacks.

Auburn once again enters the key SEC West matchup undefeated, largely on the strength of an offense that ranks eighth in the nation in rushing (276 yards per game), 10th in total yards (483 yards per game) and 18th in scoring (36.7 points per game).

After getting a last-second field goal from Wes Byrum for a 37-34 win at Kentucky, the Tigers are 6-0 for the first time since 2004, but the victories have not come easily. Four of Auburn’s wins have been by single digits, including three victories by three points.

The Tigers (6-0, 3-0 SEC) are led by dual-threat quarterback Cam Newton, who ranks second in the nation with a passer efficiency rating of 180.73 and leads the SEC and ranks 17th nationally with 112 rushing yards per game.

Newton has topped 170 rushing yards three times, including last week’s win at Kentucky in which he ran for 198 yards and four touchdowns. The junior college transfer has had a hand in 21 of Auburn’s 28 touchdowns, throwing for 12 scores and rushing for nine more.

Auburn has won 60 consecutive games when scoring 30 or more points, a streak that dates back to 1996. The Tigers have extended that streak in each of their past three games.

Hitting that mark might be difficult against a Razorbacks defense allowing only 15 points per game, which ranks second in the SEC and 19th nationally.

After squandering a fourth-quarter lead in a 24-20 loss to then-No. 1 Alabama on Sept. 25, the Razorbacks (4-1, 1-1 SEC) showed off that defense while rebounding to beat Texas A&M 24-17 last week in Dallas.

But Arkansas’ specialty has been putting up yards and points, and the Razorbacks do so with an explosive passing game led by Mallett, who ranks second in the nation with 349.6 passing yards per game.

The Razorbacks also boast three of the top seven receivers in the SEC in Greg Childs, who ranks second in the conference with 5.6 receptions per game, D.J. Williams (sixth with 4.4 receptions per game) and Joe Adams (seventh with 4.2 receptions per game).

Arkansas hasn’t mustered much of a running game, though, ranking 96th in the nation with 108.8 yards per game. That isn’t likely to change against Auburn’s defense, which ranks 14th in the nation against the run and has held six of its past 10 opponents under 100 yards on the ground.

The Tigers and Razorbacks have never before met when both teams were nationally ranked, though one of the two has been ranked for 16 of the previous 19 meetings. Auburn leads the series 10-8-1.