Behind Enemy Lines: Arkansas expert gleans his thoughts on matchup with Auburn

We take a peek at Auburn’s week 11 competition by reaching out to an Arkansas expert.

Joshua Collins | Nov 10, 2023

Behind Enemy Lines: Arkansas expert gleans his thoughts on matchup with Auburn /

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Auburn Tigers

Coming off their second consecutive SEC win, the Auburn Tigers are looking to notch another in the victory column against the Arkansas Razorbacks. A win in Fayetteville would secure Auburn’s bowl eligibility and increase the entire team’s confidence levels heading into the Iron Bowl at the end of the regular 2023 season.

Auburn has seen head coach Hugh Freeze become increasingly involved with the offensive play calling within the past few weeks, which has paid some significant dividends thus far. The question now is how might the Arkansas Razorbacks feel about their chances at home on Saturday.

In preparation for this contest, we reached out to Arkansas Razorbacks expert Kent Smith of All Hogs to answer some questions from behind enemy lines.

What is the fan perception of defensive coordinator Travis Williams as a recruiter and a coordinator?

Smith: Williams is probably the most highly thought of member on this staff. He brought in a lot of talent and has done a great job recruiting additional talent with the upcoming recruiting class despite the difficulties that come with the Razorbacks' record. Last season Arkansas struggled because the defense was terrible. There were times where it felt as if there were no players on the field at all when other teams tried to run their offense. The growth in a single season is astonishing. There were a lot of people on social media calling for Williams to be moved to head coach if things went poorly at Florida and Pittman ended up being fired.

Watching him in practice, he brings a ton of energy. However, the thing that stands out to me is the level of teaching he had his coaches doing in camp. There wasn't a fundamental assumed. It was as close as football can get to the old John Wooden story of teaching players how to put their socks on properly. That kind of dedication, plus the energy and relationships the defensive staff has with these players has shown itself on the field.

Does the recent firing of offensive coordinator Dan Enos effect the game planning going into this matchup, and is it a benefit or a detriment to Auburn?

Smith: It's a huge detriment for Auburn. If Enos were still here, I'm not sure some of these Arkansas players would be. They had no desire to play for him and he never seemed to understand them. It was a terrible fit from the beginning and there were plenty of reasons to believe his relationship with a coach or two wasn't that great either. Throw into the mix arguing with a student over e-mail instead of breaking down film after a terrible loss and there just was no positive.

That's the most hopeless I have ever seen a college offense look. If Guiton had been given the job last winter instead of last week, this team may very well be a one loss team. All Arkansas needed most of the year with this defense was an offense that was only slightly below average. You know when KJ Jefferson looks like he wants to walk straight through the locker room all the way back to Mississippi without stopping, a man who played through all kinds of injuries because of his love for the team and not wanting to let anyone down, then you have thoroughly screwed things up.

This would have been a cake walk for Auburn with Enos because surely Hugh Freeze could figure out how to score somewhere between three to six points. That's all it would have taken.

Does the performance of Auburn’s defense this season thus far make this a tougher game for Arkansas even though it is at home?

Smith: This is where I have to be honest, and I wrote about this just a few hours before sitting down to answer your questions. I haven't seen a single second of Auburn football. I'm pulling up highlights of them tonight because we turn the focus forward on Wednesdays. I don't know if they've been playing on Bally's or moved to the SEC East, but even when flipping through channels, I haven't seen them. I honestly forgot they were on the schedule.

After the Florida win I started to pull up notes for Florida International when I was caught off guard to find the Tigers as the next opponent. And I'm not sure how it got to this. Like I wrote in the story, that's usually how it works with Missouri. They're the team you forget is in the SEC and on the schedule. Auburn used to be so much fun, and it still is in basketball. Gone are the days of fans loving to hate the Tigers because of Cam Newton or being annoyed at Gus Malzahn while simultaneously feeling sorry for him having to put up with the boosters there.

You know how long it’s been since Auburn locked Arkansas coaches in an elevator during halftime? What happened to that Auburn football program?

The way you'd pop out and scare old man Saban every now and then. you were fun back then. Auburn's a basketball school now, and if Bruce Pearl ever did something to get that program shut down, it'd be a baseball school. Now Pittman and Jefferson know Auburn is on the schedule. They're not overlooking the Tigers.

But that's because of Hugh Freeze and what he did last year, not Auburn. And that doesn't mean the Tigers aren't an improving team and have no chance to win Saturday. There's a good chance they might. It's just devolved into a forgettable program and that's 100% on the boosters.

What mistakes do the Razorbacks need to avoid to come out of this contest with a victory?

Smith: All of them. This team never met a mistake it can't make. If the offensive line can manage to block someone every third play, then there's a chance Arkansas wins, but that's been a steep hill to climb this year. Guiton did a good job speeding things up fast enough last week to cancel that issue a small percentage.

How much of an impact has quarterback KJ Jefferson been for Arkansas this season?

Smith: He hasn't until last week. That's not entirely his fault though. Enos tried to take a monster truck to an Indy car race and told it to drive the wrong way to boot. He failed the No. 1 rule of coaching and that is to adapt the system to the talent in the room. There was nothing about that system that fit Jefferson.

Of course, we have no idea for sure how well he could run it because Enos was running a five-step drop offense with a one-step drop offensive line. Rarely could he get to a point where he could even begin his reads, and when he did, he almost seemed so surprised to not be getting pounded from all sides that it rattled him a little. As a journalist, you're not a fan of any teams on the field.

You're there to be fair and unbiased about what's gone on. However, that doesn't mean certain things aren't infuriating. Jefferson gave his body and soul to this program. He made a lot of sacrifices over the years and earned a lot of respect doing it. To see Enos treat him the way he did and see what was essentially abuse of the young man was hard to watch. It was unfair to him and should have never happened. For the first half last week, you could see the toll playing under Enos had taken. He looked like a child or puppy who had been abused so much he was scared to be who he is.

However, Guiton slowly eased him back into it and helped him find himself again in the fourth quarter. For the first time since the Liberty Bowl, KJ Jefferson stepped onto the field for the Arkansas Razorbacks. So, long answer short, he had very little impact until that fourth quarter in Gainesville. However, I think he's going to have a huge impact the last three games.

What is your final score prediction?

Smith: Pain. If these two teams play down to their potential, it's going to look like people from the South trying to ice skate. There are going to be so many penalties and sacks. However, one team is going to hit a short stretch where the offense takes advantage of someone on defense going the wrong direction, or most likely forgetting to run onto the field during a substitution, and the game will be won.

The one thing you can count on with a Sam Pittman coached team is there's a 95% chance it will be decided by a touchdown or less. That's just how he rolls good or bad.

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Published Nov 10, 2023

JOSHUA COLLINS