AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn is expecting the Razorbacks to bring great energy when they travel to Jordan-Hare to take on the Tigers this weekend.
In a virtual conference, Gus said, “Looking at Arkansas, they had a big time win against a ranked team on the road.”
“Overall, we’re playing a team that is coming off a big win. We’re glad to be back home and try to get back on track looking at this 10-game SEC schedule.”
Coach Malzahn is expecting Arkansas to bring their A-game this weekend.
“Their head coach Sam Pittman is doing a great job. He’s got his team playing really well with great passion, so we’re expecting to get their best,” Malzahn said.
After playing catch-up with the Bulldog’s defense this past week, Malzahn talked about how he expects the offense will find its balance this week.
On the topic of Bo Nix, Malzahn said, “I think the big thing is going to be to help him out to be more balanced. To be balanced, you have to be successful running the ball, too. We’ll work extremely hard on that moving forward, and I think that will be a big key.”
Despite a few of the Tigers’ players being injured, Malzahn expects the majority to recover in time for Saturday’s game.
Malzahn isn’t worried as he said, “We’re hopeful with all of our guys. It wasn’t just them. We had quite a few that were banged up going in. Hopefully, we’ll have all hands-on deck.”
The Tigers are planning on determining a starting five soon. Malzahn shared his plans in regards to establishing the offensive line personnel.
“I think Chad Morris and Coach Bicknell are getting together on exactly what that’s going to look like and like I told you Sunday, we’ve got to start settling in…That’s something we are moving forward with,” Malzahn said.
As the forecast shows rain for Saturday, Malzahn is preparing for it to be wet.
“As it gets closer in the week, we’ll know more about everything, but we are prepared for it to be raining. We’ll see as it gets closer what specifically that will look like,” Malzahn said.
The matchup against Arkansas will take place this Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
