FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (EETV)- Auburn upset No. 17 Arkansas in Fayetteville, 38-23, on Saturday. With the win, Auburn moves to 5-2 on the season and 2-1 in the SEC.
“See our guys go out there and execute. That’s the way we wanna play. We’ll take that and we’ll learn from it to know what we need to do to get better,” said head coach Bryan Harsin.
Auburn has been calling for explosive plays all season, and today, they came in bunches. Quarterback Bo Nix found wide receivers Ja'Varrius Johnson and Demetrius Robertson for two of his three total touchdowns on Saturday.
Auburn wide receivers showed up on Saturday following their poor performance against Georgia where they dropped 16 passes. On Saturday, they only dropped four. Auburn totaled 292 yards on 21 receptions.
Wide receiver Demetrius Robertson spoke on the work in the week saying, “Focusing on the little details. Get on top of the things we really need to work on.”
Quarterback Bo Nix turned in another good performance against Arkansas going 21-for-26 for 292 yards and one interception. Nix was able to add his legs to the offense as he rushed for 42 yards and the game clinching touchdown.
“[Bo Nix] has really been a lot more calm and poised [since the Georgia State game],” said Robertson.
Auburn’s defense gave up 460 yards of total offense but showed up when they needed too. No moment was more important than with seven minutes to go in the third quarter when defensive end Derrick Hall stripped sacked Arkansas quarterback K.J. Jefferson and defensive tackle Marcus Harris recovered it in the endzone.
“I didn’t even know he fumbled it. I just thought it was a sack,” said Derrick Hall.
Linebacker Zakoby McClain led the Auburn defense with 15 total tackles and nine solo tackles. McClain almost added the fumble recovery for a touchdown. After the game McClain said, “I really had the touchdown, but I gave it to him. [Marcus Harris] is my brother.”
Auburn goes into a bye week next week, giving the team time to fix mistakes and get healthy. Auburn’s next matchup is Oct. 30 against No. 13 Ole Miss in Jordan-Hare.
