Never say never in college football, and Arkansas is walking into Saturday with at least one reason to believe an upset at Auburn is not out of the question.
The sport has changed plenty in the last decade - NIL, the transfer portal, coaching money, realignment - but the chaos is still there. Results from the last two weeks only add to that feeling.
Auburn has already beaten then-No. 1 Georgia on the road, 27-24, but also dropped games to LSU, 38-17, and Ole Miss, 45-15.
Arkansas has had its own uneven stretch. The Razorbacks came close to knocking off Tennessee at home before falling 24-17, then followed that with a 31-21 win at Vanderbilt. That looked like it might spark a turnaround, but Missouri shut that down last week with a second-half surge in a 34-10 loss.
So now it comes down to two first-year head coaches trying to stop the slide. Ryan Silverfield and Alex Golesh both need a win, and Silverfield has one edge that stands out: he is 3-0 over the previous three seasons against Golesh during his Memphis days against USF.
That matters, at least a little, even if the setting is very different now. Memphis had one of the best NIL budgets among Group of Five programs, and USF was climbing under Golesh, so those matchups were never exactly apples to apples. Still, Silverfield has handled Golesh before, and that kind of familiarity can carry weight when both teams are searching for answers.
The rosters also tilt slightly toward Auburn. According to the Razorbacks On SI offseason tracker, the Tigers have four 5-stars, 33 4-stars and 37 3-stars. Arkansas enters with one former 5-star, 28 4-stars and 44 3-stars.
Even with that talent gap, Auburn’s defense has been leaking points lately, giving up 83 over its last two games. That gives Arkansas a path to finding some rhythm on offense if it can keep things together long enough.
For Silverfield, the bigger task is simple: move past the Missouri collapse and show progress instead of another step backward. And with his past success against Golesh, Saturday afternoon in Auburn may be the best chance Arkansas has to do it.
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Arkansas Faces Another Tough Mobile QB Test Against Auburn
Auburns offense brings another difficult assignment for Arkansas on Nov. 7, and it starts with quarterback Byrum Brown. He has become the Tigers most dangerous runner this season, piling up 484 yards on the ground with seven rushing touchdowns while finding the end zone in six straight games, a profile that forces defenses to account for him on nearly every snap.
Ryan Silverfield acknowledged the challenge this week, pointing to Browns athleticism and his comfort in Auburns offense as the traits that make him so hard to contain. For Arkansas, the task is familiar but no easier: stay disciplined in the run game, keep Brown from turning broken plays into explosives and avoid letting one player dictate the rhythm of the night. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Offense Puts Silverfield Under Pressure Entering Auburn Week
As Arkansas turns the page toward Auburn next Saturday, the attention around the offense has shifted as much to the sideline as to the field. Ryan Silverfield addressed the possibility of in-season staff changes this week and made clear that he sees the responsibility for getting the Razorbacks pointed in the right direction as his own, even as the unit continues to search for cleaner production.
Silverfield also said offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey is the one calling most of the plays on game days, and he stood by those decisions despite the recent struggles. With Auburn looming, the pressure is no longer just about fixing the offense in the abstract. It is about whether Arkansas can show enough progress quickly enough to keep the conversation from turning into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Heads To Auburn With Silverfield Under Early SEC Pressure
Ryan Silverfield is already feeling the heat in his first season at Arkansas, and the trip to Auburn arrives with both programs searching for a reset. The Razorbacks are coming off a loss to Missouri, while Auburn has dropped its last two, turning this matchup into an early-season measuring stick for two first-year SEC head coaches trying to steady their teams.
Alex Golesh and Silverfield are both still working to put their stamp on programs that need a lift, and this one carries a little extra weight because of it. For Arkansas, a win in Auburn would not only stop the slide but also help the Razorbacks get back on track in the conference race, while the Tigers are facing the same kind of urgency on their side of the field. [Read more 🡒]