SEC Football

Razorbacks Tame Tigers

Final Score: Arkansas 25, (20) Auburn 22

Auburn, AL- Michael Smith ran for 176 yards on 34 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth that proved to be the game- winning score, as Arkansas upended 20th-ranked Auburn, 25-22, at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Casey Dick threw for 222 yards on 17-of-32 passing and was intercepted twice, but ran for a score as the Razorbacks (3-3, 1-2 SEC) ended a three-game losing streak.

Auburn quarterback Chris Todd completed just 3-of-10 passes for 18 yards with a pick, and his teammate Kodi Burns was not much better under center. Burns threw for 119 yards on 7-of-18 passing, was intercepted twice, and overthrew several receivers in the end zone late in the game.

Burns ran for 38 yards and a score for the Tigers (4-3, 2-3), who will likely drop out of the rankings after another stagnant offensive performance. Auburn, whose offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was fired on Wednesday, gained just 193 total yards to Arkansas' 416 and posted just 11 first downs.

Auburn held a 20-10 lead in the third quarter, and saw Arkansas draw within one point shortly into the fourth. After Tigers kicker Wes Byrum missed a field goal on Auburn's next drive, Arkansas took the ball at its own 20-yard line. On 2nd-and-5 from the 37, Smith sprinted through a gap into open space and ran past most of Auburn's defense.

He ran up the middle of the field and cutback to his left to get past one final defender, then dashed into the end zone with 8:50 showing on the clock to give the Razorbacks a 25-20 lead.

After a pair of punts, Auburn embarked on a drive led by Burns, who completed a 38-yard pass to Tim Hawthorne. It brought the Tigers down to the Arkansas 15, and eventually Auburn obtained a 1st-and-goal situation at the five.

Burns ran once for one yard, then completed a pass to Rodgeriqus Smith, but out the back of the end zone. His pass left to Hawthorne was out of the receiver's reach, as was his next toss, over the middle to Eric Smith.

The turnover on downs gave Arkansas the ball, and the Razorbacks opted for an intentional safety. But on the ensuing series for Auburn, Burns was intercepted to effectively seal the game.

Arkansas got on the scoreboard first with a 27-yard field goal from Shay Haddock, a little past the midway point of the first quarter. But Tristan Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a score, and a 7-3 Auburn lead.

The Tigers took that lead into the second quarter, and a defensive play helped them extend the advantage. Neiko Thorpe intercepted Dick and ran back 59 yards to the Arkansas 20. But the drive stalled and Byrum booted through a 45-yard field goal.

However, the Razorbacks responded with an 80-yard, 11-play drive that Dick capped with a one-yard run to tie the game with 6:42 left in the half. But later in the quarter Byrum was successful from 36 yards out to give Auburn a 13-10 lead at halftime.

A fumble by Arkansas' Dennis Johnson on the kickoff to start the second half gave Auburn the ball deep in Razorbacks territory again. Starting from the 24, the Tigers moved downfield with a 13-yard pass from Todd to Montez Billings, and several runs later, Burns rushed three yards into the end zone.

But Arkansas stayed in the game, and later in the quarter the team drove 62 yards in nine plays, ending in a six-yard toss from wide receiver Joe Adams to Dick. With 3:02 left in the third, the Razorbacks had drawn within 20-16, and got within a point on Haddock's 44-yarder less than a minute into the final stanza.

Game Notes

Adams had four catches for 60 yards...Auburn's Ben Tate ran eight times for 32 yards...The Tigers next play on October 23 at West Virginia...Next Saturday the Razorbacks travel to Kentucky.

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Razorbacks Tame Tigers

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