Auburn could smell bowl eligibility from the opening kick, marching straight down the field led by Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne in just six plays. Thorne hit freshman Caleb Burton on a crosser over the middle for 45 yards. Thorne also showcased his dual-threat ability accounting for 28 yards with his legs, including a 12-yard touchdown run.
That would be a bad omen in a 27-3 half, where the Hogs would be dominated in all three phases of the game. Thorne finished with more rushing yards (79) than KJ Jefferson had passing (66).
Auburn took a page out of the Hogs' book. Having relied on special teams to carry them throughout the season, the Hogs were burned by a 74-yard punt return down the left sideline by Keionte Scott and doubled Auburn's lead to 14-0 less than 5 minutes into the game.
After 483 yards against Florida, the Kenny Guiton offense did nothing, starting their first three drives with three and outs,forcing the boo birds out early. Punter Max Fletcher was forced into action often. It went rather poorly, back-to-back shanks of 35 and 28 yards set Auburn up with short fields. The Auburn offense continued to wear out the exasperated Arkansas defense with a variety of screens, run plays and quarterback keepers. A tight end screen to Rivaldo Fairweather, and the Hogs continued to dig a deeper hole, 21-0.
Travis Williams, returning to face his alma matter for the first time, wasn't having much fun. His unit featured a lowlight reel of missed tackles and bad angles until Dwight McGlothern picked Thorne off and weaved through traffic for a marvelous return of 42 yards to set up the Hogs on the fringe of the red zone. The Enos Era miscues returned. The Hogs finished the first quarter with 24 total yards and zero first downs and only turned the gift into a Cam Little field goal.
Pittman already backed into coffin's corner saw no choice but to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Arkansas 24, an 8-yard run by Jefferson finally netted a first down and allowed Arkansas to run true tempo for the first time all day. The drive once again stalled, this time at midfield, forcing Fletcher into action for the fourth time.
Old demons continued to rear their ugly head, as the Razorbacks' home woes continued, Jefferson fumbled the ball with less than 30 seconds left in the half, costing the Hogs yet another field goal, after Auburn just drove the ball 73 yards in 13 plays for a field goal moments before. The Hogs will get the ball first out of intermission to try and jumpstart a comeback.
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