Auburn wide receiver Eli Stove burst through the Arkansas defense and wouldn’t be touched on this score.
Auburn and Arkansas are battling in one of Saturday’s marquee SEC games, behind Alabama vs. Texas A&M. They are both ranked and a win for either could move them close to the AP Poll’s top-ten.
The Razorbacks got off to a slow start in the beginning of the first quarter, struggling to run the ball and move down the field. They would turn the ball over to Auburn, who electrified Jordan-Hare Stadium in an instant. Tigers wide receiver Eli Stove took an end around play, something difficult to pull off, and burst through the Arkansas defense. He never got touched and darted all the way to the end zone for a 78-yard score. This put them up, 7-0.
A look at this drive-opening play can be seen below.
It’s a quick start for Auburn, who then scored another touchdown via Kamryn Pettway to go up, 14-0.
Going up by this much this early is a positive sign for the Tigers, who may be in a must-win situation for this evening game. The winner could even end up going to Atlanta, GA for the SEC Championship game later this fall, making it more important. This could be a date with Alabama, who is beating Texas A&M.
Auburn had even been hot coming into this game. After starting the year 1-2, they won three consecutive games against Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe, and LSU. If Gus Malzahn’s squad can top Arkansas, they’ll still have to face Ole Miss next Saturday, Georgia two weeks after, and Alabama to close the season. It’s a difficult road, but they could still get a decent bowl game.
Next: 20 Greatest College Running Backs In The Modern Era
Stove’s run started Auburn off great and seemingly kickstarted them with momentum for at least the first quarter of the game.