FAYETTEVILLE -- Second-year University of Arkansas Coach Chad Morris said he understands the frustration of the Razorbacks and their fans after Saturday's 51-10 loss to Auburn for the program's 15th consecutive SEC defeat.
But Morris vowed he, the coaching staff and players will continue to give maximum effort in hopes of improving this season. The Razorbacks (2-5, 0-4 SEC) enter Saturday's game at No. 1 Alabama on a four-game losing streak overall and a 12-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide.
Players of the week
Offense
TE Cheyenne O’Grady
The senior from Fayetteville caught a game-high 7 passes for 72 yards and 1 touchdown. He also took a quarterback sneak for 3 yards to convert a fourth and 1, and scored on a 45-yard pass play.
Defense
MLB De’Jon Harris
The senior from Harvey, La., racked up a game-high 10 tackles, including 5 solo stops and 5 assists. Harris also forced a Bo Nix fumble that accounted for the Hogs’ lone takeaway.
Morris was asked whether rebuilding the Razorbacks has been a harder project than he envisioned.
"I knew this league was tough," Morris said. "That didn't surprise me. We've played teams in this league before. But again, it's all about how we play, not who we play. I'll continue to stand by that.
"We've got to continue to play better to give ourselves a chance. We can't give the opponent a short field, a really good opponent, making mistakes. You just can't do that. And that's what we did. We did it in the first half, and they were up 17-0 on us right there. But our guys never gave in. They never quit on it."
Tua hurt
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a high right ankle sprain in Saturday's 35-13 victory over Tennessee, and he's been ruled out against Arkansas this weekend.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide (7-0) have an open date after the Arkansas game before taking on LSU. Tagovailoa was slowed by the same injury to his left leg late last season.
Mac Jones, a 6-2 redshirt sophomore, replaced Tagovailoa and completed 6 of 11 passes for 72 yards against the Volunteers.
Playing youth
The Arkansas coaching staff appeared to make a concerted effort at mixing younger players and seldom-used veterns into rotations Saturday.
On defense, end Eric Gregory got his first playing time of the season, while cornerbacks LaDarrius Bishop and Britto Tutt, nickel back Micahh Smith and linebacker Andrew Parker were among those receiving some of their most substantial reps of the year. Bishop started in place of Montaric Brown in the Razorbacks' 31-24 loss to San Jose State.
"Our plan was to try to continue to bring guys along and be smart about it, you know," said Arkansas Coach Chad Morris, who asserted the moves weren't a reaction to true freshman Devin Bush leaving the program last week. "We don't want to burn a guy's redshirt just to get a few snaps in. If we're going to do that, then we'd expect this guy to play a lot.
"So there's some guys we're trying to hold and some have gotten their four games in and some have gotten two or three of the four. We'll pick and choose when we're ready to play those guys. But it was good. Eric Gregory got in and got some snaps today. Again, we've got to try to bring those guys along and develop the guys we've got."
A youthful defensive lineup was on the field when Auburn backup tailback Harold Joiner broke through the line and sprinted in for a 32-yard touchdown with 2:27 remaining for the Tigers' final score.
Lopsided
Auburn's 51-10 victory was its second-largest margin during a series-best four-game winning streak against the Razorbacks.
The Tigers' past four victories in the series have come by a cumulative score of 193-36 for an average margin of 48-9. The spread has been 31 or more points in every game.
Keep it in
Linebacker Bumper Pool made a heady play when he kept a loose ball from trickling out of bounds on the Arkansas sideline in the third quarter.
Linebacker De'Jon "Scoota" Harris knocked the ball free from Auburn quarterback Bo Nix, who was rolling right on the play. Pool, whose momentum was carrying him out of bounds, tapped the ball to keep it in fair play, and defensive tackle McTelvin Agim recovered it on the Auburn 45.
"I was just running to the sideline, and I saw if I would have picked it up, I would have gone out of bounds," Pool said. "I wasn't trying to bat it. I was just trying to make sure it stayed in bounds and give our guys a chance to make a play on the sideline."
Agim corralled it on a play that was reviewed by the replay official.
"I saw Scoota come through the B gap and knew the quarterback was going to try to flush himself out," Agim said. "So I tried to beat him to the edge. The ball popped out. I started running out there, Bump started running out there.
"I was like, 'Bump, get on this ball, it's fixing to go out of bounds.' But then he hit it in bounds, I was like, 'OK, I'm the next person, so I need to try to get this ball.' I knew if I fell on it I might not recover it inbounds. So I just tried grabbing it and scraping my feet inbounds."
Two picks
Auburn recorded its second and third interceptions of the season against the Razorbacks, both of which were a little unusual.
Chandler Wooten got the first on a two-handed push pass from punter Sam Loy, who was trying to connect with a crossing De'Vion Warren on a fourth-and-11 fake punt. Wooten appeared to sniff out the play, tracking into Warren's path before intercepting the pass. Wooten got hammered by linebackers Hayden Henry and Grant Morgan after returning the pick to the Arkansas 37, but the Tigers missed a field goal to complete the series.
Cornerback Javaris Davis saw Ben Hicks' deep ball intended for Trey Knox and made a diving interception at the Auburn 44. The Tigers scored two plays later on Bo Nix's 28-yard pass to Anthony Schwartz to increase their lead to 31-3.
Slamming a 'Gate'
The Razorbacks got their first stop against Auburn by thwarting consecutive runs on third and 1, then fourth and 1 midway through the first quarter.
On third and 1, Joey Gatewood subbed in at quarterback for Bo Nix and got tackled for no gain by Arkansas safety Kamren Curl.
On fourth down, safety Joe Foucha came hard through a gap at right guard to nail Gatewood again for a 1-yard loss, spinning him in the air after upending the 6-5 redshirt freshman.
"They stopped us on the third and 1," Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said. "It was a stupid call to come back and call the same play. But give them credit, they were getting after it early.
"They got a little bit of momentum there in the second quarter. They were stopping the run, they were bringing extra guys off the edge, and they got our offense to stall."
Sports on 10/21/2019