No. 21 Auburn (5-2, 3-1 SEC) travels to Arkansas (2-4, 0-3 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday on SEC Network.
We reached out to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Tom Murphy to get some insight on the Razorbacks.
You can follow him on Twitter (@TomMurphyADG) for more Ole Miss info.
Here are our five burning questions:
1. What are Cole Kelley's strengths and weaknesses?
Strength No. 1 has to be his confidence, followed by a huge arm. He was not intimidated by the atmosphere of facing the complicated Alabama schemes last week and held up well despite game-long pressure. The hype of making his first start in that environment probably led to a couple, three throws with too much velocity. The 6-7 kid can see over most linemen and did a good job of keeping his eyes downfield last week. Kelley has a huge upside.
2. How has the Arkansas running game been impacted by the loss of Rawleigh Williams III?
Williams' loss has been felt in overall depth and in simply having its most complete back off the field. The struggles of Arkansas' offensive line have impacted everything with the offense, thus Devwah Whaley, Chase Hayden and David Williams have not exceeded 300 rushing yards yet, though all have at least 240 and average at least 4.5 yards per carry. Hayden's work in the WildHog formation has been good and David Williams has been a huge addition as a solid runner, strong pass catcher, decent blocker and quality teammate.
3. How has Jonathan Nance been able to get free for long completions?
In the Texas A&M game, Austin Allen got enough time in the pocket for Nance's deep posts to develop. The junior college transfer, supposedly the lesser talent when he signed with juco teammate Brandon Martin, just attacked the cornerbacks and beat the safety help on deep throws. Martin had a decent game last week, so the inexperienced Hogs WR corps is starting to fill in for the loss of Jared Cornelius, with help from speedster Jordan Jones, Deon Stewart and the others.
4. What is the biggest issue ailing the Arkansas defense?
Damien Harris' 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage last week added to the chunk plays Arkansas has given up after Texas A&M put together a handful of them. The Aggies racked up like 227 yards and 24 points on just a handful of plays, so there was a lot of grind-it-out otherwise. I'd say overall depth is one key issue, along with no premier havoc-wreaking pass rusher. McTelvin Agim is their best rusher on the line and he faces double teams. OLB Dwayne Eugene has been a spark, but fellow OLB Randy Ramsey has not done all that was expected. Some missed tackles in the secondary cropped up last week.
5. How do you see things playing out and what's your score prediction?
I anticipate Auburn will come out with a fire, much like the Tigers did last week, so I expect the Razorbacks to have to battle through adversity, which has not been a strong suit since late last season. My guess is the Auburn defense won't be giving up much more than 20 points, so for Arkansas to win its defense will have to turn in perhaps its best showing and produce a game in the teens or possibly the low 20s.
So many factors and stats go to Auburn's favor, along with a decided edge in special teams, that I'm thinking Arkansas will need to win the turnover battle and get a big boost from its home crowd to have a chance.