Gus Malzahn did himself absolutely no favors watching his Auburn Tigers cough up a 9-point halftime lead in Baton Rouge last week. The fact they went scoreless for the second half’s entirety made the 27-23 defeat that much tougher to stomach. They’ll look to get healthy this week against an Arkansas Razorbacks squad that currently brings up the rear of the SEC West after dropping an ugly 41-9 decision to the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa last week.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 8 game is set for Saturday, October 21, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Razorback Stadium. This game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Auburn
Arkansas Check Back Later
Odds Analysis
There’s nothing to report here initially with the Hogs not knowing who will line up under center for this contest. These SEC West rivals have played to some one-sided affairs recently with the average margin of victory coming by 24 points per game over the last five meetings. Arkansas was only favored in one of those contests, and it won and covered that game the last time they hosted this rivalry back in 2015. In the other four matchups, the Razorbacks went off the board as an 11-point underdog on average. With Bret Bielema’s kids still in search of their first conference win, expect them to once again be receiving an ample amount of points.
Injuries
Austin Allen – Since going down with a shoulder injury back on October 7 versus South Carolina, Arkansas has only been able to muster a grand total of 31 points in their last two games. Granted, one of those games came against Alabama, but it’s quite obvious the offense just isn’t the same without their senior field general. In games Allen participated in fully, the Hogs dented the scoreboard for an average of 35.3 points per game. That’s a precipitous drop-off with him out of commission. If he can’t go once again, Arkansas will have all kinds of trouble finding a way to put the pigskin in the end zone for a second straight week running up against Auburn’s No. 9 ranked scoring defense.
Player to Watch
Cole Kelley – The redshirt freshman had the displeasure of making his first collegiate start against the vaunted defense of the Crimson Tide. After coming in on relief for the injured Allen versus the Gamecocks, he went on to throw for 140 yards on 8 of 13 passes with a 1:1 TD/INT ratio. The kid hung tough last week completing 23 of 42 passes for 200 yards with a 1:1 TD/INT ratio. While much of the yardage was accrued with the game well out of hand, it was somewhat impressive regardless. Should he get another start, it will once again be tough with the Tigers bringing the nation’s No. 17 ranked pass defense with them into Fayetteville.
Free ATS Pick
While I’d feel a whole heck of a lot better if Allen was under center for this one, I suggest backing the Hogs in this matchup. This game will go one of two ways for Auburn. They’ll either hit the field like gangbusters after coughing one up at LSU last week, or they’ll enter the game feeling sorry for themselves and give an Arkansas team desperate to make a splash in SEC play the opportunity to make a game of it. I’m more for the latter scenario occurring. I’m simply not a believer in Malzahn. Auburn is going to be laying a healthy amount of points in this matchup, and enters it a bankroll depleting 1-2 straight up and against the spread the last three times it was installed road chalk. After getting its brains beaten in by TCU the only time it was lined a home pup this season, I expect the Hogs to come out fired up for its SEC home opener.
College Football Odds: Tigers 30, Razorbacks 27
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