Auburn's Tough Week Capped Off With Loss

You think you have had a tough week, think about Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville. Auburn's offense stinks so Tuberville canned offensive coordinator Tony Franklin Wednesday to shake things up. Well all the Auburn offense did on Saturday was gain only 185 yards of total offense against Arkansas on Saturday and the Razorbacks upset the 20th ranked Tigers 25-22.

''It's been a tough week. I put our guys in a tough situation. I thought they fought hard, real hard. We didn't have a lot obviously on offense." Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. Seems like to me Tuberville is stating the obvious.

Auburn's quarterbacks Kodi Burns and Chris Todd really struggled. Burns threw for 119 yards and Todd 18 yards. They combined for 3 interceptions. Auburn couldn't run the ball against the worst run defense in the SEC. The Tigers only rushed for 98 yards.

The Auburn defense had a rough day to. Arkansas racked up 428 yards of total offense with Razorback running back Michael Smith having a career day at Jordan-Hare Stadium rushing for176 yards and a touchdown. No doubt Tiger fans had thoughts of Fred Talley, the Arkansas running back who twice ran wild at Auburn earlier this decade. Hog fans hope Smith isn't a one game wonder like Talley was.

Auburn has next week off, Tiger fans collectively are saying "Thank God." One thing is sure, it's gut check time down on the Alabama plains.

"Again, we are going to find out the character of our team." Tuberville said. "We are going to have to dig deep. We are going to have to dig hard. We are not playing very well right now. We are not coaching very well. Things keep snowballing on us. We need a little time to adjust and time to get people well and healthy."

Editors Note: Sorry that my joy of Arkansas finally getting a big win comes at the expense of Auburn. I had no confidence in the Razorbacks taking advantage of Auburn's situation after being blown out by Alabama, Texas & Florida but they came through. This win was huge for a program that's rebuilding.

Photos Courtesy: Associated Press