Auburn’s Hugh Freeze met with local media on Monday and had plenty to say about what he believes is a much improved Arkansas team ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the Razorbacks at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Here’s what he had to say about the Hogs:
On Taylen Green and Arkansas’ improved O-Line
Despite a pair of rocky performances, it is hard to deny Arkansas is a better team than it was a season ago, especially when Auburn came into Fayetteville and served the Hogs a 48-10 embarrassment on their home field.
As far as Freeze can tell, the improvement starts with the offensive line and is amplified by the athleticism and playmaking of quarterback Taylen Green.
“A good football team that’s well coached,” Freeze said. “They’re deep in some places. They look like an SEC football team, particularly on the O-Line, running backs and tight ends. Quarterback is very, very dangerous.
“Their quarterback is one that’s going to run around and make plays. They’ve got a really good offensive scheme that makes you prepare for a lot of different things with experienced coaches who’ve done this a long time.
“O-Line is probably the most improved unit that I’ve seen this year with the guys they brought in from the portal. They’re really, really improved on the offensive line. It’s a lot to deal with in the way they’re using their quarterback in the run game and the pass game, and their running backs are really solid with an improved O-Line.”
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Are defensive similarities a good thing?
Freeze sees more similarities on the defensive side of the ball for the Razorbacks when comparing the current team to the one Auburn faced last season.
On one hand, Arkansas was one of the most improved defensive units in the SEC. The flip side is Auburn dominated the Razorbacks with 48 points and 517 total yards of offense, including 354 on the ground.
“Defensively they’re very similar to last year,” Freeze said. “A lot of returners. Probably better in the secondary a little bit. Front is the same guys. One backer (Brad Spence) is back. So, similar defensively. They’re playing really, really hard right now.”
“Big defensive line. Inside guys are huge. You know, 40 (Landon Jackson) is a preseason All-SEC guy at defensive end. They replaced a couple linebackers, but these guys seem solid.”
Razorback secondary presents new challenge
Auburn will turn to redshirt freshman Hank Brown for his second start against the Razorbacks on Saturday. Brown looked the part last weekend against New Mexico completing 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns.
Arkansas will be a different animal for Brown, and Freeze pointed out the physicality and press coverage he expects to see from the secondary as one of the keys for his offense to prepare for.
“Secondary, they’ll challenge you more,” Freeze said. “We haven’t been challenged like this. They’ll get up and pressure you. They’ll play a mixture of quarters and man and some three. They disguise it pretty good.
“All of them will get up and pressure you. It’s going to test us. How do we handle getting off the ball against press technique? We haven’t seen a lot of that. Cal’s DB’s were pretty good, but they were press-bail. It wasn’t true press. These guys will truly press you.”
Prepping for a Bobby Petrino offense
Arkansas will certainly have the most potent offense Auburn has faced to this point in the young season, something that is true from a talent standpoint as well as schematics under offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
Freeze — a respected offensive mind in his own right — has come away impressed with Petrino’s ability to mix and match between different schemes and his versatility of threats regardless of formation.
“I haven’t watched them on offense yet. I’ve been watching defense yesterday and this morning,” Freeze said. “I did ask DJ yesterday if anything has changed from what he’s normally done, and he said it’s very similar.
“What makes him so different is mostly what has typically been a very, very good mixture of pro-style offense with some of the college flair in it, and doing it out of a lot of big sets with a lot of tight ends that present extra gaps in the run game. Yet he’s able to throw all the 3-level routes and play-actions off of it.
“If you can get in 12-personnel, and be effective in running the ball, and take shots out of it, that’s a scary world to live in.”