The six-game Arkansas losing streak to Auburn is over, and Bryan Harsin is out as head coach on the Plains after less than two seasons.
The Hogs had 520 yards of offense en route to Saturday’s 41-27 victory. Arkansas moved to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference while Auburn fell to 3-5 and 1-4. It marked the first time for Arkansas to win back-to-back road games since beating Ole Miss and LSU in 2015.
Can Arkansas make it three wins in a row against No. 23 Liberty in Fayetteville this Saturday afternoon?
The Razorbacks can if KJ Jefferson plays like he did against Auburn. Jefferson accounted for 279 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, Raheim Sanders had 171 yards on 16 carries, topping 1,000 yards for the season. Arkansas rushed for 286 yards while Jefferson passed for 234.
Matt Landers had four catches for 115 yards, and Jadon Haselwood added five catches for 61 yards.
Arkansas has now had at least one 100-yard rusher in nine consecutive games. Of the 286 rushing yards against Auburn, 216 came in the second half.
We were 9-1 on the picks last week to make the season record 59-16. Here are the picks for this Saturday’s games:
Arkansas 37, Liberty 34 — This has turned into a monster of a nonconference schedule with Cincinnati, BYU and now Liberty. Hugh Freeze has his team at 7-1. The only loss was by a single point, 37-36 to Wake Forest. The victories have come by scores of 29-27 over Southern Mississippi, 21-14 over Alabama-Birmingham, 21-12 over Akron, 38-24 over Old Dominion, 42-24 over Massachusetts, 21-20 over Gardner-Webb and 41-14 over BYU.
UCA 29, Eastern Kentucky 28 — The Bears moved to 4-4 overall and 3-0 in the ASUN with a 64-29 victory in Conway over a 1-7 North Alabama squad. UCA led 33-7 at the half and never looked back. Will McElvain was 15 of 24 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns. UCA must go on the road this week to take on a decent Eastern Kentucky team that’s 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The wins have come by scores of 59-57 over Bowling Green, 40-17 over Charleston Southern, 35-28 over Southern Utah, 56-53 over North Alabama and 28-23 over Southeast Missouri. The losses were by scores of 42-34 to Eastern Michigan, 31-20 to Austin Peay and 25-17 to Sam Houston.
Grambling 19, UAPB 10 — UAPB fell to 2-6 overall and 0-5 in the SWAC with a 27-6 loss at Florida A&M. It was the first game under interim coach Don Treadwell. UAPB’s Skyler Perry was 21 of 38 passing for 173 yards and one interception. This isn’t a vintage Grambling team that the Golden Lions visit this Saturday. Grambling is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the SWAC. The wins were by scores of 47-21 over Northwestern State of Louisiana and 35-6 over Alcorn State. The losses were by scores of 58-3 to Arkansas State, 66-24 to Jackson State, 36-19 to Bethune-Cookman, 34-14 to Prairie View A&M, 37-31 to Alabama A&M and 20-16 to Florida A&M.
Ouachita 35, Southeastern Oklahoma 25 — The Tigers are 9-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country in NCAA Division II by the American Football Coaches Association. But they received a scare last week as East Central Oklahoma led 18-14 late in the fourth quarter. The defense saved the day with two interceptions, which set the stage for T.J. Cole touchdowns at 1:56 and 1:33. With the 28-18 victory, Ouachita secured at least a share of its sixth Great American Conference title in 11 seasons. The Tigers can win the title outright with a victory in Durant on Saturday over Southeastern Oklahoma. But that won’t come easily. Southeastern is 6-3 and routed UAM by a score of 48-20 in Monticello last Saturday.
Henderson 48, Oklahoma Baptist 20 — The Reddies moved to 7-2 when they stopped Southern Nazarene’s two-point conversion attempt in overtime to win 42-41. Southern Nazarene fell to 3-6 with the loss. Oklahoma Baptist brings a 1-8 record to Arkadelphia this Saturday.
Harding 30, Southwestern Oklahoma 18 — The Bisons are 7-2 and ranked No 17 in the country by the AFCA following their 28-7 victory over 1-8 Northwestern Oklahoma. On a rainy afternoon, all but 15 of Harding’s 366 yards of offense came on the ground. Southwestern Oklahoma is 3-6 after a 22-21 loss at Arkansas Tech.
Arkansas Tech 24, Northwestern Oklahoma 17 — The Wonder Boys’ secured the one-point victory over Southwestern Oklahoma when Jesus Zizumbo’s 44-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright and then cleared the crossbar on the final play of the game. Tech can even its record at 5-5 with a win at struggling Northwestern Oklahoma.
East Central Oklahoma 33, UAM 23 — East Central showed the kind of talent it has by almost beating Ouachita. The Tigers from Oklahoma had won six consecutive games coming into that contest. They’re now 6-3 and should be able to handle a 3-6 UAM squad that has lost five consecutive games.
Southern Arkansas 44, Southern Nazarene 40 — The Muleriders improved to 4-5 with a 52-20 win over Oklahoma Baptist. Talented quarterback O.B. Jones was 16 of 18 passing for 224 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for three touchdowns. He’s getting better each week and should have another big game against Southern Nazarene.
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