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Auburn vs. Arkansas Preview

From Auburn Sports Information...

  • Auburn has won on its last three trips to Razorback Stadium, and is 5-3 all-time in Fayetteville. Auburn has won 20 consecutive games overall and 11 consecutive games at Jordan-Hare Stadium with Gene Chizik on the coaching staff.
  • Gene Chizik is just the third Auburn head coach in history to win his first five games, joining Terry Bowden (1993-94) and Mike Donahue (1904).
  • Auburn is fifth in the nation in scoring offense (41.4), total offense (512.8 yards per game) and rushing offense (253.8).
  • Auburn has already scored 207 points this season, which is just one fewer than Auburn scored all of last year.
  • Auburn has scored in every quarter this season, including at least one touchdown in 17 of 20 quarters.
  • Auburn has recorded five straight games of 400 or more yards of offense for the first time since the 1994 season.
  • Auburn is tied for seventh nationally in first downs (24.2) and has had at least 20 in all five games.
  • Auburn is tied for fourth in the nation in turnover margin (+1.6) and tied for seventh in interceptions (eight) and turnovers forced (13).
  • Auburn has come from behind to win in four of its five games this season.
  • Chris Todd has 12 touchdown passes this season. Last year, Auburn had just seven touchdown passes as a team during the entire season.
  • Todd ranks seventh in the nation in yards per completion (15.19), tied for seventh in touchdown passes (12) and eighth nationally in passing efficiency (160.81).
  • Auburn has two of the top five rushers in the SEC in Ben Tate (108.0 ypg) and Onterio McCalebb (83.2 ypg). Tate ranks 13th nationally in rushing (108.0), and is eighth in school history with 2,499 career.
  • Auburn's play-by-play announcers for the 11 a.m. CT kickoff on ESPN are:

    Dave Pasch ......................Play-by-play
    Bob Griese ................................Analyst
    Chris Spielman ........................Analyst    

Arkansas Quick Hitters

Arkansas is coming off a 47-19 victory over previously undefeated Texas A&M last Saturday in the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.

Arkansas has scored at least 40 points in three of its four games. 

The Razorbacks are seventh in the nation in passing offense (329.3), 17th in scoring offense (35.8) and 18th in total offense (441.0). 

Ryan Mallett leads the SEC in passing yards per game (287.0) and total offense (279.0).

Joe Adams (79.0) and Jarius Wright (74.3) are second and third in the SEC, respectively, inreceiving yards per game. 

While Arkansas leads the SEC in passing offense, the Razorbacks are last in passing defense (283.5), total defense (404.5) and scoring defense (29.0). 

Arkansas Tigers

Auburn juniors Kodi Burns (Fort Smith) and Lee Ziemba (Rogers) and sophomore Adam Herring (Springdale) are all natives of Arkansas. In addition, three members of the Auburn coaching staff hail from Arkansas. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is from Fort Smith and was a head coach at Springdale High School (2001-05), Shiloh Christian High School (1996-2000) and Hughes High School (1991-95). Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen is from El Dorado, Ark., and offensive graduate assistant Rhett Lashlee hails from Springdale and played at Shiloh Christian from 1999-2001.

Todd Terrific

Senior quarterback Chris Todd is off to a blazing start this season. He has established acareer high in passing yards three times already this year, first with 255 yards against Louisiana Tech, then with 284 yards against West Virginia, then with 287 yards against Ball State. He also threw for what was then a career-best four scores against the Mountaineers, before tying the school record with five the next week against Ball State. 

Daniel Cobb is the only other Auburn player to throw for five scores, doing it in an overtime game against Louisiana Tech in 2001. Todd is the first Auburn quarterback in history to throw at least four touchdown passes in consecutive games, and his nine TD passes in a two-week span were two more than Auburn had as a team during the entire 2008 season. Todd ranks seventh in the nation in yards per completion (15.19) and eighth nationally in passing efficiency (160.81). His 12 touchdown passes are tied for seventh most in the NCAA.

Auburn-Arkansas Series Notes
Auburn has won four of the last six games in the series ... The road team has won the last four contests and six of the last seven ... The Tigers went 5-1-1 in the first seven meetings in the series, before Arkansas won four of the next five contests ... The winning team has scored 21 or more points in every game of the series except 2003 and 2007 ... Eight winning scores in the series have been 30 or more points ... Nine of the 18 games between the two schools have been decided by seven points or less ... In the last seven meetings, Arkansas has averaged 201.3 yards rushing, ... At least one of the two teams has been ranked in 16 of the previous 18 meetings, including the last nine in a row ... The first meeting was a 21-15 Auburn victory in the 1984 Liberty Bowl.