AUBURN, Ala. - Arkansas and Auburn football fans are wondering which trends might hold up today when the SEC West rivals face off at 4 p.m. in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

There is the road winning streak in this series, which stretched to three with Auburn's 9-7 victory in Fayetteville last year. How about the anemic pattern of the Auburn offense, which has scored five touchdowns in the past 17 quarters ? There is also the woeful Arkansas run defense, which has given up an average of 303 yards in its two SEC games.

The Razorbacks (2-3, 0-2 SEC ) make their second road trip of the season against No. 20 Auburn (4-2, 2-2 ), which spiced up preparations Wednesday when Coach Tommy Tuberville fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin.

Tuberville will collaborate with Steve Ensminger in calling plays today, and the Arkansas braintrust expects Franklin's Spread offense to be greatly minimized in favor of a more conservative ground-based approach featuring backs Ben Tate and Brad Lester and possibly "running" quarterback Kodi Burns (Fort Smith Northside ).

"When we study the video we understand it's going to be a very hard, physical football game," Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said. "That's what we expect - to go in and compete, play physical, play with great effort and get the game in the fourth quarter with an opportunity to win it."

Petrino has some insight into Tuberville and several of his assistant coaches. He was on Tuberville's staff as offensive coordinator in 2002, a year in which the Tigers ranked third in the SEC in scoring.

"It was a great place to have your family," Petrino recalled earlier this week. "A small college town, very similar to Fayetteville. Real good people. Big, loud, obnoxious crowds on game day. It's part of SEC football. I certainly had a great time there."

Auburn has been tabbed as a 17-point favorite despite the fact the Tigers average just 18. 7 points a game, which includes a punt return score and three defensive touchdowns.

"We've got a lot of improvement to make, especially on the offensive side of the ball," Tuberville said. "We've got to find some way to start scoring some points consistently.

" You got back to the chemistry and the atittude, and we're not around the corner yet, but we're getting close."

Tuberville fired Franklin after Auburn scored 51 points in its past four games, including 14 points on defensive scores.

But the Tigers see an opening against an Arkansas team that has lost three in a row by a school-record 108 points. The Razorbacks have moved the ball more consistently than Auburn, but score fewer points per game (17. 4 ) and haven't been as stingy on defense.

"It's tough, but I think it's growing pains," Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs said. "I think everybody knows we're starting a lot of freshmen and we're a young team.

" We have lot of things to improve on, but as long as we can keep seeing strides being made, then I think that gives everybody the conf idence and the will to keep going out there."

Auburn ranks third in the SEC in total defense, allowing 249 yards per game, and the third-down conversion rate (18. 3 percent ) of the Tigers' opponents is a statistical marvel. The closest rate in the SEC is Kentucky's (25. 3 percent ), while Arkansas' defense brings up the rear (44. 1 percent ).

The Razorbacks showed improvement through three quarters last week but wound up gouged by Florida's running game in the final quarter.

Arkansas defensive coordinator Willy Robinson knows every future opponent can see the Hogs' deficiencies.

"You have to look at your weaknesses first, and our weakness is not being able to stop the run," Robinson said. "So you would have to figure if Coach Franklin was here or not, their game plan would come into running the football."

Robinson suggested Burns might benefit from the offensive change in his competition with Chris Todd, who has started the past five games.

"If they change, [Burns ] adds another dimension, kind of like what we've faced the last two weeks with the Texas kid and the Florida kid," Robinson said. "This guy is a really good athlete back there. We may see a lot more play-action than we would have anticipated, besides the running game and the boot. So they will move him out of the pocket and let him have that option of throw it or run with it."

The anticipation of an Auburn ground assault means Arkansas' front seven will have to show up physically and exhibit better gap control than it has through its first five games.

"That's more opportunities to make plays is the way I see it," Arkansas linebacker Jerry Franklin said.

Auburn leads the all-time series 10-6-1, but it has been a quirky rivalry. The home team has lost five of the past six games.

Auburn fans were expecting a team in contention for the SEC West this season, not one that already has two losses in a season the Tigers began with a No. 9 preseason ranking.

"Every game they've played [in the SEC ] has been real close," Petrino said. "They could easily be 4-0. They could easily be 0-4. They're 2-2. Hopefully we're right there in the fourth quarter and it's a real close game.

" It's going to probably be the loudest game that we've played this year on the road. I think that stadium is a lot louder than Texas."