Razorbacks Report

Hogs get ready for hostilities

Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen prepares to take a snap during a game against TCU on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks have focused heavily on how to operate their offense in front of a hostile crowd of more than 92,000-plus at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.

The first true SEC road game for the No. 17 Razorbacks also will be the largest crowd the first-year starters, such as quarterback Austin Allen, have played before. The Razorbacks defeated TCU 41-38 in double overtime in Week 2 before a crowd of 48,091 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

"It's big for us," Allen said of the nonverbal communications aspect. "We worked on it Tuesday and today. I think everyone's in tune with what we're trying to do with all the hand signals and everything. We've got to go out there and execute it."

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Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said handling the atmosphere ranks among the biggest tasks for Arkansas against the No. 21 Tigers.

"The crowd's a factor; noise is a factor," Lunney said. "Night game on the road in the SEC creates challenges from a communications standpoint, and we've been working hard trying to have a good solution for it."

Deep to Reed

Arkansas receivers coach Michael Smith said Dominique Reed's 51-yard touchdown catch over the top of the Ole Miss defense to open the scoring last week was big for the senior and the team.

"He put on tape what he's been capable of doing his whole career," Smith said. "For us as an offense, it just solidifies our deep threat. We've got a guy that can go downtown. We have a couple of them, which Cody [Hollister] did against Alabama.

"When you've got another guy who does that, it definitely helps in the game plan. Teams who prepare against us are aware of it."

Sprinkle update

Tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. said Jeremy Sprinkle should be in position to contribute after aggravating an ankle injury against Ole Miss. Sprinkle was wearing a walking boot Monday in the Smith Football Center.

"He's played a lot of football for us and knows our system pretty well," Lunney said. "One of his greatest assets is he's smart, and he knows the offense. I'm looking for him to hopefully do some good things for us on Saturday."

Celebration bites

Arkansas' defensive players, stoked with some of their good plays in last week's 34-30 victory over Ole Miss, eventually learned that high-fiving, back-slapping and helmet-tapping came at a price against the Rebels.

On several occasions, the Rebels got back to the line of scrimmage and were ready to snap the ball while celebrating Razorbacks were scrambling to get aligned. Some of the happy times were followed by chain-moving gains.

"We're going to cut that out," safety Josh Liddell said. "You can't worry about what happened last play. You can't celebrate. You can't high-five each other. You have to get the call, line up and get ready for the next play. That's the key against Auburn."

O-line protection

Bret Bielema has gotten a little snippety when asked about the Razorbacks' offensive line in recent weeks.

When a reporter who covers Auburn asked about the unit's "struggles" on Wednesday's SEC teleconference, Bielema responded, "Again, this world loves to be negative. People want to talk about struggles, but we try to emphasize the positives.

"We have three new starters in our lineup that have gotten better every game. They've done some really good things. Everybody wants to show the negative plays they had against Alabama, but there were a lot of plays where they played very, very well.

"I think if I dwell on the negatives like everybody else, we for sure wouldn't be getting to where we need to be. Our guys have made steady improvement."

Like Bama

Arkansas offensive personnel compared the Auburn defensive backs to those of Alabama, whom offensive coordinator Dan Enos described as clutchy and grabby.

"Their DBs are really fast, really big," receiver Drew Morgan said. "I think their experience is in the defensive backs. It's going to be a challenge for the wide receivers this week to get separation.

"They play a lot like Alabama where they want to jam you in your face, and we're going to accept that challenge."

Elevation

Arkansas is hoping to not have a repeat of 2014 at Auburn, when the elevator carrying coaches was stuck during halftime. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, tight ends coach Barry Lunney and defensive backs coach Clay Jennings had to communicate by phone during halftime.

"Maybe we'll have an elevator walk-through," Lunney said. "It's just one of those freaky things that can happen anywhere, anytime. ... I have thought about it, trust me."

Open date data

Auburn will be the second consecutive Arkansas opponent who is coming off a bye week. The Razorbacks dispatched No. 12 Ole Miss 34-30 last week after the Rebels had an open date.

Arkansas is now 2-1 under Bret Bielema against teams coming off bye weeks, and Ole Miss has been the opponent each time.

The Rebels downed Arkansas 34-24 on Nov. 9, 2013, after an idle week, then fell to the Hogs 30-0 the next season after an open date.

1,000 for Allen

Quarterback Austin Allen, the SEC leader with 1,861 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes, was among nine midseason additions to the Maxwell Award watch list, the Maxwell Football Club announced Wednesday.

Allen is the only Arkansas quarterback to start a season by throwing two or more touchdown passes in seven consecutive games. He's the only current player in the FBS with two or more touchdown passes in seven games. Allen also leads the FBS with 1,000 passing yards against top 25 opponents.

Bielema makes cut

Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema was one of 23 coaches named to the watch list for the Paul "Bear" Bryant coach of the year award, sponsored by the American Heart Association and Marathon Oil.

The No. 17 Razorbacks are off to a 5-2 start heading into Saturday's game at No. 21 Auburn. Arkansas' 34-30 victory over No. 12 Ole Miss last week was its fourth victory over a ranked team in its past six outings. Arkansas is 11-3 dating back to a 54-46 victory in four overtimes against Auburn last season.

Landshark!

Offensive tackle Dan Skipper made a quick "Landshark" gesture, with his right hand pressed sideways against his forehead, toward the Ole Miss sideline after Arkansas' final kneeldown in Saturday's 34-30 victory.

The 6-10 Skipper was using the gesture made famous by the Ole Miss defense, which calls itself the Landsharks.

Skipper tried to play it off Wednesday, so he was asked whether he would do it again.

"I don't have the choice to do it again," he said. "So it happened, and we're moving on."

Sports on 10/20/2016