Razorbacks hold off Auburn in turnover-filled clash

Arkansas wins 2024 SEC opener on the road against Tigers, 24-14

From the University of Arkansas

arkansasrazorbacks.com

AUBURN, Ala. —Arkansas football started SEC play with a massive, 24-14 win over Auburn (2-2, 0-1 SEC) in Jordan- Hare Stadium. Offensively, the Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) struggled for the better part of Saturday, but the defense, led by TJ Metcalf and Doneiko Slaughter, kept them in the game all day long. Metcalf, a sophomore safety from Birmingham, had a hand in four of Auburn's five turnovers while adding four tackles and two pass breakups. In the first quarter, Metcalf tipped a Hank Brown pass which Slaughter intercepted, he forced a fumble in the second quarter which was recovered by Stephen Dix and came away a pair of interceptions himself. 'He practices hard, him and his brother,' Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said after the game. 'They come from very strong parents and athletic backgrounds, as you well know. He's just a great kid and he wants to be good. I'm just so happy that things are going his way. I guess that's three picks in two games now.

He works hard, he's a very good tackler. Physical guy, and he's earned the respect more and more from his teammates. I know we damn sure believe in him.'

Being from the state of Alabama, Metcalf's breakout performance against Auburn was even more special for the sophomore. The Tigers didn't offer him a scholarship out of high school which served as added motivation for Metcalf to show out.

'Oh man, it was an amazing feeling,' Metcalf said after the game. 'Coach [Travis Williams] let us talk in front of the defense on Friday night. Just telling them what we thought about the game, about dominating the game.

He let some of the starters talk in front of the defense. My thing was just coming back home. Auburn didn't offer me out of high school, so it was kind of personal for me to come in here and get the win.' Slaughter was equally as impressive in Saturday's game after a rough outing in the team's 37-27 win over UAB in Week 2. The senior nickel back rebounded this week with a team-high seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and an interception.

Slaughter said the defense came out with a different mindset in today's game and last year's 48-10 loss to the Tigers was part of the group's motivation.

'We came out with a mindset, for real,' Slaughter said. 'We came out talking about last season the whole time. We got out ass beat, so we came in with a great mindset. Believed in Coach [Williams] and came out and did our thing.'

Auburn started redshirt freshman Hank Brown at quarterback this week, which was just the second start in his career. Slaughter said the game plan was to shut down senior running back Jarquez Hunter and the Auburn running, and force Brown to beat them through the air.

'We stopped the run. Stopping 27, he's a great running back,' Slaughter said. 'Shut that run game down and that starts with the entire defense.

We came in knowing [Brown] knowing he's a freshman, so he don't have a lot of experience but he's still a good player. Just make him force the ball and that's exactly what we did.

'We were coming into halftime knowing that 1 [Payton Thorne] would come in the game. We still played the same game plan, honestly. We didn't really have to change anything, just stop the run, same thing.'

UP NEXT

The Razorbacks will have another SEC test next week as they take on Texas A& M at AT& T Stadium in Arlington (Tex.). Kickoff time will either be at 2:30 p.m. or 3:15 p.m. (CDT) and either ABC, ESPN or SEC Network will have television coverage.