REACTION: The Auburn Tigers blowout the Arkansas Razorbacks

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Score early this NFL season with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 money line bet. That's $150 if your team wins. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action. The app is super easy to use. There's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, overunders, and more. So visit FanDuel.com slash Lockdown and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Man, that was fun. You are Lockdown Auburn, your daily podcast on the Auburn Tigers, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Yes, welcome on into a reaction edition of Lockdown Auburn. I'm your host, Zach Blackerby. Thank you so much for making Lockdown Auburn your first list in every single day. Darryl Daffrich Montgomery radio legend hanging out with me as he does after every single one of these. And this may be the most fun one that we do. Arkansas, wouldn't stop Auburn's trash offense. Auburn scores 48, they win 48 to 10 in the most complete game, Darryl. The most complete game Auburn has played in years. Darryl Daffrich in years, what an incredible game for the Tigers from start to finish. Yeah, I was kind of feeling that way watching the game that I was going to comment on that and say, this is the most complete and as well as Auburn's played in three or four years. And I'm not being over dramatic or over emotional. I think that you go back and look, and look, here's the thing. I'm going to get this right out of the way right now. People will say, calm down, it's Arkansas. Okay, I get that. But Auburn has not looked this good at home against group of five teams in the last three years other than Akburn or someone like that or Alabama State. Auburn went on the road against an SEC opponent. And the reason why the atmosphere wasn't crazy or rabid or chaotic is because Auburn took that away and took it away early. Normally, Reynolds Stadium is a tough place to play and a tough place to get a W. It is. Auburn's played well there, give them credit. They've played really well in Fayetteville. But the reason why the crowd was so apathetic and so quiet was because of Auburn, 21-0 and you start sitting on your hands and you get very, very quiet. So give Auburn, it was a complete, complete, special teams, offense, balance on offense and defense. There wasn't anything, anything that Auburn didn't do at a high level last night. Yeah. I just love everything that Auburn's doing offensively as far as their pursuit for running the football. And obviously the comment about the trash offense was a dig at John neighbor's host of lockdown razor backs. That's what he said about Auburn's offense on our crossover last week. But when you look at what Auburn was able to do and Darryl, we talked about this on the Friday show. In fact, a lot of the things we talked about on the Friday show is exactly what happened. But there was a narrative that popped up last week that Arkansas can stop the run. And they can't. It's like a conference play. They're not really doing that. And what Auburn did to them on the ground was crazy. 354 yards on the ground. And it was kind of balanced, right? I mean, Jark was at 100, Peyton had 88, Demari had 64, Batty had 42, Robbie had two solid runs. I mean, there was just so much Auburn did on the ground and it was just a lot of different and they talked about in the TV broadcast a little bit, Derek Mason did about they'd hit you inside. They'd hit outside and there's just so much coming at you that Arkansas, they couldn't stop it. This offensive line, Darryl, is getting better over the course of the season. Auburn's running backs are getting better over the course of the season. Auburn's quarterback play is getting better over the course of the season. And these past catchers are starting to figure things out and get better over the course of the season. You free said they remember what you do in November. And so far, November is the month where Auburn has played their best football and it's been too long since we've been able to say that. Birds, I view of this and just kind of taking a big snapshot is that when we started talking about what Auburn's season, how it could play out, again, I'll give you credit. This has gone shock for exactly what you've said. I thought Auburn would have gotten one of those four in the middle four. But remember early in the year when people scoffed at you and laughed at you for saying that Arkansas was going to be the biggest game, well, it is as of right now. It is. The biggest win. Yeah, a biggest win. I still think that the potential could be there for obviously Alabama to be the biggest win. But if it doesn't go the way, if it goes chalk, this is a big win because of what it does setting up the rest of the year. If Auburn takes care of business against New Mexico State and we'll talk about the ball hierarchy later, how this really in a pecking order of things, just it's so much fun to be bowl eligible with two games left to go and though you can only improve your ball standing and look, fun fact, we've suffered through a lot the last two years. You and I doing these things together, some heartbreaking losses, coaching changes, the great potato famine of 2022. We have done 22 of these reaction shows and we have finally got back to 500 Auburn is 11 and 11 and these reaction shows. So praise God that we can have so much fun and look, for anybody out there that listens and watches this show, how fun was it to sit there in the third quarter and be freaking relaxed for a child? That was the most fun. That was the most fun. I was watching a football game in years, who's going to get snaps, you know, is Auburn's defense going to give up a touchdown or not? It was just so nice to have it in hand in the third quarter and relax and enjoy it. I love it. And so it's been, it's been a really a celebratory night tonight. It has. It has been. I mean, it got to the point where we can discuss like, is it going to be holding or is it going to be Robbie? Oh, Robbie. Oh, no, Robbie threw a pick. Okay. So it was hold. I mean, there was just, it got to that point where like that was the story of the game because Auburn just, let's just be, let's just be real here on both sides of the football. Auburn just lined up and beat the crap out of Arkansas. They were more physical. They were more athletic. And let's just be honest. I mean, there was so much talk about the quarterback matchup between, between KJ Jefferson and Peyton Thorn. Peyton Thorn was much better than KJ Jefferson was on Saturday night, both with his legs and with his arm. And, and, and I'm not actually sold that the entire supporting cast was that much different. I just think Auburn was a better team. They probably wanted it more. They're probably playing for more. I don't know. There's a million things that went into it. But something that you said, I think this now kind of opens this box of hope for this Auburn program for the Auburn coaching staff for the Auburn fans. New Mexico State is what it is. We'll talk about that game probably Thursday and Friday. It's going to be more of a big picture week on the show. But when you look at it, and Auburn believes in themselves going into an iron bull at home, anything is possible. Well, they're, they are in. If they beat New Mexico State and continue and win four in a row, they are in as good a spot that they've been in since 2019 playing the iron bull. Because again, in 2021, as good as that game was and having to go to double overtime, Auburn was coming off. I think three losses in a row. They were really, they were free falling. If you go into a game winning four in a row at home, there's a belief there that is palpable. It's different. It's different. It was there in 17. It was there in 19. And make no mistake about it. I'll repeat it. I don't care that it was Arkansas. This is about Auburn and how Auburn played. And it's tough to beat a group of five team by 38 at home and play that complete of a football game. Auburn went on the road. Look, the quarterback did a lot of people thought some of the Arkansas guys that had their chess poked out at media days and acted like Auburn was in a different stratosphere that Arkansas, which just absolutely boggled the mind. Those people that thought KJ Jefferson was the next cam. He was sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter and it was due not to injury. Auburn forced that. They took him out of the football game because there was nothing left for him to play forward and see he was on the sidelines and they went, it's it's comparable to pulling the goalie in a blowout in a hockey game. It's like you're done. Sit over here on the bench. No point getting you hurt. Yeah. I mean, it's a brutal scene. It's a brutal scene. It's a statement is what it is. And you come back and make another dude, just take care of business next Saturday. You're riding high in as good a position as you've been in since 2019 to play that iron bowl. Yeah. Auburn fans, if somebody ever kind of pokes you for being excited about any of these wins on this winning streak, remind them that odds are the person who's poking you about it, talked up Mississippi state beforehand, talked up Vandy beforehand because Auburn fans certainly did both of those things. And then we just heard throughout the entire conference about how good Arkansas was because they had all these one score losses under their belt and they beat Florida. But that's relevant. That's relevant to my argument, though. That's why I even feel like I'm not just a moral, no, this is a big win because look at what Arkansas has done to this point, they've not got blown out. The team that everybody is penciling into the playoffs right now from the West that just won the Western division last night beat this team by three points. I'm not comparing scores. I'm just saying nobody has blown Arkansas out. Nobody. Again, except Auburn. Well, somebody now has a exact blown Arkansas out, yeah, 48 to 10 can't stress that enough. All right. I want to talk about some of the defensive moments that stood out to me, stood out to you, Darryl, as well, all that's coming up with a special reaction edition of locked on Auburn today. Show brought to you by our friends at LinkedIn jobs, Darryl. You've used LinkedIn jobs to hire for your company and look, maybe Sam Pittman may need LinkedIn jobs. So tell them how great it is. Man, we had to go get two key positions, a welding position and a shipping clerk and just didn't do it with the traditional, put it out there on the internet or put it on social media. We used LinkedIn. We got somebody that was certified and was both candidates were good candidates and that's what we were looking for. And we felt like a lot of the legwork, Zach, was done for us. And that's important. When you get to the interview process, you feel like there's already been a lot of homework done. And so that's why we enjoy using LinkedIn and it's been beneficial for us. Yeah. So be sure to post LinkedIn jobs as a chance, Sam Pittman may, may apply for your posting. We'll certainly see. But LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster, post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on college at it's linkedin.com slash locked on college to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Attention all college football fanatics every Friday locked on presents locked on college football kickoff lives from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern time on any locked on college YouTube channel. Local anchors Drake, Tol Kenton, Gives, and Alex Donnell will get you ready for the full slate of upcoming college games from all the rivalries, conference standings, national standings, and betting angles for all the in-depth local analysis from our stable of college hosts across the country who know these teams better than anyone else. Check out locked on college football kickoff live every Friday. It's a one-stop shop to get you ready for the college football weekend part of the locked on podcast network your team every day. We talked about a okay, who could have their career game on the defensive side of the ball. We both said Jalen McLeod and we were correct three sacks. I think he got credited with nine total tackles, six of them solo, four tackles for a loss. He forced the fumble. Yeah. He took over the game at during spurts of it. He was incredible. He really was. We had heard he was getting healthier and that's important, right? He wasn't playing in 100% early in the year and you could see this building. It was building and it was building from week to week. So it was a pretty slimmed up pick because you could see it coming from a mile away, kind of like we could see it with var coming from a mile away. As these guys got healthier, it was a health issue. We knew that they were going to start playing to their potential. He was absolutely a menace coming off the end. Alburn had what, five total sacks and he had three, that's really, that's what you need from your edge and give McAllister credit who looked like the part of what Alburn was trying to get when they got needed another edge rusher from Vanderbilt made a really great play, just jumping over the blocker in the air. So yeah, McLeod went off the defense. We felt like they were going to be very, very effective against this offensive line and they were in, they were disruptive and give KJ Jefferson credit because a guy that doesn't go down, a normal quarterback that doesn't go down like that, almost feels three more, right? So in the back field, Al gave him creating havoc, just hats off to that defensive front. I mean, the front seven was that Eugene Asante was all around them too and they didn't necessarily bring him down because KJ plays so big, like you were saying, Darryl, but still just impacting it. He couldn't throw the ball. It was, I mean, it was awesome. Marcus Harris had a few plays where he just took over and they couldn't do anything about it. Marcus impacted more the run game. It seemed like from the past. Did he cause the fumble though? I mean, I think he caused the fumble. He ended up with it. Did he cause it? No, I think I'm talking about the wooden fumble was, wooden is the one that ended up with it, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I think Harris caused that. Yeah. He Auburn didn't give it to him. They only have Jalen McLeod and Zion Puckett with a force fumble, but they don't always nail that. So I don't know. Got you. I don't know. But regardless, I mean, just two incredible, two incredible standout performances, I think, Auburn's defensive front. And look, go into the season. We talked about the two biggest concerns for this team were wider seiver, and I still think that's kind of out there. And then the past rush. And I'm okay with what the past rush is done up to this point now. And it's getting, once again, we talked about all the offensive production is getting better over the course of the season. Past rush certainly has. Linebacker certainly has defensive backs been good, but I think they're looking better because other pieces around them are performing at a higher level. But this team, man, this team, I'm just really, like, I'm happy they got this. Like, it looked like they were having so much fun. A lot of videos coming out of the locker room with, you know, in the few minutes afterwards. I'm glad they got to celebrate this because this is really stinking cool. You don't get to just blow out teams in the SEC on the road 48 to 10. Very old. So. And shout out Heather Dennis, who was right about, I think, the receiving room. And I want to make this point. We said at the beginning of the year, if Auburn's receiver struggle, fair weather can pick up the slack and mask some of that inadequacy in the receiving room, if you throw to him. And that's what's happening. He's become the target inside the 15, the touchdown maker, fair weather has. And so that's fine. I don't care if it's tied in. I don't care if it's a running back because the receiving room is struggling right now. Whoever is effective to throw it to and gets you touchdowns and fair weather has stepped up and kind of taken that mantle, I think. Yeah. Fair weather has five receiving touchdowns on the season. That is the most for an Auburn tied in since Lutzie did it in 2011. He had seven in 2011. So we'll see if fair weather can tie or beat that. He's got two, maybe three more games to do it assuming he plays in the bowl game. So. But yeah, yeah, you're right. And the Auburn receiver room is interesting because I actually don't think it's as bad as I did, they're just all the good players play the same positions. And they have nobody on the outside that I think they'll good about. Amen. That's the problem. You can't because I mean, they had run Javaris Johnson on an out route that normally outside receiver runs that route as a slot guide. He made a great catch in Peyton Thor put it right on him because earlier, the two earlier drives that hit Brown and the hands in the chest both times out where you get to the stick route, where you get past the first out marker and he dropped both of them. So and give Jay Fair credit who made a really nice play on that swing pass and got his absolute bell rang out of bounds on the targeting fall and came back in the game and play, but he looked good evading some outside guys on that route as well. Yeah, I think they feel good about Jay Fair. I think they feel good about Javaris Johnson and I think they feel good about Kayla Burton. Oh, who've been a great play to start the game. He kind of set the sound of an offense. I mean, that was 45 yards right out of the shoot and grabbed it below his knees, nice play and set the tone for the day offensively. It was a great job. Yeah. That opening drive by Auburn was a Picasso that deserves to be hung on a wall somewhere in the Lou, my friend. Yeah. Yeah. It needs to be somewhere. Let's for sure. But yeah, the can Brown drops these things like you can't do that. You can't do that. And I don't know how they fix it. I don't know if you just put Revaldo at outside receiver more than you are currently outside of the red zone. I don't know, but it just seems like anytime they throw it to an outside receiver, it's like a wasted, like a wasted pass at this point. And it stinks. I hate it for all these guys. And I don't think hooks was targeted again. He's out there. He wasn't. He wasn't. He's out there. He wasn't. I think he played like high 20 snaps against Vandy and that there was like a rumor that he wasn't even out there. No, he was out there. He played, but it's just he wasn't thrown to and I think he was targeted last night either. And so that's interesting. Can Brown's getting most of the outside targets now and he didn't do anything with it either. So man, did I, I mean, you know, I got to call, I got to be honest and we talked a lot of, about a lot of things that we hit on 100% the key aren't they Scott, pot return, what's loud are, but I missed and missed big on my assessment, my height, miss, my over excitement about Can Brown and what he was going to become at Auburn so far. Well, and that's me with hooks. I missed me time on hooks. Yeah, I just was like, thought this dude was going to be a difference maker was just locked in on him and man, I, I, I missed, I mean, I missed. Bad. So far. Yeah. I mean, we'll see, we'll see if he sticks around, you know, it's got plenty of reasons to stay. I can't imagine a whole lot of folks being in the situation to, to hop him on the depth chart, but who knows, who knows? I think it's going to be a wild off season, but all in all, dude, an awesome, an awesome game. Let's highlight a few things where like need for improvement. I think Peyton Thorn, all in all looks great. I think it's the same, I think it's Vandy last week. He's just like one throw, one or two throws every game where it's like, what are you doing? Right. I hate to say this, but 12 of 20, let's do as adjusted completion rate should be 15 of 20. Should absolutely. It might be better. You know, we record this before like a lot of the PFF stuff comes out, but like it may be better than that. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. But yeah, that pick was bad, like it was hard to really justify that. But outside of that, I felt really good about that. And, you know, his ability to run the football, it still doesn't seem like defense is already for it, even though he's done it so much now, it just doesn't seem like defense is really focused on him as a threat. I don't know if it's because they're selling out for Jarquets and DiMari when they're in or what, but that's been great outside of that and the can brown drops. I'm really happy with pretty much, pretty much everything that I saw. The way he runs the ball is not only underrated, but so important because at some point in the game, later on in the game, Auburn can go back to that RPO and this time, the defense will key on Peyton Thorn and that's when you'll see Hunter and Austin and Betee get some good runs and that happened in this game. Arkansas started to collapse a little bit on Thorn and overplay him the edge guys and then he just handed the ball off and Auburn got some big runs. Jarquets Hunter is now 20th all time in Auburn, rushing yards. He passed 2000, only 20 players in Auburn history have 2000 career rushing yards. He has 2000 and eight, so next up is Lionel James with 2068, so he'll probably pass them against New Mexico State, but props to Jarquets Hunter. I think he's been awesome down the stretch and I'd put this up at AuburnDaily.com, but when you look at what Auburn's done on this winning streak, now it's three games that are row here. I think you can make the argument that they have the best rushing attack in the SEC right now. Yes, and that's their identity and they've got the best rushing attack and I don't think coincidentally you've seen Thorn getting more efficient in playing better to go along with that rushing attack. I think the two are linked and so is there going to be a game where Auburn's rushing attacks going to bog down. I don't think it's not going to happen Saturday, but let's say it happens in the Iron Bowl where Alabama's defense, you know, keys and Auburn stays around a hundred yards on the ground, can Thorn eclips that magical 200 yard passing mark to make the difference. I think the more he plays and the more he's not looking over his shoulder and the more success he has, that could be feasible in the Iron Bowl. Right. You have to be. They may have to be. Couple of things to look forward to Darryl and I, we will be reacting live Thursday night after Auburn plays Notre Dame up in Brooklyn for Auburn basketball and then depending on when or lose, we will know exactly what time they play on Friday, but we will go live after that game as well and then we'll go live Saturday after the New Mexico State game. So three live shows in a row for me and Darryl Daprich and also Darryl will be on the show Friday as well. So I'm going to work and I'll be covering that in Mexico State game at Auburn from the press box. I'll be there live. I want to just say one quick thing that we really get to enjoy now as Auburn fans that we haven't for a while is the feeling of already being bowl eligible and only being able to improve on that. The bowl hierarchy and the bowl preferences right now for Auburn continues to get better after each win and think about this. Our console will not be going to a bowl vendor bill will not be going Mississippi State if they lose to a and M. We'll have to win out with Ole Miss on their schedule South Carolina has to win out with Clemson on their schedule to go to a bowl. So Auburn already slots itself. Don't you agree Zach that right now or if they take care of business against Mexico State, especially if Florida loses to LSU, Auburn is a more desirable bowl picked in Kentucky, Florida, perhaps even A&M, if A&M starts its downward slide, that just keeps putting them in the pecking order going upwards in this bowl projection. I think so. I mean, I think what happened last night kind of assures you you're not in Birmingham. So I think Auburn fans can have a sigh of relief with that. Yeah, I mean, the two that I'm kind of lying right now is the music city bowl, which was a great time. Last time Auburn was there, they destroyed Purdue and then one that I always enjoy watching, I don't think Auburn's been there since it became this, but the dukes may O'Bull. Like those are the two that I'm kind of looking at for Auburn right now as far as, okay, this is, I think this would be a nice place to kind of park and injure season, injure season either in Nashville or Charlotte. Those are probably two places that I would probably take my family to, you know, for a few days. I think that'd be fun. It's great for the fan base. It could improve though, because here's the deal. This is so much fun to talk about and it's because we haven't. If Alabama and Georgia both get in the playoff, which is feasible, now you start going and Auburn becomes SEC number five selection, SEC five, only Missouri, Tennessee, you know, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, actually it would be number six, but they may jump over Texas A&M. That gets you even better. They may jump over Texas A&M, and then if, if Alabama wins the SEC, I think they take Bama and Georgia, right? Correct. I think you get Ole Miss, LSU, and maybe even Tennessee with the loss they had against Missouri, they fall behind Auburn. But either Ole Miss or Missouri, I guess it'd be Ole Miss, they're going to sugar anyway. Right. Right. So you can get up into that, maybe that, you know, outback cotton bowl text, I mean, there's a different, it just, it becomes more desirable. I don't want to go to the outback bowl, but I get it, like it is a better bowl game. You go from the eighth or ninth selection, which what we were looking at to sixth, and that matters. That's a lot better bowl game. Especially when you look at all the preseason stuff about how Auburn, I mean, all these preseason power rankings had Arkansas and Mississippi State better than Auburn. Like for a big chunk of the season. Yeah. And you're like, hold on, let us get through these four brutal games and actually play teams that we've kind of shot at beating in year one of a new head coach. And then finally, I get all the events itself out, right? It all even itself out. I mean, the realization, all these Arkansas people had that they're like, oh, we are Arkansas. We are actually these things that people say that we are like, that was beautiful. It was such a nice feeling because a big narrative that's popped up is like Auburn's Auburn. And it's like, well, that's not like, that's not what you're like, what you're saying is it what you mean? Right. Right. I mean, Auburn's a place where you can certainly win. So it's been nice, Darryl. It's been nice to kind of see that evolve over the last month, just because so many people counted Auburn out. And like some people are going to roll their eyes at this, like seven of five is not good. Like whatever. But everybody said you weren't going to do that. And so all the folks that listen to this show that I was saying, hey, bet the over on six and a half, like, good deal. Like I just, I don't think Auburn, I think Auburn's farther along now than a many people thought they would be at this point, which is a one and we can go and some more positive news. And when you come off the win and your program continues to ascend upwards, we can end this show with the news that Jemanta Waller has just flipped from Florida to Auburn. The five star recruit has just announced it two minutes ago. And that's why I was thinking, hey, let's just stay on a little bit longer and see what goes on. But he has told Hayes Fossett that he has flipped his commitment from Florida to Auburn. So that's a nice way to finish up and bookend this night for Auburn and this recap. Auburn gets a five star commit to flip from Florida. Darryl, how can people check out everything that you've got going on? Follow me at DAP6410. You're going to catch me a lot of your show next week and then Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon as well. So I'll do like your mom said, mom blacker, we say, get some cough drops. She told us for Friday show when I was struggling to get through, I'll get my cough drop so I can talk as much. Yeah, be sure to check out all of our stuff at AuburnDaily.com and we will see you tomorrow. This has been Lockdown Auburn. Score early this NFL season with fan duel, America's number one sports book. Right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 money line bet. That's $150 if your team wins. If you've been thinking about joining fan duel, there's no better time to get in on the action. The app is super easy to use. There's a wide range of betting options, including spreads, player props, overunders, and more. Go to www.bindool.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season fan duel official partner of the NFL going to events is fun buying tickets to those events shouldn't be stressful. And it's always my job to get tickets. Good thing I have the game time app. Game time has deals on tickets right up to the day of the event. My favorite game time feature is the seat view image from the tickets I'm about to buy. Download the game time app today, create an account and use the code Lockdown College for $20 off your first purchase. Download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price, guarantee. James Allen dot com is the online destination to easily design a customized engagement ring and save up to 50% compared to traditional stores. You pick a diamond, whether it's lab created or earth created, James Allen has over 200,000 conflict free stones. Then you pick your ring setting and metal. If you need some help, they have real time diamond consultations available where an expert can walk you through it all. Get 25% off your order at James Allen dot com code Lockdown. That's James Allen dot com code Lockdown.