The Auburn Tigers’ upcoming matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks is quite important for a variety of reasons, from having a chance to further the Tigers’ chances at bowl eligibility to potentially snapping a two-game losing skid, but one reason might mean just a little bit more to head coach Alex Golesh.
If the Tigers are able to take down the Razorbacks this weekend, it’ll not only be Alex Golesh’s fifth win as the head coach of the Tigers, but also his first win over Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield, who bested him on three different occasions while the pair was at Memphis and USF.
No coach likes being winless against another coach, but the reset provided by both coaches’ moves to new programs may be the edge Golesh needs to take down a Silverfield squad for the first time in his career.
After all, the Tigers are heavy favorites against Silverfield’s Razorbacks, as early lines see the Tigers as 10.5-point favorites while ESPN’s FPI gives the Tigers an 80.4% chance to win. However, in the modern era of the SEC (or, really, any era of the SEC), anything is possible, and the Tigers would be fools to sleep on their upcoming matchup.
Golesh is not letting the early odds dim the effort of him or his team, though.
“This is a big one for us because it’s the next one,” he said. “You’re playing a football team that, in a lot of ways, is trying to, in year one, find their true identity… You have to buckle up and be ready to rock every single week. You have to be at your best every single week. The margins are tiny. Every part of everything matters.”
The Razorbacks currently rank last in the SEC in total scoring offense, with another last-place ranking in rushing offense, though they rank 10th in the SEC in total passing offense, which the Tigers’ battered secondary will need to keep an eye on.
The Tigers, by comparison, rank 13th in the SEC in total scoring offense, 11th in rushing offense and 14th in passing offense, which is by no means overly impressive, but hopefully enough to take down the Razorbacks in Jordan-Hare this weekend.
With a win against Arkansas, Alex Golesh would not only bring home his first-ever win against the former Memphis head coach, but also, with an additional win against Samford, the Tigers would be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2023.
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