O's woes

AUBURN - With a new offensive play-caller and a new quarterback rotation, Auburn's offense managed the same measly production Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

That the No. 20 Tigers couldn't run or throw effectively during their 25-22 upset loss to Arkansas wasn't particularly stunning considering the midweek turmoil that came with Tony Franklin's firing.

That Auburn's defense was unable to stop the Arkansas offense was surprising.

"We struggled on offense," Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We struggled in a lot of different areas. We are not playing very well right now."

That's becoming increasingly obvious these days.

It isn't just the offense that needs to be re-examined after the loss to Arkansas (3-3, 1-2), which had lost its last three games by a combined score of 139-31.

Even Auburn's normally stingy defense allowed 416 yards of total offense, including Michael Smith's 63-yard touchdown run that proved to be the winning score.

The Tigers had no answer for Smith, who finished with 176 rushing yards and the touchdown.

"The guy can run the ball and no doubt about it. It kind of reminded me of a couple of years ago when we couldn't stop the run (against Arkansas)," Tuberville said. "It is a little perplexing."

With the Razorbacks able to run the ball at will, it enabled them to hold the ball for more than 35 minutes and also opened up the passing game.

Casey Dick, who was intercepted twice, finished with 228 yards passing.

Several times, Dick exploited the same weaknesses Auburn (4-3, 2-3) showed on crossing patterns that Vanderbilt exposed last week.

In fact, a few big plays were the only reason the Tigers even had a chance to win.

Tristan Davis returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Neiko Thorpe and Josh Bynes had 59- and 31-yard interception returns, respectively, that set up field goals without the offense even requiring a first down.

On the second half's opening kickoff, Davis forced Arkansas kick returner Dennis Johnson to fumble. Chris Evans recovered at the Arkansas 25-yard line, setting up an Auburn touchdown.

While Arkansas picked apart Auburn's defense, the Auburn offense had tallied just 83 total yards of offense through three quarters.

"We're just not producing right now on the field," said receiver Rod Smith, who finished with just two catches for 28 yards. "We just need to get better. It seems like we can't catch a break. We had a tough week this week. We're definitely a team that's facing adversity right now with some of the changes that were made this week."

In the first game since Franklin's firing, Arkansas dared Auburn's quarterbacks to win the game by passing.

Neither Kodi Burns nor Chris Todd could do it. The duo combined for 10-of-28 passing, 137 yards and three interceptions.

"It was just inconsistency," said Burns, whose final-minute drive ended when Matt Harris intercepted his pass. "A lot of guys were open, and we missed a few reads. I think the biggest thing was we didn't run the ball too well. Running the ball would have opened up the pass a little bit better."

Burns finished as the team's leading rusher as well with 38 rushing yards. Auburn managed a just 56 rushing yards against an Arkansas defense that came in allowing 208.4 rushing yards per game.

The Tigers were unable to even muster a first down on seven of their 13 offensive possessions.

"We are going to find out the character of our team," Tuberville said.