FAYETTEVILLE - When Arkansas and Auburn play each other in football, there is no such thing as home field advantage. At least, not recently.
Since Auburn won five straight over the Hogs from 2016-20, the last of which was a controversial game in which Bo Nix appeared to fumble on Auburn's game-winning drive, the road team has won in each of the last five contests. That included a 2021 win in Fayetteville from the Tigers that pushed their winning streak in the series to six games.
Arkansas then went to Auburn in 2022 and doled out the final loss of the Bryan Harsin era, while AU returned to Fayetteville in 2023 and waxed the Hogs 48-10. Arkansas beat Auburn 24-14 in a defensive battle in 2024 before Hugh Freeze scored his final SEC win as Auburn's head coach in Fayetteville last season against interim head coach Bobby Petrino.
"Excited to be back home," said first-year Auburn head coach Alex Golesh. "Excited to play at Jordan-Hare. This is a big one for us, because it's the next one."
Auburn got off to a roaring 4-2 start that included a road win over then-No. 1 Georgia in Athens before dropping its last two games to LSU and Ole Miss in blowout fashion to fall to 4-4 and 2-4 in SEC play. Golesh in 0-3 against Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield, as the two clashed thrice during their time in the American Conference at South Florida and Memphis, respectively.
"The coaching circles are pretty small, so I've run into him on occasion, sometimes on the road recruiting," Silverfield said of Golesh. "And obviously he's one of those guys who rose through the ranks and never played a down of college football and just kind of worked his way up. So respect for him in that manner."
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield during the second half against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. | Nilsen Roman | Hogs On SI Images
Both teams need a win on Nov. 7, but the Razorbacks arguably need one more. After a deflating 34-10 home loss to Missouri on Saturday, morale is low in Razorback nation.
"You're playing a football team that in a lot of ways, is trying to, in Year 1, find their true identity," Golesh said of the Razorbacks. "We've got to go play our best football on Saturday. We've gotta go find a way."
Golesh was complimentary of Arkansas' offense and was careful not to give the Hogs any bulletin board material, even if that meant lying through his teeth about the Hogs' offensive acuity.
"Offensively, this is a team that's built on running the football," Golesh said. "Got a mobile quarterback that's done some really good things and has a running back core that, as this has gone on, has run it better and better."
Through eight games, Sutton Smith is Arkansas' leading rusher at a paltry 217 yards, good for only 27.1 yards a game.
"I think the offensive line, a veteran group, has gotten better every single week," Golesh said. (For reference, Silverfield said after the Missouri game that the offensive line played poorly and reiterated that point on Monday.)
Golesh also complimented QB KJ Jackson, saying he had also improved every week, though he took a step back against Missouri by committing two turnovers and completing only 20 of his 34 passes without a touchdown through the air.
This year's edition of Arkansas-Auburn, as has been the case in years past, certainly isn't the hottest ticket in the SEC. But it is a big game for two first-year head coaches, and Silverfield is certainly hoping the trend of the road team prevailing rings true this week.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/arkansas as Golesh's Excitement To Play Arkansas At Home Out Of Place Upon Look At Recent Trend .
