It's once again time for TIGER TALK on the radio waves throughout the Southeastern United States!
LIST OF AFFILIATES AND LINKS
Prediction: It'll be solemn since it's taped. We need GUFFAWS.
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This is a taped segment since Auburn is on the road this week.
"It's good to have a two-game win streak."
"The margin between winning and losing is so small. It's going to be a great challenge for us (at Arkansas) and I'm really looking forward to it."
NOT ANDY asks about the way Auburn has worked in practice after winning games. "We've had a little more laughter, you know? I think we've worked really hard. I can't say that that's every single day. We're still growing with that. We're off to a good start this week. We'll see how we finish it. It's definitely a little more jovial and there's more laughter — coaches included."
ANDY wants to look back at the Vandy game and see so many Auburn fans in the stadium. "I don't want to ever ... I have great respect for everybody we play. But 70 percent Auburn (Andy estimated that as the AU crowd) might be low." GUFFAWS ALL AROUND
NOT ANDY asks about why the offense has been good early in games lately. "We're willing to play faster. We're willing to take some vertical shots down the field. They don't always work. Until the last few weeks, we've been hesitant to do either of those. The last few weeks is a product of us maturing a little bit and getting better at a few spots and changing as coaches doing some things differently."
ANDY asks about Jarquez's big runs early against Vandy. (Dude is a BEAST, that's why he does that.) "He's finally being a little more patient. He practices the game so hard. He runs physical. Running physical and not setting up your blocking scheme maybe results in some two-yard gains. If he let's things develop ... then the ability to have explosive runs in there for him. The skill set is there."
NOT ANDY asks about player development during the course of the season. "All year. We're looking to improve in that receiver room. We dropped seven passes that would have put that game totally out of hand. You're constantly evaluating every position — seeing who might be having a better week this week. Our secondary has some older kids in it. We're working hard at developing those younger kid. Every day except for Tuesday, I bet the young kids are getting (a bigger percentage of reps) than the older (guys)."
**COMMERCIAL BREAK***
ANDY asks about Arkansas' big win at Florida. "They honestly looked exactly like they looked last year. When Kendal ... was running the offense and we played them at Liberty. That's how I know. The guy who's calling it now was with Kendal for a long time. It's quite a bit different than what they were doing earlier in the year. A lot of plus-1 runs ... a lot of four-open sets ... with their quarterback running it. Tempo wasn't part of it at all until last week."
NOT ANDY asks about Arkansas QB KJ Jefferson. "He hasn't been protected very well until last week. Playing with tempo, he looked a lot more comfortable. I know KJ well. I recruited him some. I know he's a great leader."
ANDY asks about Arkansas DC Travis Williams. "His kids play hard. They run to the football, they tackle well, he understands who they are, they're going to be aggressive."
NOY ANDY asks about Justin Rogers and the defensive line. "We don't have very much depth there ... they've executed very well there for most of the season. Rotated well with Justin and Jayson, Marcus and Lawrence. At Jack, Elijah and Jalen have been solid. We're not rushing the passer real well. We've got to change that in recruiting."
ANDY asks about Keldric Faulk. "He's getting better and better. He's a freshman. He's a great kid to coach, great for the locker room. He fits the Auburn culture perfectly."
NOT ANDY asks about Arkansas' WRs. "Inexperienced, really. It's not a receiving corps that you feel like is head and shoulders over anybody we've faced. KJ extends plays. You think you have him hemmed up and the all the sudden he steps out and now it's a problem. That's the biggest issue you face in their passing game."
***COMMERCIAL BREAK***
ANDY asks about how Auburn regained its confidence during the losing streak. "I think the key for anybody in life, in marriage, in church, in businesses ... you're going to have unmet expectations that hit you square in the face at some point. Staying engaged ... is hard. We've got some kids that said: Look, we don't care what the scoreboard says, we're going to stay the course. Is that 100 percent? No. But we had enough. You've got to give a lot of credit to the leaders of the team."
NOT ANDY asks if bowl eligibility is a big motivational factor. "Not very big now, but it was before the game against Mississippi State. You're not guaranteed results even if you're doing it right. It's a great challenge for us to get to bowl eligibility."
ANDY asks if that's the theme this week: "This week is: I have a decided heart." (Mentions that it's derived from a book about Christopher Columbus. It's too nuanced for this space.) "What flows out of your mouth comes from the heart."
NOT ANDY asks for keys to the game. "It's going to be the same things you've heard. Take out the turnovers. Show me how many explosive plays we can create offensively. Show me how our defense does in the red zone."
Freeze ends with a quiet, confident WAR EAGLE.
That's a wrap.
BE GOOD. BE YOU.
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