Something has been missing from Auburn's offense early this season that was a staple of the team's success last year, and the Tigers hope to get it corrected soon.
After finishing second in the SEC with 41 plays of at least 30 yards last season, Auburn's offense has been lacking explosiveness through the first three games of 2018. The Tigers (2-1, 0-1 SEC) rank 13th in the SEC and 121st nationally with just two plays of at least 30 yards heading into Saturday's 6:30 p.m. matchup with Arkansas (1-2, 0-0).
"When we're at our best, we have more explosive plays," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "That's something that we'll be working hard to do."
Auburn's two plays of at least 30 yards have come in the passing game, and both were made by freshmen.
In Auburn's 63-9 thrashing of FCS Alabama State in Week 2, Jarrett Stidham connected with freshman receiver Anthony Schwartz for a 57-yard touchdown pass. Last weekend against LSU, Stidham completed a 33-yard catch-and-run to freshman running back Asa Martin.
Outside of that, Auburn's offense has just 10 other plays of at least 20 yards, which is 10th among SEC teams and ranks tied for 79th among FBS programs. Of those 10 plays, four have been runs -- again, all by freshmen -- and six have come in the passing game.
Last season, the Tigers finished 24th nationally with 75 plays of at least 20 yards, 50 of which came through the air.
"It's huge," Stidham said. "I think any time you can get an explosive play, it kind of ups your tempo, ups your game a little bit. I think that's something we really need to focus on, trying to get a little bit more explosive plays. But at the end of the day, we're going to take what the defense gives us. You can't try and force too many things. We'll just take a look at it and see what we can do."
Auburn hasn't had many deep-ball opportunities a quarter of the way through the season as a result of taking what the opposing defense has given the offense.
Against Washington, the Tigers faced a lot of cover-three looks, which made it difficult to complete passes over the top. Auburn finished that game with only two passes exceeding 20 yards -- a 24-yarder to Nate Craig-Myers and a 21-yarder to Darius Slayton.
The following week against Alabama State, the Hornets gave a lot of quarters looks in the secondary, which provided Auburn with more chances to take shots downfield. That's what led to Schwartz's long touchdown. The Tigers likely could have had more had there not been a concerted effort to establish the run throughout the game, with the team finishing with 430 yards on the ground and just 14 pass attempts for the night.
In last weekend's 22-21 loss to LSU, Auburn faced a lot of single-high looks on defense, which prompted some one-on-one looks to Slayton downfield. Stidham had a 20-yarder to Slayton, as well as a 28-yarder to Schwartz to go along with the 33-yard swing pass to Martin, but LSU's secondary, led by shutdown corner Greedy Williams, made completing passes downfield difficult, even in one-on-one coverage.
"It all depends on the defense we're given," Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. "If you look back at the ones we hit last year most of them were against two-high."
It also hasn't helped matters that Auburn has been largely without senior receiver Will Hastings, who was one of Stidham's go-to targets on deep balls last season. Hastings, who tore his ACL in the spring, returned to the field against Alabama State -- just five and a half months after surgery -- but has played only eight snaps the last two games as he tries to work his way back into last season's form. Hastings averaged 20.2 yards per reception last season, behind only Slayton on the team, and had a catch rate of 70 percent on passes of 20-plus yards, which was the best among returning FBS receivers, according to Pro Football Focus analysis.
"I hope so," Hastings said when asked if he can help with big plays. "I'm not saying I can because I've been told I'm not back where I was. That's my whole goal, is getting back to where I was, as the old Will. But, you know, these young guys are really killing it. Anthony Schwartz is killing guys on the deep ball. Matthew Hill is really good. He's quick. Seth Williams is doing great. Shedrick, all those guys.
"They're really good players, and they're way more talented than I am, and they can definitely do what I do in a heartbeat."
Auburn is banking on that moving forward as the team tries to improve its offensive performance -- both in terms of explosive plays and efficiency in the run game -- and get back on track after last weekend's loss to LSU.
"Those are really the two things," Malzahn said. "They go together. When you're able to run the ball, it changes things and opens up more explosive opportunities. And if you hit a couple, vice versa the other way."
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.