Auburn ready to hit the road

LITTLE ROCK (AP) Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville expects his team to be ready for this weekend&#39;s challenge its first road game of the season.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s not anything that anybody else doesn&#39;t go through,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We&#39;re really not concerned about it.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The No. 21 Tigers, who face Arkansas on Saturday night in Fayetteville, are one of two teams in Division I-A to have played only at home this season. The other, Nebraska, will also be on the road this weekend.<br> <br> Auburn (4-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) hasn&#39;t played a road opener this late since 1982, but sophomore quarterback Brandon Cox, making his first start away from home, isn&#39;t too concerned.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s going to be a hostile environment,&#39;&#39; Cox said. ``I don&#39;t think that&#39;s going to be much of a problem.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Cox threw four interceptions in Auburn&#39;s season-opening loss to Georgia Tech the Tigers&#39; only defeat in their last 20 games. Since then, he&#39;s been impressive, completing over 70 percent of his passes with no interceptions.<br> <br> Tuberville expects Cox to be challenged at Arkansas (2-3, 0-2), but he doesn&#39;t think his quarterback will have to change his approach because of the crowd.<br> <br> ``He&#39;ll just have to speak a little louder at times,&#39;&#39; Tuberville said.<br> <br> Cox will have less pressure on him if the Auburn defense continues its impressive play. The Tigers are allowing 9.4 points per game, second-fewest in the nation. They have been particularly dominant early, outscoring their last four opponents 104-0 in the first half.<br> <br> Tuberville said he learned most of his defensive philosophy while on Jimmy Johnson&#39;s staff at Miami.<br> <br> ``His emphasis was more on speed,&#39;&#39; Tuberville said. ``When you go with speed, you have smaller players. We just kind of fell into it. It&#39;s been good to us.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Antarrious Williams, a 5-foot, 11-inch linebacker, is second on the Tigers with 25 tackles.<br> <br> Last year, Auburn beat Arkansas 38-20 when tailbacks Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams combined for 172 yards rushing. This year, the Razorbacks have the feared running game. Arkansas is third in the nation with 286.4 yards rushing per game.<br> <br> Darren McFadden and Felix Jones became the first Arkansas freshmen to run for 100 yards in the same game in a win over Louisiana-Monroe last week. Razorbacks coach Houston Nutt said he&#39;s not sure he&#39;s had a freshman duo like this one.<br> <br> ``I don&#39;t know if we&#39;ve had two as talented as these two,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Arkansas must win four of its last six games to become bowl eligible, and its schedule includes trips to play No. 5 Georgia and No. 10 LSU. But Tuberville said the Razorbacks have shown signs of rallying.<br> <br> Since an embarrassing 70-17 loss at No. 1 Southern California, Arkansas was competitive in a 24-13 loss at No. 6 Alabama, then beat Louisiana-Monroe 44-15.<br> <br> ``They came back and played two good ballgames since. ... I&#39;m sure they&#39;ve got a bit more confidence in what they&#39;re doing,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Nutt improved to 18-1 at Little Rock&#39;s War Memorial Stadium with last week&#39;s win. Now, he hopes the home crowd in Fayetteville can help his team upset Auburn and end the Tigers&#39; 12-game winning streak against SEC schools.<br> <br> ``We take advantage of home field,&#39;&#39; Nutt said. ``And we need to do that Saturday.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Tuberville expects a difficult time, but he says Auburn should be prepared to handle it.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re ready to go,&#39;&#39; Tuberville said. ``We might not do anything on offense, but it won&#39;t be because of playing on the road.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)