AUBURN | To say Auburn’s 3rd-down defense has been poor would be an understatement.

In fact, it’s been downright atrocious through the Tigers’ first two games. Of the 74 teams currently playing in the FBS, AU ranks dead last in opponent’s third down conversions.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting off the field. We said that last week,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Of course (Saturday) night we didn’t do a very good job. That will be a focus. That’s one of those areas we’ll zero in and do a better job in the future. Both weeks that has been a tough deal.”

Auburn is allowing opponents to convert 63.6 percent of their third downs. Kentucky converted 12 of 20 (60%) in the opener while Georgia converted 9 of 14 (64.3%) last Saturday.

The Bulldogs were able to convert at that high of a rate despite averaging 9.3 yards to go on their 14 third downs.

“It was definitely hard to see that out there. It was a struggle,” sophomore linebacker Owen Pappoe said. “But we’re going to regroup and improve it in practice this week, and we’re going to make sure that we never see anything like that again. We’ll get that corrected.”

Pappoe couldn’t point to just one area the defense needed to work on when it comes to improving third downs. It's all areas.

“It’s just the little things throughout everybody’s assignments,” Pappoe explained. “So just look at the small details and everything. Make sure everybody’s in their gap, in the right leverage off coverage, things like.”

This Saturday should provide an opportunity for the Tigers to make some strides. Arkansas comes into the game with the SEC worst third-down offense, averaging just 30.1 percent per conversion attempt.

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.