The Auburn Tigers quieted some critics with a huge 52-20 victory on Saturday over the struggling Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville.

However, even at 6-2 heading into this weekend’s bye, coach Gus Malzahn’s squad still has plenty of questions to answer heading into a tough end-of-season schedule, which features games at Texas A&M and home against Georgia and Alabama.

If Auburn wants to avoid an 8-4 (or even a 7-5) record, it must have a productive bye week and come back strong Nov. 4 in College Station.

The final part of the regular season will be incredibly important for Malzahn as he tries to save his job and lead the Tigers to a high-profile bowl game once again.

Therefore, these three questions will be big ones for Auburn to answer during the bye this week:

Can Jarrett Stidham step up against good teams?

Stidham has definitely been one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC this year, but that doesn’t mean he has been great overall.

In fact, against the two toughest defenses Auburn has played — Clemson and LSU — Stidham has only completed 22 of 50 passes for 244 yards and one touchdown. He was also sacked a whopping 11 times against Clemson.

If the Tigers are going to defeat any of their three remaining SEC opponents, Stidham has to take his game to the next level.

Auburn has relied heavily on its running game through the first eight weeks, but Alabama and Georgia both have elite run defenses, so Malzahn has to figure out how to make the Tigers’ passing game more effective.

Can the Tigers find an impact return man?

So far this season, wide receiver Noah Igbinoghene has been the primary kickoff returner and defensive back Stephen Roberts has handled most of the punts.

While those two players have been fine, with Igbinoghene averaging 26.8 yards on kickoff returns and Roberts averaging 7.7 yards per punt return, they have not been particularly explosive.

Few plays in football change a game more than a long return, so the Tigers need to find someone who can break off an explosive return every now and then.

WR Ryan Davis went 16 yards on his only punt return of the year. Auburn needs him on offense, but perhaps in big situations the Tigers can use Davis as a return man, much like the Pittsburgh Steelers send star WR Antonio Brown back to field punts every now and then.

Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Can the Auburn defense hold up against the run?

Auburn’s run defense ranks 28th in the country, giving up only 124.4 yards per game, but that strength will be tested after the bye.

Auburn's run defense is No. 4 in the SEC -- but the top two (Alabama and Georgia) are ahead on the Tigers' schedule.

That’s because Texas A&M (No. 32), Georgia (No. 10) and Alabama (No. 8) all have elite ground attacks and each put up more than 200 rushing yards per contest (with Alabama averaging an incredible 298.8 yards per game).

Therefore, Auburn’s remaining games will feature strength-against-strength battles along the line of scrimmage, and the Tigers’ ability to hold up against the run will be critical in deciding the outcomes.

The Tigers have already lost to Clemson (No. 25 rushing offense) and LSU (No. 28). Neither rushing attack put up more than 200 yards against Auburn but that’s still not a great sign heading into the stretch run.