Auburn not only suffered a tough loss in Gainesville two weeks ago, they lost starting running back Boobee Whitlow for 4-6 weeks to injury following the team’s first loss of the season.

Considering how important the running game is to the overall success to not only Gus Malzahn’s offense but his entire program, heading out on the road without the team’s most productive tailback will be tough to pill to swallow. That issue is compounded by the fact true freshman Bo Nix has been largely inconsistent this season and may need to lean on the ground game to have success this weekend.

So what’s the plan for Auburn’s offense heading into the road trip to Arkansas? According to Gus Malzahn, the Tigers will take a running back by committee approach until Whitlow is able to return to the field.

“First of all, you have to be real, we are not going to Arkansas with one of the best tailbacks in our league, that’s the reality of the thing. But, we do have confidence in our other guys and confidence in our offensive line,” Malzahn said on Tuesday. “What we have been talking about is opportunity, we have guys with some opportunity. We will see how they fare.”

“Kam Martin, we know a lot about him, Kam Martin has played in a lot of big games and played well. Shivers is a guy we just talked about, he’s capable of making some plays. DJ Williams, we’ve talked about him, this will be his first time in primetime to see what he can do. In the spring, he performed very well. Harold Joiner will have a role, he has played, specifically in the Texas A&M game and Malik Miller is kind of our specialized guy.

“We are carrying that group, we will see how they do but I would be kidding myself to say Boobee Whitlow not going with us isn’t a big blow but we have opportunities for those other guys to show what they can do.”

While Auburn fans have not been able to see much of freshman DJ Williams on the field, the Florida native comes with plenty of hype following a late recruiting battle that the Tigers managed to win against several elite SEC schools. Williams fueled that hype with a strong showing in the spring and may now get his first real opportunity to show what he can do with a heavy workload on the field.

Malzahn was asked about evaluating Williams, who was a high school quarterback at Sebring High School in Sebring, Fla., and noted it didn’t take long at all to fall in love with the running back’s skill set.

“Someone showed me his highlight film and it took about five plays to figure out that guy was a real player,” Malzahn. “Everyone in the country offered him after that, so he’s got a skill set. This spring, he confirmed that and is feeling more comfortable.”

Following all the hype, we may finally get to see that skill set this weekend against the Razorbacks.