Auburn likely to be without leading receiver

Meeting with the media Tuesday afternoon, head coach Gene Chizik sounded decidedly pessimistic that Emory Blake will be available for Arkansas this weekend. Blake injured his ankle during the second half of the win over South Carolina.

“We won’t know until later on in the week, but I’m not hopeful right now on Emory. I’m not going to rule him out, but we are planning to play without him,” head coach Gene Chizik said in quotes distributed by the team. “Again, we’ll keep working on it until the end of the week, but I’m not hopeful right now.”

Freshman Trovon Reed missed the win over USC with a shoulder injury, and has already been ruled out of this weekend’s game with the Razorbacks. Reed’s third on the Tigers with 13 receptions.

Blake’s loss would be an even bigger blow to AU’s passing game. The junior leads the team in receptions (19), receiving yards (333) and receiving touchdowns (four). Chizik said the twin receiving losses means it’s time for others at the position to step up and fill the voids.

“That’s going to be our two top receivers that we’re not going to play with him and Trovon Reed, but again, I think that gives great opportunity to some other guys,” Chizik said. “It’s where Quindarius Carr and Travante Stallworth and Quan Bray and DeAngelo Benton, speaking about a guy who stepped up to the plate last week, it’s going to be a great opportunity for those guys to step up if he does not play.”