Auburn and Arkansas came into Saturday’s matchup riding hot streaks. The Hogs had just upended Ole Miss in a thrilling come-from-behind win a week ago, and Auburn had reeled off three wins in a row, two over SEC opponents.
But Auburn looked like the team on a mission Saturday. The Tigers pummeled Arkansas, 56-3, in the second-biggest margin of victory in a regular season SEC game in program history, and the largest since 1970. The game was never close, never in doubt, and, outside of the first few minutes when the score was knotted at zero, owned by Auburn.
Here are some notes from Auburn’s record-setting night.
543 yards and a cloud of dust
Auburn rushed for 543 yards. That’s the most in any regular season SEC matchup, between any two teams. The Tigers narrowly topped the previous record, 542 yards by, ironically, Arkansas, when the Hogs bulldozed South Carolina in 2007. Auburn already holds the record for the most rushing yards in any SEC matchup, period, with the 545 yards the Tigers racked up against Missouri in the 2013 SEC title game.
Johnson on the mend
Running back Kerryon Johnson dressed out and gave it a go before the game, but coach Gus Malzahn said he wasn’t 100 percent. They elected to hold him out, and Kamryn Pettway, Stanton Truitt, Kam Martin and Eli Stove took care of business. He should be back soon, though. But if he’s not, Auburn’s got a stable of runners that can pick up the slack.
First-quarter feats
Auburn raced to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. That’s the largest lead the Tigers have had against an SEC opponent in the first quarter since they led by the same score against Alabama in 2005.
The 183 rushing yards they ran for in that first quarter Saturday were the most in a single quarter since that 2013 SEC title game against Missouri, when Auburn put up an insane 212 yards on the ground in the third quarter.
One more for you. In the last three games — against Louisiana-Monroe, Mississippi State and Arkansas — Auburn has outscored opponents 49-0 in the first quarter.
Spreading the wealth
Pettway, Stove, Martin, Truitt and Sean White all ran for touchdowns Saturday night. The last time five separate players each found the end zone on the ground was in 2006 against Ball State: Kenny Irons, Brad Lester, Tre Smith, Tristan Davis and Carl Stewart each punched it in that game.
Shutting it down
Arkansas came into the game with the SEC’s leading rusher, Rawleigh Williams. Auburn held Williams to 22 yards on 13 carries, and the defense limited Arkansas to just 25 yards rushing as a team. That’s the fewest Auburn has allowed to a conference opponent since 2005, when the TIgers held Ole Miss to just 23 yards on the ground. Auburn won that game 27-3.
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