For Auburn's football team, the past month has been one of discovery.
Against LSU, the Tigers discovered their identity. Against Mississippi State, they discovered just how well that identity suits them. During Saturday night's 56-3 thrashing of No. 17 Arkansas, they made their most significant discovery yet: Auburn football is officially back.
Perhaps declaring that Auburn is relevant again is jumping the gun. Perhaps Mississippi State is simply not good and Arkansas was tired from a brutal schedule, leading to a couple of nearly perfect weeks for the Tigers.
Perhaps Auburn might not be in this position had LSU snapped the ball one second sooner.
However, discrediting what Auburn's accomplished this season isn't a wise move. The Tigers' two losses came to still-unbeaten Clemson and Texas A&M — whose 33-14 loss at Alabama did as much to solidify Auburn as an SEC West contender as the 53-point pounding on the Plains. Those losses came before Rhett Lashlee became the playcaller and the offense found its footing.
"I told our guys that that was one of the most complete games that I think we've played since we got here," said head coach Gus Malzahn. "The good thing is that we are improving, and that's the name of the game."
Seeing this sort of midseason rise from Auburn isn't abnormal. The Tigers were sluggish on offense early in 2010 and 2013, only to correct their course and go to the national championship game both years. With a 632-yard performance (including 543 on the ground, just two yards short of the SEC record that Auburn set against Missouri in 2013), this offense has hit its stride and looks every bit as fierce as a Malzahn unit is expected to be — or, at least, was expected to be after his spectacular first season in charge.
The Tigers were unstoppable, as their only negative play came on a quarterback kneel on the final play. Kamryn Pettway continued his dominant run with fellow sophomore Kerryon Johnson out, rushing for 192 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
Sean White is continuing to settle into the offense, as he accounted for 138 yards of offense (77 through the air, 61 on the ground) and a pair of scores. Those numbers might seem low, but when you're gaining 9.5 yards on every rushing play, there isn't much of a need for the quarterback to carry his team.
"I think it definitely gets people's attention," White said of the Tigers dominant effort. "Whether they were watching or checking on their phone for the score, it doesn't matter. They're thinking, 'Oh, Auburn's doing something.' We've just got to keep it rolling."
Speaking of rolling, as if the running game didn't make White's job easy enough, the defense is continuing to establish itself as not only one of the best in the SEC, but one of the best in the entire country. The Tigers held an SEC foe out of the end zone (the first time they've done that since a 17-6 win over Florida in 2011), allowing the Razorbacks to gain just 215 yards — including just 25 on the ground.
"It's momentum," said defensive lineman Byron Cowart. "I'm starting to learn myself how big momentum is, and it's crazy because you feel it. When the offense is rolling and the defense is rolling, we're picking each other up."
Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen and running back Rawleigh Williams III entered the game as the SEC's passing and rushing leaders, respectively. Allen had a rough night, getting sacked three times and throwing a pick. Williams was limited to 22 yards on 13 carries and never had a carry longer than eight yards.
The Razorbacks failed to tally more than 20 yards on any of their plays. Their longest play was a 19-yard pass from Allen to Drew Morgan. They did, however, run 11 plays that lost yardage.
The defensive line is the best Auburn has had since its 2010 BCS Championship season. The entire unit is arguably the best to suit up at Jordan-Hare Stadium since the 2004 unit, which also contributed to an unbeaten season.
The quandary Auburn has faced for much of the Malzahn era has been that the offense and defense have never been in sync simultaneously. While the offense broke records galore during its better Malzahn-led seasons, the defense consistently cost the Tigers games or at least made games more competitive than they should have been.
Throughout parts of the 2015 season and early this year, it seemed as if Auburn's defense had finally come on strong, only to watch its offense become an incoherent mess.
Throughout much of this decade, Auburn fans have wondered, "What would this program be like if the offense and defense could both be on the same page?" Now, they know. It's the kind of program that can beat a ranked team by 53, the biggest win over a ranked team in school history. It's the kind of program that, despite two early losses, feels like it's playing as well as anyone in the country.
It's the kind of program that very well could be 9-2 when the Iron Bowl comes around. And it's the kind of program that's cemented itself as a contender for the SEC title and the College Football Playoff.
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