AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn was off to the races against Arkansas' defense from the start Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Freshman receiver Eli Stove burned the Razorbacks with a 78-yard touchdown run Auburn's first offensive snap and the Tigers never slowed down in pounding out a 56-3 victory.
"Offensively, our plan was we felt like we had to run the football," Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said. "We were able to run the football and I thought that was a big thing."
The plan couldn't have worked out much better for Auburn.
The Tigers rushed 57 times for 543 yards to set a record for an Arkansas opponent.
Rice had held that record with 505 rushing yards in 1953 when the Owls beat the Razorbacks 47-0 in Houston.
"I think we were prepared," Arkansas senior nose guard Taiwan Johnson said. "We just came out and laid an egg.
"There's no other way to put it. There's no one to blame but ourselves. Myself included."
Auburn set a school record for rushing yards against an SEC opponent, surpassing 444 against Tennessee in 2014.
Adding to the insult for Arkansas, the Tigers broke the Razorbacks' record for the most rushing yards by one SEC team against another in a regular-season game.
Arkansas had the record with 542 rushing yards against South Carolina in 2007.
"It was definitely tough," Johnson said. "Things kind of spiraled out of control and got away from us a little bit.
"We never rebounded after they gained a lot of momentum."
The Tigers surpassed their per-game rushing average of 262.8 yards with 268 in the first half en route to a 28-7 halftime lead.
"That first play that goes to the house, you know they can't wait to get off the bus and run that," Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. "We've got to take a really serious look at some of the things we're doing.
"How we're making guys play and what we're asking them to do."
Auburn sophomore tailback Kamryn Pettway had 27 carries for a career-high 192 yards. Pettway, 6-0, 240, scored on touchdown runs of 9 and 23 yards.
"Their running back was very physical," Johnson said of Pettway. "He was running downhill, and he's a big, strong guy and hard to tackle. They just ran him like a workhorse."
Stove, making his first start for the Tigers, took a handoff from quarterback Sean White on a jet sweep, got outside and ran untouched into the end zone.
"There was just a misfit," Johnson said. "Guys [not] being where they're supposed to be.
"I don't know exactly what happened, but that's the way our defense works. If somebody's out of position, then they can hit us."
White faked the ball to Pettway on the play, drawing Arkansas' defenders to the middle.
"On the very first play, we didn't have the edge set," Bielema said. "We didn't spin down when that motion created the leverage on the play.
"For the most part, that was the story of the day. When we don't have an edge, we don't have a defense."
Bielema also talked about the Razorbacks' inability to set the edge when Alabama rushed for 264 yards in a 49-30 victory over Arkansas two weeks ago.
"It's very frustrating," Johnson said. "It's something we've got to get fixed.
"I keep saying that, but it's paramount. We have to get that fixed, and once we do, I think we can take some steps in the right direction.
"But until we then, stuff like this can keep happening to us."
Sports on 10/23/2016