AUBURN, Ala. -- As 86,825 at Jordan-Hare Stadium roared, Gus Malzahn demonstratively pumped his fist from the Auburn sideline.
It was just the second quarter, but the actions of Auburn's crowd and its coach announced Auburn's dominance of Arkansas State in what ended up being a 51-14 rout.
A week after ASU couldn't slow Toledo's passing game, Auburn scored Saturday with the help of wild running plays, a one-handed catch and even a fake field goal.
The Tigers, held to 262 yards by No. 2 Clemson last week, piled up 706 total yards, 462 of which came on the ground, as they took control by scoring on six consecutive drives to close the first half.
When one drive appeared to stall in the second quarter, Malzahn instead went for the kill shot. He called a fake field goal in which Tyler Stovall flipped the ball over his left shoulder to kicker Daniel Carlson, who trotted past a fooled ASU defense for a 20-yard score and a 28-7 lead.
"That one was kind of the dagger," said ASU Coach Blake Anderson, whose team gave up more yards than in any of his 28 games as head coach.
The play that Malzahn said had been planned all week got the crowd going for a third time and enticed Malzahn's fist-pumping celebration.
"We got the look and our holder made an outstanding throw," said Malzahn, ASU's head coach in 2012. "That's not an easy deal."
If the trick play didn't end the game, it was because Auburn had already laid the foundation for victory with two earlier plays that caught ASU off guard.
First, White was falling to the ground when he got off a pitch to Kerryon Johnson, who broke a tackle, reversed his field and then tip-toed the sideline before falling into the end zone for a 47-yard score. White's deep pass on their next drive was picked one-handed out of the air by Kyle Davis, who was draped by Blaise Taylor and Money Hunter. Three players later, Johnson scored from a yard out.
Auburn added a 29-yard touchdown from Sean White to Will Hastings, a Pulaski Academy graduate who came to Auburn as a walk-on kicker.
The Tigers added a field goal before halftime.
"That just seemed to be the story of the night," ASU quarterback Chad Voytik said. "They made plays when they needed to and we couldn't bounce back from it."
What was disappointing to Anderson is that he thought his team was in position to stop some of the decisive plays.
Johnson was almost wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage before breaking loose. Taylor and Hunter each had a chance to bat down a ball that Davis caught. And Anderson said ASU wasn't rushing any one from the edge on the fake field goal, so a player should have been in position to stop the run.
ASU (0-2) wasn't able to respond, and for the second week in a row a game got out of hand in the second quarter. Last week, it was Toledo's three second-quarter touchdowns that set it on a path to a 31-10 victory. This week, it was Auburn's 17 points.
"We felt like ... potentially, our quickness out in space might give us a chance," Anderson said. "But, the second quarter just kind of got away from us and at that point it's not the same conversation."
Voytik, in his second start, took every snap until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter, and competed 15 of 21 passes for 215 yards. Anderson said Voytik "played the way he needed to play" in the second half.
Warren Wand made his first start at running back, and was held to 37 yards on 16 carries. ASU rushed for 66 yards and a 1.9-yard average as a team.
Wand was forced to do most of it himself after Armond Weh-Weh was lost in the first half to a knee injury. Anderson said he thinks it might require season-ending surgery.
But even the most potent offense would have had trouble keeping up with Auburn on Saturday.
Malzahn stuck with Sean White at quarterback, after a rough start last week against Clemson, and White completed 17 of 23 passes for 244 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kamryn Pettway rushed for 152 yards, including a 64-yard run up the middle in the final seconds of the second quarter that led to a field goal.
Johnson ended up with 124 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the 47-yard run sure to make highlight reel.s
"If we're on the field the whole game, we still have to tackle, we still have to communicate, we still have to make plays," cornerback Chris Humes said.
It came a week after giving up 556 yards, and 377 passing, in a loss to Toledo.
Anderson seemed befuddled by the defense's second consecutive lapse, especially since it returns 13 players with starting experience.
"It's not that they don't know the schemes," Anderson said. "They know the schemes. We just got to get consistently to where wer'e doing exactly what's asked."
Sports on 09/11/2016