AUBURN, Ala. – Determined to bring heat, Auburn's defense kept Arkansas out of the end zone, allowing only 13 completions on 32 pass attempts Saturday in the Tigers' 34-3 win.
"Our defense played outstanding," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "I think we held them to 3-of-17 on third downs, had two turnovers. Really our goal was to put pressure on the quarterback and I feel like we disrupted the quarterback."
The Tigers held the Razorbacks to 290 yards on 70 plays, with 78 yards coming on two plays.
"We just wanted to play relentless like we always talk about," linebacker Darrell Williams said. "Have relentless effort and fly to the ball, make plays, get turnovers. That's what we did tonight.
"We wish we could have had a zero on the board. Just to keep them out of the end zone, that's big. We pride ourselves on that."
Auburn's emphasis on pass rush paid off with nine quarterback hurries and sacks from freshmen Richard Jibunor and Smoke Monday.
"That was a big emphasis this week. Coach Steele told us that since Sunday," Williams said. "He told us that we were going to put pressure on. We dialed up a couple blitzes, maybe even on first or second down, just to get going."
Late in the first quarter, Noah igbinoghene forced his first career fumble, which Daniel Thomas returned 40 yards to the 2, setting up a field goal.
The Tigers forced another turnover at the end of the first half when Javaris Davis returned an interception 57 yards for a touchdown, which was nullified by a penalty on the return.
"I felt like it was the defensive line with the pressure," said Davis of his fifth career interception and first of the season. "Salute to them. We've got a great defensive line. I kind of had a flashback when I got the ball and saw a whole bunch of green grass."
Derrick Brown and his fellow defensive linemen pressured Arkansas quarterback Ty Storey into a 13-of-31 outing for 141 yards with an interception.
"As a group collectively up front, we were able to keep our four-man rush and sometimes blitz and get in there and get to him," said Brown, who contributed three tackles and a QB hurry.
The Razorbacks' field goal came after a 45-yard run in the third quarter, preventing Auburn from earning a shutout.
"We gave up a big play, we've got to take full responsibility for that," Brown said. "We've just got to come out next week and get better. We've got to improve."
Williams, Thomas and Jeremiah Dinson led Auburn with six tackles apiece.
"I feel like we have a lot of talent on all ends of the board," Williams said. "We've just got to continue to get better always."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
