AUBURN, Ala. — Arkansas has brought home its greatest road victory in 42 years.

Not since knocking off No. 1 Texas at Austin in 1964 had the Razorbacks beaten a team ranked as high as No. 2 Auburn, which fell to Arkansas 27-10 on Saturday with a giant thud before a crowd of 87, 451 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Most of those in attendance wore orange Auburn shirts as bright as the afternoon sun, but the home fans quietly flooded out of the stadium in the final minutes as the shocking outcome became apparent.

In the stadium’s northeast corner, about 3, 000 Arkansas fans could be heard cheering wildly in the final minutes and they stayed afterward to celebrate with the Razorbacks players and coaches.

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“We wore them out and broke their will,” Arkansas senior guard Stephen Parker said of the Tigers. “There’s no better feeling, especially on the road.

“ Here in their stadium, to hear our fans louder than their fans in the second half was amazing.”

Auburn came into the game favored by 16 points against an Arkansas team that had won its first two SEC games by a combined three points over Vanderbilt and Alabama.

“We were big underdogs, but we knew we were better than everybody thought,” Razorbacks senior defensive tackle Keith Jackson Jr. said. “People said

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RAZORBACK FOOTBALL For additional photographs from the Arkansas-Auburn game go to www. arkansasonline. com / razorbacks we’d been getting lucky, and we came out with a tremendous focus to show them we’re a good team.”

Mitch Mustain, who completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Monk for a 10-0 Arkansas lead in the first quarter, became Arkansas’ first true freshman quarterback to win his first four starts.

“We prepared so hard for this,” Mustain said. “We’ve had some down weeks, and I think a lot of people started doubting us. I think they have for a long time. But we got in our minds that we can do this.

“ To come out and put on a performance like this is just awesome. If people still don’t believe in us, then so be it, but we got out of this what we wanted to do.”

Arkansas had lost 11 consecutive games to nationally ranked teams since a 38-28 victory at No. 5 Texas on Sept. 13, 2003.

To some Arkansas fans, beating the Longhorns might always be bigger than any other victory. But Razorbacks Coach Houston Nutt said Wednesday that beating Auburn on the road would be the greatest triumph of his nine seasons at Arkansas and he confirmed that feeling after the game.

Arkansas (4-1, 3-0 SEC ) leads the SEC West and is the only team in the division without a conference loss.

“It’s always your goal to be SEC West champions,” Nutt said. “We’ve got a real chance now.”

Arkansas won the SEC title outright in 1995 and shared the championship in 1998 and 2002.

Being alone atop the division is new to the current players, many of whom endured losing records the past two seasons.

“It feels great to be in this position, to have control of your own destiny,” Parker said. “We’ve always had to work our way back up [the standings ] and hope someone loses.... Now it’s all in our hands, and that’s a nice thing.”

The Razorbacks have won four consecutive games since opening with a 50-14 loss to Southern California, which now is ranked No. 3.

“You’re seeing a team grow and bloom right before your eyes,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Reggie Herring said. “Not a team of superstars, but a real team. That’s what makes it so special.”

Auburn (5-1, 3-1 ) had been the SEC’s most consistent team and was 20-1 in its past 21 games against conference opponents before falling hard to Arkansas.

“Today we got beat by a good football team,” Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville said. “We got beat to the punch, outcoached.

“ We got beat by our brand of football.”

Arkansas physically dominated Auburn on both sides of the ball and shut out the Tigers in the second half while building on a 17-10 halftime lead.

It was the opposite of last season’s game, when Auburn won 34-17 at Arkansas after trailing 10-6 at halftime.

“I guess we’re in better shape than I thought we were,” Herring said. “In a game like this last year, we fainted in the second half. But this time we got stronger in the second half, and against a team that traditionally is stronger and more physical than everybody they play.”

Arkansas rushed 45 times for 279 yards, led by the offensive line and sophomore tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

McFadden rushed 28 times for 145 yards, including a 63-yarder in the second quarter for the first rushing touchdown Auburn allowed this season.

Jones had 13 carries for 104 yards. His 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter pushed Arkansas’ lead to 24-10.

Defensively, the Razorbacks held Auburn senior tailback Kenny Irons, the SEC’s leading rusher coming into the game, to 75 yards on 15 carries. Overall, the Tigers had only 60 rushing yards because the Razorbacks sacked Brandon Cox five times.

“We won the old-fashioned way,” Herring said. “We ran the ball right down their throats, and they couldn’t run the ball consistently on us. That’s the bottom line.”

Nutt called McFadden and Jones the Razorbacks’ best offensive players and said “it makes sense to give them the ball,” but he was quick to note the importance of the passing game.

Mustain didn’t put up big numbers but was efficient, completing 7 of 10 passes for 87 yards without a turnover.

Nutt said there will be games in which the Razorbacks rely more heavily on their passing game, but the plan for Saturday was to get physical up front with Auburn.

“We had a mind-set to be very, very physical with our offensive and defensive lines,” Nutt said. “Not look up at the scoreboard, but just play one snap at a time.”

Jim Lindsey, a member of Arkansas ’ board of trustees, was among the fans celebrating at Jordan-Hare Stadium after the game. He played for the Razorbacks in 1964, when their road victory over No. 1 Texas propelled them to an 11-0 season.

“I have the same kind of feeling now as I did after we beat Texas back then,” Lindsey said. “I think we’ve got something pretty special going with this team, too.”