AUBURN, Ala. — Arkansas guard Stephen Parker calls tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones the best one-two combination in college football.

Saturday, against secondranked Auburn, McFadden and Jones delivered the knockout punches to back up Parker’s talk.

McFadden gained 145 yards on 28 carries and Jones added 104 yards on 13 carries as Arkansas bullied its way to a 27-10 upset with a relentless running game. The Razorbacks called just two pass plays during a second half in which they broke open the game, and broke the Tigers’ will, by running 30 times for 130 yards.

“Their defense was tired,” said Jones, whose 1-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter gave Arkansas a 24-10 lead. “We could tell that, so we just wanted to run it down their throat.”

ADVERTISEMENT

That’s exactly what Arkansas did, chewing up 19: 35 in time of possession in the second half. That effort allowed Arkansas to win the time of possession battle (31: 50 to 28: 10 ) for the first time this season despite a deficit of 6: 30 at halftime.

The difference in the second half was the ability to alternate McFadden and Jones.

“It gives us the ability to keep on running,” quarterback Mitch Mustain said. “The times when one gets tired, we can still just keep on pounding them.”

McFadden pounded into Auburn’s defensive line early with little result. He gained just 14 yards on his first seven carries before getting revved up in the second quarter.

After a run of 8 yards on a possession that eventually ended in a punt, and a 4-yard gain on the first play of Arkansas’ next series, McFadden broke through the right side of Auburn’s defense and went 63 yards for a touchdown. The run gave the Razorbacks a 17-7 lead and ended with McFadden pointing toward the Arkansas cheering section in the northeast corner of the stadium.

“You’re going to have those 2- and 3-yard gains, but you can’t let that slow you down,” McFadden said. “You’ve just got to go with the flow of the game, and sooner or later the big one’s going to come.

“ The safety came down and took a bad angle, so I just beat him back outside. I knew I was going into the end zone, so I just took it over to the crowd.”

From that point, Arkansas ran the ball on 34 of 36 plays during a span that covered the last series of the first half and the entire second half.

“We felt like we had one of the best offensive lines in the country and we let them work today,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said.

It was a welcome feeling for the linemen.

“This is the first game we basically said we’re going to beat their butts running the ball,” Parker said.

There was plenty of praise to go around afterward, with coaches giving credit to the line and the backs, and those players complimenting each other.

“We’ve got a real good chemistry going,” Parker said. “They’re feeling our blocks. They cut off our blocks perfectly. It’s awesome.”

Even Auburn players noticed.

“They had a purpose,” Tigers strong safety Eric Brock said.

And that was to establish Arkansas’ premier one-two combo.

“I think this is what everybody’s been looking for, me and Felix bringing that one-two punch,” McFadden said. “Today we showed it.”