AUBURN, Ala. — Tommy Tuberville’s fears proved groundless.

The Arkansas-born Auburn coach from Camden fretted the Arkansas Razorbacks too much resembled his nationally second-ranked Tigers.

Turns out he should have worried about his Tigers not being enough like Arkansas. Because Saturday before a national CBS TV audience and a mostly stunned, early departing 87, 451 at Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, Houston Nutt’s unranked Razorbacks beat the bejabbers out of the nation’s No. 2 team.

Sixteen-point underdog Arkansas won 27-10 and at 4-1, 3-0, is the lone SEC West unbeaten team in league play as West rival Auburn fell to 5-1, 3-1.

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“ I guess Vegas doesn’t know much about Arkansas, ” Arkansas senior offensive guard Stephen Parker said.

You can bet nobody saw this coming at this magnitude.

However, Nutt said he saw an attitude he liked last Sunday when all the Razorbacks reported well ahead of time for practice after an open date weekend to go home.

“ We reported last Sunday, ” Nutt said, “ with the mindset of being very physical in the offensive line and defensive line. ”

They dominated all phases of offense, defense and kicking game, especially both running the ball and stopping the run.

In net rushing, Arkansas outrushed the Tigers, 279-60.

They held tailback Kenny Irons, the Auburn iron man who last year rushed for 126 yards alone in the second half of Auburn’s 34-17 victory in Fayetteville, to just 75 all Saturday on 15 attempts.

Meanwhile, Razorback tailbacks Darren McFadden and Felix Jones dotted and dashed, respectively through the Tigers for 28 carries and 145 yards and 13 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown each.

McFadden popped a 63-yard TD up the middle on second-and-6 in the second quarter. Jones tallied a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter, set up by a 28-yard trick play by little receiver Reggie Fish (a charitably listed 5-7 ) hiding behind 6-6, 335-pound offensive tackle Zac Tubbs on an unnoticed give from quarterback Mitch Mustain who expertly carried out a fake.

Never sacked and never intercepted, Mustain threw just enough and with effectiveness, 7 of 10 for 87 yards including a 50-yard touchdown to Marcus Monk, to augment the power running. Jeremy Davis kicked three PATs and a 34-yard field goal in the first quarter and a game-sealing 22-yard field goal with 3: 53 left before the Razorbacks could officially join the state of Arkansas and their fans that traveled here on Cloud Nine.

Forced to pass with Auburn’s bread and butter running game crumbled, Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox was sacked five times while completing 17 of 29 for ™ yards.

Auburn scored all its points in the second quarter on Cox’s 24-yard TD pass to Rod Smith, and John Vaughn’s 36-yard field goal.

Never trailing and never tied, Arkansas led 10-0 in the first quarter and 17-10 at half Saturday. However, the Hogs were up 10-6 at intermission last year in Fayetteville before the offense fell into a run of three and outs while Irons dragged dismayed defenders at will.

What made the difference ?

“ We are a year older, ” Nutt said. “ And we got back to our two best players, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, and gave them the ball and we stopped Auburn’s run. We showed tremendous heart today. ”

He knew it would take nothing less.

“ I have a lot of respect for Tommy Tuberville, ” Nutt said, “ and the team they have because I know how physical they are, but we had the better team today for that period of time. ”

Tuberville certainly concurred.

“ No !, ” he asserted emphatically, when asked if his Tigers were caught looking to next week’s game against No. 5-ranked Florida.

“ That had nothing to do with that, ” Tuberville said. “ Today we just got beat. ”

Criticized constantly this year even as the Razorbacks won 21-19 SEC games at Vanderbilt and 24-23 in two overtimes with Alabama in Fayetteville, Nutt got to bask in beating the SEC’s best. He’s had some big wins in nine Razorback years but none over a team ranked this high.

“ When you beat the No. 2 team in the nation on the road, ” Nutt said, “ this is the best. ”

“ Better lucky than good” was a description often placed on Arkansas after escaping the previous two SEC games with Vanderbilt and Alabama by missed field goals, plus against Alabama, a missed PAT in the second overtime.

“ We showed people today, ” Arkansas senior defensive tackle Keith Jackson said, “ we are better than the luck we were getting. And once we stopped the run and they had to pass, our defensive ends, Jamaal Anderson and Antwain Robinson were in their backfield all day. ”

Even the trick plays for which Tuberville is famous went Arkansas’ way. An Anderson sack on fullback Tre Smith’s would-be fleaflicker pass took Auburn out of a solid game-opening drive, and Auburn got fancy with All-SEC punter Kody Bliss running before punting deep in Auburn territory. He shanked it 19 yards, setting up the Fish trick play and eventual Jones’ third quarter touchdown.

“ They just try to hide me from the get-go, ” Fish said, “ from the huddle to the line. Basically I just squat down behind Tubbs and Mitch said, ‘ Go, ’ and nobody saw me. ” The trick play and key Mustain passes to Monk and Cedric Washington were big, but this was won the smashmouth way. “ We saw other teams do things against them, ” Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Markuson said, “ but they weren’t patient enough. They hadn’t seen a team committed to giving it to the tailbacks. ” Nor a kicking game better than theirs. Arkansas punter Jacob Skinner outkicked Bliss, 45. 3 to 38. 2 and twice pinned the Tigers inside their 20. Nor had they seen a defense (other than LSU’s in Auburn’s 10-3 victory ) so committed to 60 minutes of run-stopping. “ It’s a marvel, ” Arkansas second-year defensive coordinator Reggie Herring said of Saturday’s second half compared to last year’s. “ I didn’t know these players could sustain against Auburn, but you saw it, we got stronger on offense and defense as the game went on. “ It’s called team. It’s the best performance offense, defense and kicking game since I’ve been here. ” Nutt’s too, now on Cloud Nine in Year Nine. How They Scored

First quarter Arkansas 3, Auburn 0 How: Jeremy Davis, 34-yard field goal 7: 56 Drive: 10 plays, 60 yards, TOP 4: 41 Keys: Mitch Mustain 11-yard screen pass to Felix Jones, first down UA 36. Mustain 15-yard pass over middle to Peyton Hillis, first down at AU 48. Jones, 28 run off play-action fake to AU 20. Jones slips for 1-yard loss on open third down screen. Arkansas 10, Auburn 0 How: Marcus Monk 50 pass from Mitch Mustain, Jeremy Davis, PAT, 3: 43 Drive: 5 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2: 17 Keys: Mustain passes 9 to Cedric Washington, to UA 45. McFadden, 1, first down to UA 46. McFadden, 4 to UA 50. Monk and Jonathan Wiihite tangle for ball no call either way. Second quarter Arkansas 10, Auburn 7 How: Rod Smith 24 pass from Brandon Cox, John Vaughn, PAT, 14: 53 Drive: 10 plays, 90 yards Keys: Brad Lester, 5, on third and 2 to AU 23. Lester outmuscles Matt Hewitt on 19 run to AU 42. Brandon Cox passes 21 to Rod Smith, first down at UA 37. Cox passes 12 to Gabe McKenzie, first down at UA 21. Cox throws 24-yard TD on third and 13. Arkansas 17, Auburn 7 How: Darren McFadden, 63, Jeremy Davis, PAT, 5: 00 Drive: 2 plays, 67 yards, 57 seconds. Keys: Auburn stopped on downs at A 33. McFadden breaks 63-yard TD up middle on second and six. Arkansas 17, Auburn 10 How: John Vaughn 36-yard field goal, 1: 50 Drive: 7 plays, 13 yards, 3: 10 Keys: Tristan Davis 68-yard kick return to UA 27. Cox, 7 on third and 4 scramble to UA 19. Cox pass broken up and nearly intercepted by Antwain Robinson.

Third quarter Arkansas, 24 Auburn, 10 How: Felix Jones, 1, Jeremy Davis, PAT, 4: 54. Drive: 4 plays, 34 yards, TOP 2: 44 Keys: Off a fake of a fake punt, Kody Bliss shanks 19 yard punt to Arkansas 34. Reserve WR Reggie Fish on trick play, 28 to AU 6. McFadden, 5 to AU 1 fumble ruled dead. Jones, 1-yard TD on toss sweep. Fourth quarter Arkansas 27, Auburn 10 How: Jeremy Davis, 22-yard field goal, 3: 53 Drive: 11 plays, 52 yards, TOP 4: 46 Keys: McFadden, 13 on first down to UA 44. Jones, 5 on third and 1 to AU 35. Jones, 8 to AU 22. McFadden, 3 on second and 2 to AU 22. Jones, 7 to AU 12. Auburn penalty, first down at AU 7. Jones, 3 on third and goal from the 8.

ARKANSAS 27, AUBURN 10 Arkansas 10 7 7 3 — 27 Auburn 0 10 0 0 — 10 First Quarter Ark—FG J. Davis 34, 7: 56 Ark—Monk 50 pass from Mustain (J. Davis kick ), 3: 43 Second Quarter Aub—R. Smith 24 pass from Cox (Vaughn kick ), 14: 53 Ark—D. McFadden 63 run (J. Davis kick ), 5: 00 Aub—FG Vaughn 36, 1: 50 Third Quarter Ark—F. Jones 1 run (J. Davis kick ), 4: 54 Fourth Quarter Ark—FG J. Davis 22, 3: 53 A—87, 451.

Ark Aub First downs 17 16 Rushes-yards 45-279 31-60 Passing 87 ™ Comp-Att-Int 7-10-0 17-29-0 Return Yards 8 11 Punts-Avg. 3-45. 3 5-38. 2 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-0 Penalties-Yards 4-30 5-45 Time of Possession 31: 50 28: 10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Arkansas, D. McFadden 28-145, F. Jones 13-104, Fish 1-28, Mustain 2-4, Team 1- (minus 2 ). Auburn, K. Irons 15-75, Lester 4-28, Stewart 1-4, Taylor 1- (minus 2 ), T. Smith 1- (minus 11 ), Cox 9- (minus 34 ). PASSING—Arkansas, Mustain 7-10-0-87. Auburn, Cox 17-29-0-™. RECEIVING—Arkansas, F. Jones 3-8, Hillis 2-21, Monk 1-50, C. Washington 1-8. Auburn, Taylor 5-33, R. Smith 4-64, McKenzie 2-21, K. Irons 2-21, Trott 2-(minus 1 ), Stewart 1-13, Lester 1-2.