The top plays from Auburn’s blowout win over Arkansas

The Auburn Tigers picked up their most impressive win of the season on Saturday, defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks by a score of 48-10 in Fayetteville.

Hugh Freeze’s offense was explosive all game long, as the Tigers gained 517 yards on 76 total plays.

Quarterback Payton Thorne scored 4 total touchdowns for the first time in SEC play while running back Jarquez Hunter continued his hot stretch, eclipsing 100 yards rushing for the third straight game.

Auburn’s defense has been great all year. and that continued on Saturday. The unit held Arkansas to just 255 yards from scrimmage in the blowout win.

Here are the top plays from the Tigers’ sixth win of the year.

Payton Thorne sets the tone early

Payton Thorne has had his struggles this season, but the junior quarterback has come alive over the last three weeks.

After good games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, Thorne went nuclear against Arkansas, passing for 3 touchdowns and rushing for this one.

Auburn brought the physicality early in this one, bullying Arkansas on their way to an early 21-0 lead.

It all started with this special run by Auburn’s leader.

Keionte Scott finds paydirt

The Auburn defense forced a quick punt following Thorne’s opening touchdown. That punt turned into 6 points for the Tigers.

Keionte Scott was close to breaking a few punt returns against Vanderbilt, so you had to figure the big one was coming eventually.

It came on Saturday against a Razorbacks team that sleepwalked through the first quarter and a half.

Only two Razorback coverage men come close to touching Scott on this return, as the Auburn blocking set up a major hole for the speedy cornerback to run through.

74 yards later, the Tigers score their second touchdown in the game’s first five minutes.

Jalen McLeod's poetic end to the first half

Auburn linebacker Jalen McLeod has improved each week since his return from injury. He officially arrived in week 11.

McLeod finished the game with a team high 9 tackles and 3 sacks. One of those sacks came at the end of the second half with KJ Jefferson desperately looking to capture some momentum.

McLeod made sure that didn’t happen, sacking Jefferson on a third and long and setting up an Alex McPherson field goal.

The junior linebacker has propelled the Tigers’ defense from a very good unit to an elite one.

Zion Puckett's heads up play creates a turnover

This game was wrapped up at halftime. Auburn’s physicality, offensive efficiency, and unrelenting defense was too much for the Arkansas Razorbacks all day long.

That didn’t stop the Tigers from playing hard until the end.

This play describes that perfectly, as safeties Zion Puckett and Caleb Wooden took advantage of lazy ball carrying, forcing a turnover in the red zone.

This kind of effort in a 34-3 game is amazing to see.

Brian Battie and the Auburn line will their way to a touchdown

Auburn’s defense wasn’t the only unit that played hard until the game’s final whistle.

The Tigers’ offensive line continued their great play on Saturday, once again helping the rushing attack register over 250 yards.

The most impressive run of the day, besides Thorne’s opening touchdown, came at the end of the third quarter.

Not only does the line open up a huge hole, but Dillon Wade and running back Brian Battie finish an incredible run, willing the Tigers into the end zone for the final time of the game.

Story originally appeared on Auburn Wire