AUBURN | Down 14-0 at halftime against Georgia, Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter combined for just eight carries in the second half.

Four weeks later, it was a completely different mentality.

Down 24-6 at Mississippi State, Bigsby, Hunter and Robby Ashford led a ground attack that combined for 176 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries.

“I like that a lot,” said offensive guard Kameron Stutts. “We want to be the foundation of the team. We want to be the ones who are being relied on. We've got a veteran group, and we want to take on that challenge. We want that.”

The previous regime under Bryan Harsin and offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau tended to abandon the run pretty quickly. It was quite the opposite in the first game under interim coach Cadillac Williams and co-offensive coordinators Will Friend and Ike Hilliard.

Williams, a former running back at Auburn and in the NFL, was quick to credit AU’s offensive line for the improvement in the Tigers’ running game.

“Those big boys, they’re coming together, they’re playing with confidence, they’re playing relentless, they’re playing physical. They’re playing Auburn football,” said Williams. “Then, honestly, just overall the offense, it’s a mindset. It’s the mindset, fight or quit. That’s kind of the mentality that this whole team is taking on, especially on offense; it’s fight or quit.

“Us not watching the scoreboard, us playing good, clean football, and I think those guys in the trenches, a lot of—a lot of credit needs to go to those guys, because they are giving these backs—Jarquez, Tank Bigsby, Damari Alston—they’re giving these guys room to run. I truly think the credit goes to those guys up front.”

Last week, Auburn went against a MSU rushing defense ranked 8th in the SEC on the road. This week, it will be a Texas A&M rushing defense that ranks last in the conference inside the friendly confines of Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I think our plan is going to be to run the ball, just like we did last week,” said Stutts. “We're gonna have a balanced offense and do all those things. But, I mean, week-to-week … we want to have a physical run game. We want to have a physical, downhill run game. So we're gonna try to run the ball.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.