AUBURN — Gus Malzahn has to keep repeating himself.

For the third time in as many FBS matchups, Auburn hasn't been effective rushing the football. Auburn put forth its least inspiring performance yet despite the 34-3 victory over Arkansas in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Malzahn has said it once — really twice, after Washington and LSU — but he'll say it again.

"I've been saying for four weeks that we have to run the football better," Malzahn said after the win. "I really feel like, before it's all said and done, we will. But we need to be quicker in getting there."

The Tigers weren't their usual running-game selves against LSU or Washington, failing to eclipse the 150-yard mark in either game. Those performances looked impressive in comparison to Auburn's ground attack Saturday against Arkansas.

Auburn carried the ball 36 times for 91 yards. It marked the worst rushing performance, by total yardage, in a victory over a Power 5 since 2007 when the Tigers took 37 carries for 62 yards against Kansas State.

Auburn went with a two-back approach again. This time it was JaTarvious "Boobee" Whitlow and Kam Martin, which surprisingly put Shaun Shivers on the back-burner until two late touches. Whitlow punched in two touchdowns that made his 13-carry, 49-yard night look much more respectable. He had the best individual stat line of the night, a telling story.

On the whole, the Tigers weren't able to find the necessary push up front on a night when they made a change at center by starting Nick Brahms.

"We didn't play good tonight. There's no doubt about that. We've got to be able to run the football better. We didn't play our best offensively," Malzahn said. "We didn't do a great job running, but I'm not going to sit here and say it was all offensive line. I'm the type that likes to look at the overall picture and dissect everything and get a better feel for it. You've got to give credit to Arkansas. I think they had a good overall plan."

There is some truth to Malzahn's final statement there. The Razorbacks haven't had many positives in the 2018 season, but their run defense has been one of the stronger units. Arkansas allowed only 87.3 rushing yards per game coming into the Auburn matchup. It continued to be an emphasis Saturday.

On top of that, the Tigers were without two of their better non-OL run blockers Saturday. Tight end Jalen Harris and wide receiver Nate Craig-Myers announced their transfers earlier in the week.

But neither of those explanations will be satisfying enough for an Auburn offense built to run the football.

On too many occasions, the Tigers have found themselves in third-and-long situations after failed run plays on early downs. It has a noticeable effect on Auburn's offensive line on passing downs against Arkansas.

"When we're really running the ball, I think it puts the defense on its heels. It opens up so much other things. When we're not really running the ball effectively, it hurts the passing game as well. It gets us in third-and-long, and everybody in the world knows we're throwing it," wide receiver Ryan Davis said. "We've got to fix that. We're Auburn. Auburn's heart is running the football. So we need to get into a rhythm. That's the main thing."