Auburn’s offense has an effective bread and butter this season.

The Tigers boast 18 “explosive plays” of 30 yards or more this season, tying for the 19th-best mark in the nation, even after a bye week.

That ranks third in the SEC, behind Alabama (21) and LSU (19), two of the top trio of scoring offenses in the nation.

“It's how the offense operates,” Auburn running back Malik Miller said Tuesday.

Keeping up that pace was an area of emphasis for Gus Malzahn and No. 11 Auburn during its first bye week of the season last week, the seventh-year head coach told reporters Tuesday.

“Whether it’s running game, whether it’s passing game, we have to create explosive plays,” Malzahn said. “When we do that, we’re a good offense. When we don’t, we’re average.”

It begins with a pair of sophomores for Auburn: receiver Anthony Schwartz and running back Shaun Shivers. Schwartz had been lighting up defenses through two SEC games after mostly healing up from offseason hand surgery, racking up 189 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on the ground as an electric weapon in the run game and down the field for Bo Nix and company.

But against the Gators, Schwartz had just one carry for minus-4 yards and was targeted twice with no receptions. Malzahn last week chalked that up to equal parts Florida’s defensive game plan for containing the speedster and his own mismanagement of Schwartz’s touches.

“We did a solid job of that up until our last game, and we need to get back to explosive plays,” Malzahn said.

Then there’s Shivers, whose speed rivals that of the world-class sprinter Schwartz. After a standout true freshman campaign, the sophomore tailback is fourth on the team in rushing this season — behind the now-injured Boobee Whitlow, quarterback Bo Nix and senior running back Kam Martin — and has no touchdowns on the ground or through the air.

Shivers has touched the ball 10 times in SEC play for 36 yards, and did not see the field against the Gators.

“He's an effective tailback. We've just got to give him opportunities in space, you know?” Malzahn said of Shivers. “He runs between the tackles well, too. You know, without Boobee Whitlow now, he's going to get more opportunities just like the other guys.

“We're real high on him. I think he's capable of making some explosive plays.”

For Malzahn, the best drives for his offense include a handful of big plays — usually executed by way of play-action or varied play design, relative to the standard zone-read, quick-throw offense Auburn typically utilizes.

The Tigers’ biggest play of the day in the loss to Florida came off such a possession. Auburn began the series inside its own 5-yard line, drew the defense in with a methodically effective rushing attack, then Nix found a wide-open Seth Williams for 46 yards. The drive ended with an interception, however.

Williams is among the other big-play threats Malzahn knows he has to effectively scheme with moving into the second half of the year, beginning Saturday at Arkansas (2-3, 0-3 SEC).

Williams averages 17.5 yards a reception this year, and over 80 percent of his career catches have been for either first downs or touchdowns.

Junior Eli Stove, like Schwartz, is a weapon both running routes and running sweeps. His 9.3 yards-per-rush average is second-best on the team, behind Schwartz’s 15.6, among Auburn’s skill-position players. But after 19 touches for 173 yards and three total touchdowns in nonconference play, Stove is averaging less than 25 yards per game with no touchdowns in SEC contests.

Whitlow was liable to break loose on any given play, too. On true running plays, Malzahn will now look to Shivers, Martin, true freshman D.J. Williams and redshirt freshman Harold Joiner.

“Especially when you have an off week, you know, you have to have ways to get your playmakers involved,” Malzahn said. “We have some other playmakers, too, than really just [Schwartz]. We've got to give certain guys certain chances, and that was kind of part of the evaluation over the off week.

“... We'll have a good plan moving forward. Not just [Schwartz], but our guys that are capable of making explosive plays.”