In his first five games of the season, Jarquez Hunter only managed to rush for 218 yards.

In the last two weeks, against the two schools from his home state, he racked up 235 yards including arguably the best performance of his career in Auburn’s win over Mississippi State on Saturday.

Hunter ran for 144 yards, the most he's ever ran for against a power-5 opponent, and averaged 8.5 yards per carry to pace Auburn’s rush attack en route to a 27-13 win.

When asked about the improved running game, Hunter simply credited his offensive line.

"I think we've been doing good in the run game these past couple weeks," Hunter said. "The O-line has been executing their blocks. All I've got to do is be patient and hit the hole when they're giving the blocks."

Despite these last two weeks being Hunter's best in terms of production, teammates, like Payton Thorne, haven't noticed any differences from Hunter.

"It's the kind of stuff he's been doing, I would say," Thorne said. "Just trusting what he's seeing and putting his foot in the ground when he needs to, getting the edge when he needs to. He works his butt off."

In addition to his running game, Hunter's impact in the passing game was felt as he had 26 receiving yards and was also asked to do a lot of pass blocking.

"I thought you saw all elements of his game tonight," Thorne said. "Like I said before, he's an underrated guy in pass pro; he's been excellent so far. So he's a stonewall. He's been awesome."

With Hunter being from Philadelphia, Miss., there might've been some extra motivation for him to play well, but the running back, while trying not to smile, denied that.

"I mean, I play everybody the same," Hunter said. "Everybody's an opponent, it doesn't matter who they are. I'm going to play hard."