Leader of the pack

AUBURN | Robert Leff probably had the best view in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn’s senior right tackle was right behind Kamryn Pettway when he ran over Arkansas safety Josh Liddell at 2-yard line and powered into the end zone.

“That was pretty impressive,” Leff said. “It's pretty nice knowing that you have a guy that will make one guy a non-contender on defense. He'll run somebody over every single play.”

The play, which brought back memories of Ronnie Brown trucking Jason Allen at Tennessee in 2004, even got Auburn’s defensive players on their feet.

“That dude is a monster, man,” cornerback Carlton Davis said. “He does it in practice. That’s the Pettway we have always seen. It wasn’t a surprise to us, he does that all the time. I’m proud of that guy that he’s making the most of his opportunity.”

Pettway finished with 192 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in Auburn’s 56-3 thrashing of Arkansas. He now leads the SEC averaging 116.2 yards per game.

Pettway, however, is quick to credit Auburn’s offensive line for his success.

“I saw our offensive line dominate at the point of attack. I had a lot of great gaps to run through,” Pettway said. “That felt good for me but a lot of it comes from the offensive line and I just had to pick up the slack.”

With Kerryon Johnson sidelined for most of the last two games with an ankle injury, Pettway totaled 361 rushing yards and five touchdowns against Mississippi State and Arkansas.

“It's really good to know the offense can depend on me when another person is down or it's time to carry the load. It's a great feeling,” Pettway said.

Gus Malzahn said Wednesday that Johnson will play at Ole Miss this weekend as Auburn looks to win its fifth-straight game and make another move up the national rankings.

“We’ve improved a lot. We’ve matured a lot. We came together fast, like we wanted to,” Pettway said. “It means a lot for us that we know we're going in the right direction. We've got to keep going that way.”