This time around, the Auburn Tigers weren't about to let an early lead slip away.

The No. 21 Tigers scored four touchdowns in the third quarter and routed Arkansas 52-20 on Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

Junior running backs Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson rushed for a combined 153 yards and four touchdowns as Auburn (6-2, 4-1 SEC) bounced back from a disappointing road loss last week at LSU. Auburn led that game 20-0 before LSU rallied to win 27-23. The loss dropped the Tigers 11 spots in the AP poll.

Against Arkansas, however, the Tigers looked the part of a top 10 team. Auburn piled up 629 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on five of its seven second-half possessions to break the game open after leading 17-6 at halftime.

"That's exactly what we talked about," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "We were balanced. We threw for 284 and rushed for 345. I think the really big thing was to get the tempo going."

Pettway, who had been limited by an ankle injury, rushed for 90 yards and three touchdowns for the Tigers -- including 86 yards and all three of his scores on nine third-quarter carries. Johnson gained 63 yards on 21 carries and scored his SEC-leading 14th touchdown. Johnson, who had only one carry in the second half, threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darius Slayton on a trick play as Auburn extended its lead to 38-6 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. Slayton had 146 receiving yards on four catches.

Auburn had 345 yards rushing on 47 attempts.

"We had some explosive plays," Malzahn said. "We had some tempo. Our quarterback kept the ball a few times, too. ... It was good to get Pettway back out there."

"We had to stop them from running the football," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. "At times we did in the first half. In the second half, it just got out of control."

Sophomore quarterback Jarrett Stidham completed 19 of 28 passes for 218 yards and ran for a touchdown before Auburn went to its backups at the start of the fourth quarter.

On his first snap of the game, backup quarterback Malik Willis ran 48 yards to the Arkansas 32. Five plays later, Willis threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Devan Barrett. Carlson's extra point extended Auburn's lead to 52-13 with 9:44 remaining.

Arkansas' only score of the third quarter came on a 100-yard kickoff return by freshman DeVion Warren after Johnson's touchdown pass to Slayton. Sophomore running back Devwah Whaley had a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left in the game to cap a 75-yard drive by the Razorbacks (2-5, 0-4).

"You come in at halftime, and you're in a battle," Bielema said. "I liked the look in their eyes. Then after halftime, (Auburn) came out and scored on that opening drive and we never really responded after that."

Arkansas quarterback Cole Kelley, a redshirt freshman who made his second consecutive start in place of injured senior Austin Allen, completed 15 of 26 passes for 163 yards. Kelley, 6-7 and 268 pounds, was sacked six times and fumbled the ball away twice.

"It was real important," Malzahn said of Auburn's pass rush. "He's a really big guy. To put the pressure on him and knock the ball out, that was big."

Senior David Williams was Arkansas' leading rusher, gaining 86 yards on 14 carries. The Razorbacks finished with 334 yards of total offense.

Stidham completed 12 of 15 passes for 158 yards in the first half and scored the game's first touchdown on a 15-yard run with 11:39 remaining in the first quarter. The score capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive on Auburn's first possession.

Arkansas answered with a 34-yard field goal by Connor Limpert with 7:37 left in the first quarter before Auburn drove 67 yards in 15 plays to set up a 21-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson with 1:04 remaining in the quarter.

Auburn failed to convert on fourth-and-1 from the Arkansas 2 on its next possession, then Stidham's pass was intercepted by the Razorbacks' Kevin Richardson. But Arkansas couldn't move the ball, and after Auburn was forced to punt from its 22 with 5:15 left in the first half, Arkansas returner Henre' Tolliver fumbled the ball away. Auburn recovered at the Arkansas 41, setting up a seven-play drive that was capped by Johnson's 2-yard touchdown run with 3:07 left in the half.

Limpert's 38-yard field goal with 40 seconds left cut Auburn's lead to 17-6 and closed the first-half scoring.

Johnson had 63 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries as Auburn outgained Arkansas 288-176 in the first half. The Razorbacks rushed for 97 yards by halftime, but were hurt by six penalties for 45 yards.

NOTES: Auburn beat Arkansas for the second consecutive season after losing to the Razorbacks 54-46 in four overtimes in Fayetteville in 2015. The Tigers have won the past two meetings by a combined score of 108-23. ... Auburn RB Kerryon Johnson has rushed for 14 touchdowns this season, including 13 against SEC opponents. ... Auburn coach Gus Malzahn was a wide receiver at Arkansas in 1984-85 before finishing his career at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark. He was a high school coach in Arkansas before starting his college coaching career as Arkansas' offensive coordinator in 2006. Malzahn, who was head coach at Arkansas State for one season, has an overall record of 50-23. He is in his fifth season at Auburn, where he has a record of 41-20. ... Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, who is in his fifth season with the Razorbacks, has a record of 27-31 at Arkansas. The Razorbacks have gone 10-26 in SEC games under Bielema, who came to Arkansas after seven seasons at Wisconsin, where he posted a record of 68-24.