Cameron Artis-Payne Proving to Be the Key to Auburn's Playoff Hopes

OXFORD, Miss. — You would probably overlook it on first glance of a game recap or a stat sheet.

No. 3 Auburn's wild 35-31 victory at No. 4 Ole Miss featured more than 400 yards of total offense from Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace, four touchdowns from Tigers quarterback Nick Marshall and perhaps one of the cruelest turnovers in college football history.

But Auburn's victory in Oxford was also marked by another standout performance from senior running back Cameron Artis-Payne, who finished with 143 rushing yards and a touchdown Saturday night.

"We established ourselves up front," Artis-Payne said. "We just wanted to be the more physical team, and I think we did that tonight." 

If Artis-Payne can keep up his high level of performance, he could get the Auburn offense going all the way to the inaugural College Football Playoff.

While quarterback Nick Marshall got the bulk of the deserved attention with his performance against the Rebels, Artis-Payne excelled in several aspects of the Tigers' offensive surge and showed why he could be the one to lead Auburn back to the sport's biggest stage:

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Gaining Tough Yards (Especially on Third Down)

Although backups Corey Grant and Roc Thomas have gotten a greater share of the carries than Auburn's reserves did last season, the "running back-by-committee" system has been ruled out by this point in the season. 

Artis-Payne ran for a career-high 27 carries, breaking the mark he set last week in Auburn's 42-35 victory against South Carolina at home.

Malzahn and the coaching staff have given Artis-Payne more responsibility toward the end of a grueling SEC slate for the Tigers, and the senior has returned the favor.

Artis-Payne's big night in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium pushed him to the top of the SEC rushing charts this season after former leader Josh Robinson was held to only 64 yards against Arkansas:

Name	School	Season Yards	Week 10 Yards
Cameron Artis-Payne	Auburn	974	143 (vs. MISS)
Josh Robinson	Mississippi State	951	64 (vs. ARK)
Jonathan Williams	Arkansas	877	47 (at MSU)

The slow rise up the conference and national leaderboards from the Tigers' top senior running back has been similar to the stride former Auburn star Tre Mason had last season.

"He's just more confident," Malzahn said. "It's kind of similar to Tre last year. He's established himself as one of the better running backs in our league, if not the country."

Artis-Payne became especially important for the Tigers on third downs in the second half of Saturday night's contest.

After the Tigers went 1-of-6 on third down in the first half, they rebounded to convert five of their seven attempts after halftime. Artis-Payne had two of those second-half conversions, including one on a go-ahead drive in the third quarter.

"That was the real big key," Malzahn said. "At halftime, we came in [the locker room] and, you do most of your normal adjustments, but most of our conversations were on third down. They were one of the better third-down defenses in the country."

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Versatility in Auburn's Run Game

Artis-Payne said coming into the season that he was trying to shake the image that he was just a "bruiser" of a running back.

Against Ole Miss, he showed he can bounce a few runs to the outside, primarily on the zone-read option, and hurt defenses with some open-field speed.

"You get a feel for the game," Malzahn said. "If you ever have a little success, you just keep trying that same thing for the most part. They've got to come up with an answer to stop you, and then you've got to think of something else. But our guys really got that zone going. We got really good push up front, and Cameron Artis-Payne bounced a few on the perimeter. That really got us going."

Early in the fourth quarter, Artis-Payne took a toss to the right in a modified Wildcat formation down near the goal line for Auburn, and he was able to find the end zone.

"He's a great back," Marshall said. "He basically just takes what the defense gives him. He sees all these little creases, and the offensive line blocked their tails off tonight with the receivers on the perimeter. We were able to make some plays with our legs."

While the Tigers made the defense respect Artis-Payne's ability to find the corner, the Tigers were able to get the yardage they needed down the middle with the senior back.

"That was the plan," Dismukes said. "Just hit a few outside things, and then hit it right at them. I thought we were able to do that well tonight."

As Artis-Payne has showed himself to be a more hard-running and complete back during the second half of the season, Malzahn's play-calling creativity can continue to open up in the final few games of 2014.

USA TODAY Sports

Establishing Pace

Of course, the key to success for Malzahn's offense is playing up-tempo football to tire a worn-out defense.

Auburn was able to establish more of a rhythm offensively against the Rebels, who only allowed an average of 118 rushing yards per game heading into Saturday's matchup, than it had earlier in the season.

The Tigers continued to get chunks of yardage downfield with Marshall and big-play receivers Sammie Coates and D'haquille Williams, but in the crucial "in-between" plays, Artis-Payne was able to get solid yards to keep Auburn operating at the highest speed possible.

USA TODAY Sports

"It was one of the best games we've had [for pace]," Malzahn said. "To run the football on that defense in the third quarter like we did, I was impressed with our guys up front and our running backs."

After the game, Ole Miss linebacker Serderius Bryant credited the pace of Auburn's offense as a game-changing aspect.

"You have to take your hats off to that offense," Bryant said. "We had a pretty good game plan coming in to it, but they found little creases in it to gash us. They were going so fast. Before you know it, you’ve already run four plays in just a few seconds."

Artis-Payne's stamina and increased burst near the line of scrimmage can keep Malzahn's offense going at its explosive best, which will be important on the road against SEC rivals Georgia and Alabama.

"I feel like I'm getting more comfortable in seeing things better," Artis-Payne said. "Knowing what to expect and knowing you're going to be in the game...I'm just hitting that stride."

And for Auburn fans, they hope Artis-Payne can keep that stride going all the way to Athens, Tuscaloosa and beyond. 

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is Bleacher Report's lead Auburn writer. Follow him on Twitter @JFergusonAU.