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Kamryn Pettway looks like an 18-wheeler. There are linebackers and defensive backs from Mississippi State, Arkansas and Ole Miss who would probably tell you he feels like one, too.
Pettway had his third straight monster game on Saturday for No. 15 Auburn. He rushed for 236 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries in the Tigers’ 40-29 win at Ole Miss.
He has now run the ball 96 times over the past three games and gained 597 yards and 6 touchdowns. That’s 200 yards per game.
The 6-foot, 240-pound sophomore is running around tacklers, past tacklers and trucking right through tacklers. On Saturday, Pettway averaged 7.9 yards per carry, guiding an Auburn running game that finished with 307 yards against the worst rushing defense in the SEC.
Before Ole Miss’ porous efforts, Pettway had already guided Auburn to the top of the SEC in rushing.
Kerryon Johnson was Auburn’s leading rusher until he left the Mississippi State game with an injury. Auburn wanted Johnson back last week against Arkansas, but instead it watched Pettway run for 192 yards on 27 carries.
He took over the team lead, and Saturday, he took over the SEC lead, now with 118 carries for 933 yards and 7 touchdowns. Johnson had 11 carries on Saturday for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Pettway was asked after the game by ESPN’s Kaylee Hartung what weaknesses he exploited. Pettway told her no one wanted to tackle him.
“Because I’m so big, I’m a bruiser,” Pettway said.
He’s a man of few words, and seemingly very few people are able to tackle him one-on-one. He has quickly become the hypeless Leonard Fournette. He is doing what he is doing without Heisman talk, but all the while trucking Auburn right into the SEC West conversation. Those losses to Clemson and Texas A&M are forgiven. They were by a combined 19 points and were early enough to be forgotten by committees in command.
The Tigers are 6-2, 4-1 in the West with three games coming up that they should win against Vanderbilt, Georgia and Alabama A&M.
If Auburn was going to have a 1,000-yard rusher, it was going to be Johnson. Well, Pettway has 933 yards this season – and he didn’t play against Clemson or Louisiana-Monroe. He had 152 yards on 15 carries against Arkansas State. After 123 yards against Texas A&M, he had 61 against LSU and wasn’t the focal point of defensive game plans.
When Rhett Lashlee took over the play calling and Johnson went down, Pettway grabbed the spotlight and hasn’t looked back, unless to look back at a defensive back he stiff-armed to the ground on the way to the end zone.
To be fair, Mississippi State entered the week sixth in the SEC in rushing defense, but Arkansas and Ole Miss are the bottom two in the league. To stay fair, Pettway’s numbers are silly against any team. Alabama leads the SEC in rushing defense, allowing 70 per game. The Iron Bowl will tell the tale for Pettway.
It could also tell a Playoff tale. Beat Alabama and the Tigers may all of a sudden be in the College Football Playoff. About as many people saw that coming as the people who saw Pettway coming.
