FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Auburn got greedy and got burned.

The 17th-ranked Tigers used two timeouts to stop the clock and force an Arkansas punt shortly before the half but the strategy backfired when quarterback Daniel Cobb -- looking for a big play -- made a bad one.

Arkansas' Cedric Cobbs goes around end for a 5-yard score.(AP)

Tony Bua intercepted Cobb's attempted screen pass and Zak Clark followed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Richard Smith that gave Arkansas a 21-10 lead with 5 seconds left in the half. Matt Jones, whose first college pass went for a touchdown to Smith, made 101 yards running the option as the Razorbacks beat Auburn 42-17.

After Arkansas (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) punted, Auburn (6-2, 4-1) took over at its 31 with 20 seconds to play. Cobb retreated and turned to his left. He overthrew everybody except Bua, who made the interception and stepped out at the 16 on his way to the end zone.

"We decided to take one shot before the half," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "It was my call and I take the blame for it."

On first down after the interception, Clark threw left for Smith, who caught the ball and got a foot down before falling on his back in the end zone.

Arkansas coach Houston Nutt thought Bua had scored on the interception and was thinking extra point.

"When we found he stepped out of bounds, we had to rush in a play," he said.

Auburn closed to 21-17 in the third quarter when Carnell Williams took a pitch heading left, split defenders, and ran by Ken Hamlin on a 55-yard dash.

Moments later, Arkansas got a break when Marvin Jackson fumbled a punt and his teammates recovered at the Razorbacks 28. A personal-foul penalty helped Arkansas reach midfield and then Jones faked a handoff to the right and started left. He pulled loose from linebacker Mayo Sowell's attempt at a shoe-top tackle and turned on the speed for a 37-yard gain that set up Fred Talley's 12-yard touchdown run in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.

"They came out with the option in the second half and we couldn't stop it," Tuberville said. "Nothing went right. We had nearly 500 yards of offense and held them to less than 300 but we just couldn't get in the end zone."

Nutt said Jones is a change of pace, "a knuckleball kind of guy."

On the possession after Talley's touchdown, Williams ran through most of the Razorbacks for 38 yards to the Arkansas 26, but Hamlin caused Casinious Moore to fumble and Corey Harris returned the recovery 46 yards.

A personal-foul penalty and an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty preceded Jones' perfect read on an option that resulted in his 32-yard touchdown run -- a play that made it 35-17 and sent Nutt scurrying down the sideline to hug many members of the defensive unit seated in metal folding chairs.

Auburn had an excellent chance to establish momentum early in the third quarter, but Tim Carter -- running in the open -- dropped the ball after a 37-yard gain.

"I was just trying to get control of the ball and I lost it," Carter said.

After Cobb missed a wide-open Carter, Damon Duval -- strong-legged and reliable -- put too much hook on a 49-yard field-goal attempt.

Arkansas was leading 7-3 and facing third-and-13 when Jones replaced Clark, who was 8-of-9 for 105 yards at that point. From the shotgun, Jones rolled left behind a moving pocket, stopped, took three steps upfield and then found Smith running behind safety Stanford Simmons.

"I was surprised when they sent the play in and it was a pass," Jones said. "Richard was covered at first and when I stated to scramble he broke to the back of the end zone and I found him. I didn't really know how much I would throw but it's special for my first one to be a touchdown."

The 63-yard drive started after Duval was barely wide on a 54-yard field-goal attempt.

Clark kept the drive alive with a 9-yard pass to Smith on third-and-8. He also had a 16-yard completion to Gerald Howard, and Cedric Cobbs contributed an 18-yard gain on a draw play.

Auburn's 12-play response included runs of 14, 6, 7, and 21 yards by freshman Williams and two third-down completions by Cobb. From the 8, Cobb threw to Carter, who stretched to get the ball across the goal and fumbled. Bua had his hand on the ball for a moment, but lost control and Carter recovered in the end zone.

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