AUBURN, Ala. -- The scene on Saturday evening was much like it was two years ago. Arkansas’ players smiled, held their helmets above their heads and gave Auburn fans a reason to quietly leave Jordan-Hare Stadium.

It was another big win at Auburn, except with a different cast of characters.

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long congratulated players as they headed to the locker room to the sound of fans calling the Hogs. Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino hugged his father on the sidelines.

And after suffering through a month of lopsided losses, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino finally had a reason to smile following the biggest win of his short tenure -- a 25-22 victory over No. 20 Auburn in front of 85,782.

“We needed a win. The good thing is we were showing progress and you tried to build on that,” Petrino said. “I can’t say enough about how our players did a great job of staying positive and not getting down.”

In winning their first Southeastern Conference game of the season, the Hogs (3-3, 1-2) showed what’s possible when their offense converts on long drives, plays defense for four quarters and isn’t undone by its special-team mistakes.

Running back Michael Smith gained 63 of his career-high 176 yards rushing on a touchdown run that gave Arkansas a 25-20 lead with less than nine minutes remaining.

And the Razorbacks preserved the win in the final minutes by stopping the Tigers on four consecutive plays from inside the 5 and then getting a big interception from Matt Harris with 29 seconds left.

“Just to come down here and get a big win like this, it means the world. Not only for our record, but for our confidence defensively and offensively,” Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette said. “We know we can beat a ranked team on the road and that’s huge in the SEC.”

Despite being a heavy underdog, Arkansas again pulled off an upset over a ranked Auburn team. In their last trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2006, the Razorbacks shocked the then-No. 2 Tigers 27-10.

Arkansas scored in the first quarter for the first time this season, and the offense did more than enough down the stretch to overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half.

With quarterback Casey Dick willing to throw deep and Smith showing his durability by rushing 35 times, Arkansas outgained Auburn 416 to 193 yards.

But unlike in weeks past, the Razorbacks managed to turn long drives into points. Dick scored a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal in the second quarter, and he caught his first career touchdown pass on a trick play that cut Auburn’s lead to 20-16 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy about a group of guys ever in my life,” Dick said. “We’ve been through a lot the last couple of games, as everyone I’m sure sees. And we got a lot better from where we started.”

Arkansas was by no means mistake-free, and there were times when the team followed up a big play with a costly error. The Razorbacks gave up a touchdown on a kickoff return, fumbled the kickoff to open the second half and had an extra-point attempt blocked.

Meanwhile, Dick threw a pair of interceptions that resulted in two Auburn field goals. But Arkansas’ defense helped make up for the mistakes by limiting the Tigers to just 56 yards rushing and 137 yards passing.

In an attempt to jump-start his offense, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville made several unconventional decisions in the days leading up to the game, as well as on Saturday.

He fired first-offensive coordinator Tony Franklin on Wednesday, trusting Auburn inside receivers coach Steve Ensminger to take over the playcalling for the remainder of the season.

Auburn (4-3, 2-3) also rotated its quarterbacks against Arkansas -- with not much luck. The Tigers started with Fort Smith native Kodi Burns, switched to junior Chris Todd and then went back to Burns when the offense continued to stall.

In a sign of how much Auburn’s offense struggled, its defense gained more yards in the first half with two interception returns totaling 90 yards.

“It’s been a tough week. I put our guys in a tough situation,” Tuberville said. “... We didn’t have a lot obviously on offense. Defensively, we couldn’t get off the field.”