Auburn managed to rush for more yards and touchdowns than any of Missouri's prior four opponents and it did so without its best Running back.

Kamryn Pettway was dressed out but did not play in No. 15 Auburn's 51-14 mauling of Missouri at Memorial Stadium in Columbia on Saturday due to a left ankle injury he suffered a week earlier.

"He wasn't 100 percent," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "It was kind of one of those deals that if he wasn't going to be 100 percent we were going to go with the other guys that were. We'll see how he is this week."

Malzahn said the injury to Pettway, whose left ankle was heavily taped and who Auburn radio indicated had a "noticeable limp" during pregame warmups, occurred the win against Mercer, when he had 34 Carries for 128 yards and three touchdowns as the only running back to get a carry.

With the benefit of hindsight, Malzahn still was not concerned about the personnel decision the week earlier to give Pettway all the carries at running back against an FCS team.

"I mean we already beat that dead horse," he said. "We played him last week and we thought we had to do that to win the game."

In place of Pettway, Kerryon Johnson led Auburn's running game with 18 carries for 48 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. He and six other players combined for 53 carries for 263 yards.

Johnson, who missed the previous two games due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the season opener, said he learned Pettway wasn't going to play once the game began.

"They kind of keep those things hidden from me, too, and I think that's a good thing," said Johnson, who tied for the most rushing scores in the FBS this season. "He's had to carry a heavy load the past two weeks, and that's partially my fault for being out. Any time we can give somebody rest, that's good."

Sophomore Kam Martin made the most of his first carries since the season opener, when he had a career performance. Martin had nine carries for 74 yards, all in the second and third quarters, with a long of 47 yards.

Redshirt-freshman Malik Miller had nine carries for 40 yards, all in the fourth quarter, and true freshman Devan Barrett had a carry for no gain and one-yard catch.

"We've been banged up. It's almost a repeat of last year where we kind of had to make shift some things a year ago," running backs coach Tim Horton said during a postgame radio interview. "Pettway was not able to play (Saturday) night and KJ was back and did some good things. The other thing that I think we learned is Malik Miller and Kam Martin and Devan Barrett can step in there and do an admirable job. So that's going to help us a lot in the long run."

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.