Bryan Harsin took umbrage with a question asked after Auburn’s latest defensive letdown, but like the on-field product, Harsin’s defensive effort left something to be desired.

After Auburn’s 41-27 loss to Arkansas, in which his defense surrendered 200-plus rushing yards for the third straight week and 40-plus points for the fourth time in the last six games, Harsin was asked to what he would attribute the Tigers’ defensive regression to this season. After all, strong defenses have been a calling card for the program in recent years, with the unit often putting the team on its back through some offensive valleys.

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“In comparison to everybody else?” Harsin bristled. “And all the other teams that we didn’t coach when we were here? That were here?”

It was pointed out that even last year’s team, when Harsin was in his first as Auburn’s head coach, featured a solid defense, though Harsin interjected before the follow-up could be finished. Auburn was 27th nationally in scoring defense in 2021, top-30 in rushing defense (and 21st in fewest yards allowed per carry), ranked top-25 in defensive red-zone touchdown percentage and was 36th nationally in third-down defense.

Whether Harsin wants to acknowledge the comparison, the fact of the matter is Auburn’s defense has seen an overall sharp decline this season. Saturday’s loss to Arkansas was just the latest example, as the Razorbacks rushed for 286 yards and four touchdowns, averaged 7.2 yards per play and 6.8 sack-adjusted rushing yards per carry while becoming the third consecutive opponent to score at least 40 points against the Tigers.

It’s the first time in program history that Auburn has surrendered 40-plus points in four games in a single season, and Saturday’s loss marked the first time the Tigers have ever given up 40-plus in three consecutive games. The only other seasons with three total games of allowing 40-plus points were 1948, 2011 and 2012.

“They really walked in here, put 40 on us, and walked out,” defensive lineman Colby Wooden said. “I’ve never had that happen in my time here. It’s a difficult thing to digest, but you have to look in the mirror. Kudos to them; they were the better team today. Point-blank, period.”

When Harsin tried to pinpoint the biggest issues that have led to the Tigers’ defensive decline, he brought up missed tackles (of which there were many, again, against the Razorbacks), an inability to stop the run, as well as Auburn’s struggles getting off the field on third downs. Arkansas converted 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) third-down attempts at Jordan-Hare Stadium. That’s the highest third-down conversion rate the Tigers have allowed at home under Harsin, and it’s the second straight game the program has allowed its opponent to convert more than 50 percent of its third-down tries; Ole Miss converted 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) of its third-down opportunities against Auburn two weeks ago.

“That’s not what we want,” Harsin said.

The most glaring deficiency for Auburn’s defense, though, has been stopping the run — which was further highlighted against Arkansas, which entered the game with a top-10 rushing attack and propensity for running the ball as often as the option-based service academies.

The Razorbacks racked up 286 rushing yards total (and 304 sack-adjusted yards running the ball). Raheim Sanders paced the Razorbacks on the ground, running for 171 yards on 16 carries. Much of that came on a devastating 76-yard run in the third quarter after Auburn pinned Arkansas at its own 6-yard line.

“It’s very frustrating,” edge defender Derick Hall said. “You know, we’ll go back and watch the tape. We’ll see what we mess up. I just know game after game, we gift them a lot of things — whether it be penalties or one guy getting out of his gap or anything like that. Today, the defense didn’t have the best game, and it starts with me. I don’t think I played to my best standard. We’ll go back and see what we have to do to get better tomorrow.”

Saturday marked the first time since 2012 that Auburn has surrendered 200-plus rushing yards in three consecutive games. That season, it was Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M; this year, the culprits were Georgia, Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Auburn has now allowed 264.8 rushing yards per game against six Power 5 opponents this season — a mark that is among the worst in the nation. A once-proud defense is left reeling.

“It’s not good,” Harsin said. “I see the same thing you see. It’s not good…. It just comes back to we’ve got to do a better job. If we had the answers for that, we wouldn’t have 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns (allowed on the ground the last three games). But that’s not a good stat. And that’s not something that’s going to help us. Obviously, it hasn’t, and it’s something we’ve got to fix.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.