Robby Ashford spent the bye week rewatching eight of his mistakes, over and over again. Watch. Rewind. Repeat.

Ashford was responsible for eight of Auburn’s FBS-leading 19 fumbles through its first seven games, though only two of them resulted in turnovers. Ball security was an issue for the redshirt freshman quarterback, and it played into the team’s worst-in-the-nation turnover margin.

He knew something needed to be done, and the bye week afforded the former Oregon transfer a chance to pinpoint the cause of some of those unresolved issues.

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“It was good to be able to just go out there and just during the bye week and just work like I said, work on the things I was lacking in,” Ashford said.

After reexamining those eight fumbles, Ashford noticed the biggest trouble came at the mesh point with Auburn’s running backs. Eagerness was the main culprit. Ashford’s eyes, he said, often got too wide; he’d see a hole in the defense he wanted to take advantage of, and he’d pull the ball too quickly or grip it incorrectly at the mesh, and it would result in putting it on the ground.

“I was just rushing,” he said. “…But I mean, you got to mesh it first.”

Ashford was perhaps the biggest benefactor of the bye week for Auburn, and it showed during Saturday’s game against Arkansas. The Tigers suffered their fourth straight loss, this one a 41-27 beatdown that wasn’t as close as the final score showed, but Ashford’s performance — and the development he has shown — provided somewhat of a silver lining for Auburn on what was an otherwise frustrating and disappointing Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Ashford turned in his best performance of the season, completing 24-of-33 passes (72.7 percent) for 285 yards and a touchdown while running for a team-high 87 yards. He also managed to not fumble the ball a single time and or commit a turnover, as Auburn managed to win the turnover battle for just the second time this season (the Tigers forced and recovered a Razorbacks fumble for the lone takeaway of the game).

“I’m feeling more comfortable,” Ashford said. “Just the experience I’m getting, just the reps, like you said, it’s just — just got to keep working. Just keep getting in the film room, keep working at practice and just how can I improve my game every week? I think I’ve improved in that aspect every single week, and it’s just how can I put it all together?”

Ashford, for the most part, put it all together against Arkansas. His 285 passing yards were his second-most this season, behind only the 337 he had against LSU. Saturday’s game was also just the second time he threw for more than 200 yards in a game.

His 72.7 percent completion rate was a career high, surpassing his clip from the overtime win against Missouri (12-of-18; 66.7 percent). Ashford’s 8.6 yards per pass attempt also represented his best mark since that LSU game (8.9 yards per attempt), while his quarterback rating of 155.27 was his best in a start this year, and it trailed only his college debut against Mercer, when he finished with a rating of 177.14 while attempting just seven passes.

Ashford’s 87 rushing yards were also a career-high, and Saturday snapped a streak of four straight games in which he fumbled the ball at least once (with seven total fumbles during that stretch). It was the first career start for Ashford in which he didn’t put the ball on the ground.

“It’s a testament to him and being willing to learn and do things,” tight end John Samuel Shenker said. “He’s done an excellent job with that. I’m really proud of him in that way and being coachable. Just learning how to do the right things in practice and being a leader too, I tip my hat to him. We need to be surrounding him and being positive to him in this scenario because everyone is going to go to the quarterback after losses. He’s done a great job.”

For as much growth as Ashford showed in his performance against Arkansas, it wasn’t enough for Auburn to overcome a swell of issues in a double-digit home loss that sent swaths of fans toward the exits at the end of the third quarter. Auburn’s offense amassed 468 total yards and averaged 6.6 yards per play against Arkansas — two of the best marks of the season — but only had 14 points to show for it until garbage time, when the Tigers scored two touchdowns in the final 5:28 to avoid their most lopsided defeat ever at the hands of the Razorbacks.

Outside of its three touchdowns, Auburn had four other drives that got to inside the Arkansas 35-yard line, with just six points to show for it, as finishing possessions remained an issue for the Tigers. That included just three total points on its first two possessions of the game, which started near midfield and produced just 40 yards on 14 plays.

“It’s always frustrating just when we know we can get out there and put the ball in the end zone and we don’t, and I mean, at the end of the day, we just got to execute,” Ashford said. “I mean, it’s frustrating; like I said, every loss, it stings. This one stings, but this team ain’t going to give up. We’re not gonna give up. We still got four more games, four games. So, we just got to go out there and just keep getting better and just we got to put it all together.”

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