AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn scored two late touchdowns to overcome a 10-point deficit, beating No. 25 Texas A&M 28-24 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"I'm extremely proud of our team," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "Our guys, they kept fighting. They didn't quit. There were plenty of times they could have. We've been talking all week about playing Auburn football.
"That fight, that character and everything that goes with it. And that's really what defined it for me, the win today. A lot of times how you win can help you moving forward, and that'll definitely give us momentum."
Trailing 24-14, Noah Igbinoghene's interception gave Auburn possession at its own 29 with 7:14 remaining.
"Noah's interception was probably the play of the game," Malzahn said.
Jarrett Stidham then completed five passes, three to Darius Slayton for 43 yards, to give Auburn first-and-goal at the 1. Chandler Cox scored on the next play to cut A&M's lead to 24-21 with 5:14 to play.
Derrick Brown's sack helped force Texas A&M's punt, which Christian Tutt returned 28 yards to Auburn's 42 with 2:04 to play.
On the next play, Stidham hit Ryan Davis, who zigged and zagged up the middle for 47 yards to the Aggies' 11.
From there, Stidham connected with Seth Williams for the game-winning score with 1:41 to play.
Stidham was 18 for 29 for 239 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Slayton had eight receptions for 107 yards.
Texas A&M drove from its 16 past midfield, but Nick Coe's sack on the final play set off a joyous celebration that started in the stands and continued in Auburn's locker room.
"I just want to thank the fans," Malzahn said. "The fans were unbelievable. They hung in there, and really were a big part of the game."
Daniel Thomas forced a fumble and recorded a career-high 12 tackles. Auburn had five sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
Trayveon Williams' third touchdown, a 1-yard run to cap the opening drive of the second half, gave the Aggies a 10-point lead at the 10:27 mark of the third quarter. Auburn shut out A&M the rest out of the game.
"We talk about fighting as Auburn Tigers," defensive tackle Dontavious Russell said. "That's what we came out and did. We fought. Whenever you're able to fight and compete in the way we did and it comes out that way, that's what we were most happy about. The fact that nobody quit and we kept fighting."
Auburn trailed 17-14 after a back-and-forth first half.
After the Aggies kicked a field goal on their opening drive, Auburn's defense forced a turnover, with Jamel Dean recovering a fumbled option pitch at A&M's 20, with Thomas applying pressure on the pitch man.
Auburn took the lead on the next play, using deception. Stidham threw backwards to Ryan Davis, who fired to an open Sal Cannella for a 20-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
Texas A&M regained the lead on Williams' 38-yard touchdown run to make it 10-7 early in the second quarter.
Stidham hit Slayton for 34 yards on a 9-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. On third-and-2 from the 11, Stidham zipped a pass across the field to a leaping Williams in the end zone for a 14-10 Auburn lead with 4:03 left in the half.
The Aggies took 17-14 lead before the half on a 14-yard screen pass to Williams.
The Tigers (6-3, 3-3) play at Georgia next week.
"It was a special win," Malzahn said. "Most teams, I don't think, could have done that, and our guys did it today, so I'm really proud of them."
2️⃣8️⃣-2️⃣4️⃣ @AuburnFootball celebrates comeback win over Texas A&M pic.twitter.com/qebiKTx5Nf
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 3, 2018
"Our guys, they kept fighting. They didn't quit."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 3, 2018
🗣@CoachGusMalzahn recaps @AuburnFootball win vs. Texas A&M. Thanks fans. pic.twitter.com/e1RoyCXMrp
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Auburn vs. Texas A&M Game Notes
- Captains: Deshaun Davis, Ryan Davis, Jarrett Stidham
- Coin Toss: Texas A&M wins the toss and defers. Auburn will receive
- Eagle Flight: Spirit from Section 46 in the NW corner
- Attendance: 85,945
TEAM NOTES
- First-time starters for Auburn: Malik Miller
- Auburn has scored in 76 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- For the first time in the seven-game SEC series between Auburn and Texas A&M, the home team won
- This was Auburn's first win of the season when trailing entering the fourth quarter
- Auburn won the turnover battle for the fourth time this season; the Tigers are 4-0 in those games
- Auburn is now 8-0 coming off an open date during the Gus Malzahn era
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Ryan Davis's 20-yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella was Davis' second career TD pass and was Cannella's second TD catch of the season
- Seth Williams scored his third and fourth touchdown receptions of the season – both on 11-yard passes from Jarrett Stidham – the second being the game-winner with 1:41 to play
- Stidham's two TD passes today give him 10 on the season and 28 for his Auburn career; he now ranks 10th on the Auburn career list
- JaTarvious Whitlow is now fifth all-time among Auburn freshman rushers with 642 yards this season (16 today); next is Joe Frazier (651 in 1991)
- Ryan Davis is now second among Auburn career receiving leaders with 152 career receptions, passing Karsten Bailey (150 from 1995-98). Courtney Taylor (153 from 2003-06) is the Auburn career recordholder.
- Davis ranks 15th in Auburn career receiving yardage (1,405), passing Devin Aromashodu (1,333 from 2002-05), Ricardo Louis (1,338 from 2012-15) and Freddie Hyatt (1,396 from 1965-67) in today's game
- Davis' 47-yard reception in the fourth quarter was his longest of the season
- Davis also recorded his first passing touchdown of the season, a 20-yard reception by Sal Canella in the first quarter
- Jarrett Stidham to Ryan Davis is the second most productive pass tandem in Auburn history, with 130 (5 today) completions; the Auburn record is 140 completions by Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley (1969-71)
- Stidham recorded his fifth 200-yard passing game of the season and the 15th of his Auburn career
- Stidham is sixth among Auburn career passing leaders with 5,111 yards, passing Patrick Nix (4,957 from 1992-95)
- In his 23rd game, Stidham is the fastest Auburn passer to reach 5,000 yards; the previous fastest was Pat Sullivan, who reached 5,000 yards in his 24th career game
- Stidham is now the sixth Auburn quarterback in Auburn history with 400 career completions
- Chandler Cox scored his second rushing TD of the season and third of his career
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Noah Igbinoghene records his first career interception
- Daniel Thomas records his first forced fumble and Jamel Dean records his first fumble recovery
- Christian Tutt records his first career sack
- With 235 career tackles (9 today), Deshaun Davis ranks 10th among Auburn career tacklers since 2000
- Daniel Thomas recorded his second career double-figure tackle game with a career-best 12 tackles
- Nick Coe now has 7.0 sacks and 13.5 TFL for the season
- Derrick Brown now has 3.5 sacks and 9 TFL for the season (2.5 TFL today)
- Darrell Williams had his first sack of the season
- Jamel Dean recorded his first career sack
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Auburn holds the SEC record for consecutive PAT with 255, the longest current streak in the nation. Anders Carlson is now 27-27 on PAT for his career
- Arryn Siposs now has eight punts of 50 yards or longer this season
- Christian Tutt's 28-yard punt return to set up the game-winning drive was his second of more than 25 yards this season