AUBURN, Ala. – As anyone following the buildup to or watching Auburn's game against Texas A&M was aware, Jarrett Stidham grew up in the Lone Star State.
So oft-repeated was that nugget, it became an inside joke between Auburn's quarterback and the reporters who cover the Tigers.
"Obviously, I'm from Texas," Stidham said with a grin after Auburn's 28-24 win. "So anytime I can beat the Aggies, it's a great day in my book."
On Auburn's two fourth quarter touchdown drives, Stidham was 7-for-8 for 125 yards, including an 11-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Seth Williams with 1:41 remaining.
"I can't speak enough about these players on this team," he said. "This team is so resilient. We have great people on this team and guys who just want to win and sure enough, we found a way."
TRICK AND TREAT
Three days after Halloween, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn twice reached into his bag of tricks, treating fans to momentum-changing plays.
Late in the first quarter, after Auburn recovered a fumble, the Tigers scored on a perfectly executed trick play, with Stidham throwing behind the line of scrimmage to Ryan Davis, who quickly fired to a wide open Sal Cannella for a 2-yard touchdown and a 7-3 Auburn lead.
Trailing 24-21 in the fourth quarter, Auburn got sneaky on special teams, sending Christian Tutt deep to receive a punt, while Ryan Davis served as a decoy, drawing attention from Texas A&M defenders.
Fielding the punt at Auburn's 14, Tutt returned it 28 yards to the Tigers' 42, where A&M's punter made a touchdown-saving tackle. Auburn scored the game-winning touchdown two plays later.
"We've had that all year," Malzahn said. "We were just waiting on the right moment to call it. Golly, it was a hair away from being a house call. You work on things, and you work on them in fall camp and you try to find the perfect situation. That really was.
"It was kind of a backed up situation. He did a good job catching the ball. It was a hair away."
WINNING IT TWICE
The game was supposed to be over. The last-second Hail Mary attempt from Texas A&M ended up in the hands of Noah Igbinoghene, though he was out of bounds, and more importantly, the clock at Jordan-Hare Stadium hit 0:00. The Auburn players immediately sprinted over to the student section to rejoice with the fans. Gus Malzahn walked to midfield to shake hands with Jimbo Fisher. The celebration was on.
But the game was not over. After a review, the officials ruled that there was still one second left on the clock, giving the Aggies one more chance to win the game.
"I told my defense, 'Don't let his happen,'" Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis said. "That's all I could say. Because we thought the game was over. I was like, 'If they convert this, we're going to be the laughing stock of college football.'"
Texas A&M didn't convert. Defensive lineman Nick Coe got to the quarterback before he could get a pass off, and this time the clock really did run out. Even if he had thrown the pass, the rest of the Auburn defense was back at the goal line in position to make a play.
"We work on situations like that every Thursday," Davis said. "Every single Thursday since the season has been here. We were prepared for it."
Once the play was over, Davis and his teammates celebrated with fans for a second time. But this time, there would no stopping the party.
POSTGAME PARTY
The party continued in the locker room, where Auburn's raucous celebration, with shouts and songs, could be heard through brick walls in the interview room.
"It was wild," said Chandler Cox, whose fourth quarter touchdown trimmed Auburn's deficit to 24-21 with 5:14 to play. "People dancing, and I was showing off my moves a little bit. Everyone has some moves they were showing off. They had to."
"Really high energy," said Igbinoghene, whose interception with 7:14 to play jump-started Auburn's comeback. "Just happy to get a win, face adversity, big things ahead of us, this team."
"It was amazing," said Darius Slayton, who had eight receptions for 107 yards. "The way this game went, it was such a hard-fought win, everybody was letting out all the positive emotion."
"Nobody quit & we kept fighting."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 4, 2018
🗣@russ_dont95 on @AuburnFootball win vs. Texas A&M. pic.twitter.com/Rx9TrcbiOW
"Sure enough, we found a way."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) November 4, 2018
🗣@Jarrett_Stidham
On @AuburnFootball's two 4th quarter TD drives, QB1 was 7️⃣ of 8️⃣ for1️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ yards & a TD.
(Also, he's from Texas, in case you hadn't heard a time or two thousand). pic.twitter.com/FrIGy0IpO0
Senior writer Greg Ostendorf contributed to this story
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer