AUBURN, Ala. – All Anders Carlson needed was a second chance Saturday. The junior kicker missed a 34-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter, but when his teammates picked him up and gave him another opportunity with less than 20 seconds left to win it, he delivered.
Carlson drilled a 39-yard field goal, his third made field goal of the game, to propel No. 13 Auburn to a 30-28 victory over Arkansas on a wet, rainy day in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"I'm extremely proud of our team to get a hard-fought SEC victory," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "A lot of times it's how you win. That's what I told our team. These SEC wins, especially this year, are not easy. You look around at our league and our guys found a way to win. We can take that, and it will help us later in the season."
It took all three phases for Auburn in the final sequence. Following the missed kick, the defense responded with a three-and-out to give the Tigers the ball back. On offense, it was Tank Bigsby who took over on the final drive. The freshman running back caught a pass for nine yards and then had back-to-back runs for 17 yards to set up the go-ahead kick from Carlson.
Bigsby finished with 146 yards rushing, 16 yards receiving and added 106 yards on kick returns. He ran for 106 yards in the first half, becoming the first Auburn running back to reach 100 yards in the first half of an SEC game since Kerryon Johnson did it against Ole Miss in 2017.
"He broke tackles. He ran extremely hard. That's what I saw," Malzahn said. "He bounced a couple out, he cut them back, ran some guys over, broke tackles, kept his legs moving and protected the football. I thought he did a good job."
Gallery: (10-10-2020) Auburn 30, Arkansas 28
In what was a sloppy start for both sides due to the weather, Auburn scored first with a blocked punt for a touchdown. Senior defensive back Jordyn Peters broke through the right side and blocked the punt while junior linebacker Barton Lester was right there to fall on it in the end zone.
For Peters, it was the fourth punt block in his career. It was Auburn's first blocked punt for a touchdown since 2018 against Alabama State when Peters blocked it and Devan Barrett returned it for six.
The Tigers kept the foot on the gas, adding a field goal late in the first quarter to make it 10-0.
On their opening drive of the second quarter, it was vintage Auburn football as the offense ran the ball 10 straight times and marched 80 yards down the field for a touchdown. Bigsby started the drive with runs of 13 and 17 yards. Fellow running back D.J. Williams picked up 11 yards and then converted a third-and-2 with a 5-yard run. Quarterback Bo Nix capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 17-0.
As a team, Auburn rushed for 215 yards in the first half.
"We talked all week about being balanced and how we've got to be able to run the football," Malzahn said. "We had 259 yards rushing, so I think the offensive line really did a good job tonight running the football."
Arkansas battled back in the second half to cut the lead to two, but the Tigers responded and mounted another impressive touchdown drive. This time it was Nix and wide receiver Anthony Schwartz who took over. The two connected five times for 56 yards on the drive, including a 17-yard touchdown catch from Schwartz on 3rd-and-10 where he weaved through a handful of Razorbacks on his way to the end zone.
"They had the momentum so I knew we had to quiet them," Schwartz said. "I trusted the play. I trusted the line coming out and everyone blocking. I saw an opening to the right. I got a good block from Shed (Shedrick Jackson) who walled his man off, I was able to waltz into the end zone."
Schwartz finished with a team-high 10 receptions and 100 yards receiving, both career highs.
On defense, linebackers Owen Pappoe and Zakoby McClain stepped up for Auburn in the absence of senior leader K.J. Britt. McClain led the team with 13 tackles, a new career high, and Pappoe also set a career high in tackles with 10 while adding a sack as well.
Pappoe's sack was one of seven tackles for loss by the defense. Sophomore Colby Wooden, starting in place of the injured Big Kat Bryant, recorded two tackles for loss, a sack and six total stops.
It was the fifth straight win in the series for Auburn who now leads 18-11-1 all-time.
The Tigers (2-1) will go back on the road next week to face a South Carolina team who earned their first victory of the season Saturday. The game is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. CT and will be televised on ESPN.
Auburn vs. Arkansas final notes
- Captains: K.J. Britt, Big Kat Bryant, Bo Nix, Shaun Shivers
- Coin Toss: Auburn wins the toss and defers. Arkansas will receive
- Attendance: 17,490 (capacity)
TEAM NOTES
- First-time starters for Auburn: Luke Deal, J.J. Pegues, Keiondre Jones
- Auburn has scored in 96 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
- Auburn scored first in the game for the 33rd time in its last 47 games
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Freshman Tank Bigsby records a career high in rushing yards (146) and carries (20); his 106-yard first half was the first Auburn 100-yard effort in the first half of an SEC game since Kerryon Johnson vs. Ole Miss in 2017
- Junior Seth Williams now has 1,580 career receiving yards, ranking 14th among Auburn career leaders, passing Ryan Davis (1,555 from 2015-18) and Byron Franklin (1,573 from 1977-80). Williams ranks 14th all-time in career receptions with 97, passing Eli Stove (96 from 2016-20) and tied with Ben Obomanu (97 from 2002-05)
- Bo Nix scores his first rushing touchdown of the season and eighth of his career
- Nix's TD pass to Anthony Schwartz was Nix's fourth TD pass of the season and 20th of his career. It was Schwartz' first TD catch of the season and fourth of his career
- For Schwartz, 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards are both career bests
- Bigsby and Schwartz give Auburn a 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver in the same game for the first time since the 2018 Liberty game (Kam Martin and Seth Williams). The last time versus an SEC opponent was against Alabama in 2017 (Kerryon Johnson and Ryan Davis) INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Colby Wooden and Zykevious Walker each recorded his first career sack; Wooden tied a career high with six tackles
- Sophomore linebacker Owen Pappoe posts a career-best 10 tackles
- Zakoby McClain's 13 tackles are a career high
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- The first quarter punt block by Jordyn Peters was the fourth of his career. Barton Lester's block recovery for a touchdown was his first career score. It was the first blocked punt for a TD by Auburn since the 2018 Alabama State game (blocked by Jordyn Peters, recovered by Devan Barrett) and the first by Auburn in an SEC game since the 2017 Texas A&M contest (blocked by Nick Ruffin, recovered by Malik Miller)
- Anders Carlson is now 12th in career scoring at Auburn with 212, passing Kerryon Johnson (204 from 2015-17) and Stephen Davis (204 from 1993-95) and Tre Mason (210 from 2011-13)
- Carlson is now tied for 8th in caree)r field goals made with 38, with Jorge Portela (38 from 1977-79
- Carlson is now 7th career PAT made at Auburn with 98, passing Win Lyle (95 from 1987-89) and tied with Gardner Jett (98 from 1970-72)