AUBURN, Ala. – T.J. Finley's 10-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 45 seconds left capped a 98-yard drive to give No. 23 Auburn a 34-24 comeback victory Saturday over Georgia State on Homecoming.
"I was proud of our guys to find a way to finish," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "We found a way to win. There's something to be said for that. It's not pretty, it's not perfect, but you found a way. That says a lot about this team."
Backed up at its 2-yard-line and trailing 24-19 with 3:23 to play, Jarquez Hunter gave Auburn breathing room with an 18-yard run.
Finley, who relieved Bo Nix in the second half, hit Kobe Hudson for 15 yards on third-and-11, then Finley rushed for 16 yards to cross midfield.
Finley connected with Elijah Canion for 12 yards to GSU's 30, then hit John Samuel Shenker for 19 yards to the 11 with 1:19 remaining.
Three plays netted 1 yard, setting the stage for Finley and Jackson's fourth-down heroics. Facing a GSU blitz, Finley avoided multiple rushers first by retreating, then stepping up in the pocket and firing to a leaping Jackson in the end zone to give Auburn a one-point lead in the final minute.
TOUCHDOWN!! @shedrickj85
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 25, 2021
The First of his Career!#WarEagle | #AuburnMade pic.twitter.com/QTAK3nQmDc
"I saw some pressure coming from the left side," said Finley, who completed five passes for 64 yards on the game-winning drive. "Shed did an amazing job coming open, catching the ball and coming down."
"It was wild," said Jackson, who made four receptions for 70 yards and the game-winning TD. "I told him I was going to make a play for him. I've been here four years, I've seen a lot of game-winning touchdowns, last-minute wins. It was crazy to make one of those and make a play for the team."
Finley hit Hudson for a 2-point conversion that gave Auburn a 27-24 lead, then after a GSU incompletion, Smoke Monday returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown to secure victory for the Tigers.
Trailing 24-12 in the second half, Caylin Newton blocked a punt that Barton Lester recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that cut GSU's lead to 24-19 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
"The block by Caylin Newton was huge as far as momentum goes," Harsin said. "It gave us a chance to put points on the board."
Gallery: (9-25-2021) Auburn 34, Georgia State 24
Auburn's defense forced four consecutive three-and-outs while shutting out the Panthers in the second half.
Chandler Wooten made a career-high 12 tackles. T.D. Moultry recorded a career-high nine tackles, including two of Auburn's 10 tackles for loss.
Anders Carlson kicked four first-half field goals to account for Auburn's scoring before intermission.
"Anders kept us in the game," Harsin said.
After Georgia State took a 3-0 lead, Nehemiah Pritchett returned the kickoff 72 yards to set up Carlson's game-tying 41-yard field goal.
Auburn's defense delivered a three-and-out, leading to Carlson's 23-yard field goal that put the Tigers on top 6-3 after the first quarter.
The visiting Panthers produced three touchdown drives in the second quarter, the first on a 12-yard pass from Darren Grainger to Jamari Thrash to retake a 10-6 lead.
Carlson's third field goal, a 28-yarder, trimmed GSU's lead to 10-9 with 9 minutes left in the half.
Grainger threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Roger Carter to give Georgia State a 17-9 lead.
Carlson's fourth field goal with 2:54 left in the second quarter made it 17-12, but Tucker Gregg's 50-yard touchdown run gave Georgia State a 24-12 halftime lead.
Auburn (3-1) kicks off SEC play next Saturday at LSU at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.
"It was exciting at the end to get that done, to make those plays to finish the game like we did," Harsin said. "Now we've got to take that into conference play. We'll build on that, we'll learn from the things we didn't do well, we'll go back to work on Sunday. We've got to make sure we're out there playing chess and not checkers."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer