STARKVILLE, Miss. – Auburn overcame a 21-point deficit and twice took the lead in the fourth quarter before falling to Mississippi State 39-33 in overtime Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium.
"I'm so proud of my guys. They fought," said interim head coach Carnell Williams. "I emphasized two things all week: serve and believe. Those guys exemplified that. We didn't complete the mission. I'm proud of those guys. They fought their tail off."
Jo'quavious Marks ended the game by scoring a 5-yard rushing touchdown on MSU's third play in OT after a pass interference penalty gave the Bulldogs first down at the 5.
Auburn got the ball first in overtime and gained 4 yards before missing a 38-yard field goal attempt.
Robby Ashford rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and Auburn held the Bulldogs to minus-17 rushing yards through three quarters.
"It hurts," Ashford said. "We fought our butts off, came back, down 24-3. Losing in overtime hurts but I'm proud of everybody."
"Nobody quit," Williams said. "I know the Auburn family is proud of those guys."
With Auburn trailing 24-19 In the fourth quarter, Marcus Harris' first-down sack led to a three-and-out that gave Auburn possession at its 40-yard line.
The Tigers drove 60 yards on four consecutive rushing plays, with Tank Bigsby racing down the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown that put Auburn ahead 25-24 with 6:36 to play.
Will Rogers' third touchdown pass, a 33-yarder to Rara Thomas, reclaimed a 30-25 lead for Mississippi State with 3:49 to play.
Auburn answered again, driving 75 yards in eight plays and taking a 33-30 lead with 1:05 remaining on Jarquez Hunter's 8-yard touchdown run and Ashford's two-point run.
"It's always great to score in my home state," said Hunter, who played high school football 60 miles south of Starkville in Philadelphia, Mississippi. "We were running inside zone. It was cloudy on front side so I bounced it backside and it was just me and one player. I had it in my mind that I was going to beat him and I had to score."
Mississippi State started its next drive at midfield after a short kick and a personal foul penalty on Auburn, driving 24 yards and tying the score at 33-33 on a 44-yard field goal with 29 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs recovered a deflected squib kickoff but missed a 56-yard field goal attempt at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime.
Auburn forced three turnovers but produced only three points after the takeaways.
Trailing 24-6 at halftime, Auburn took advantage of a snap fumbled by MSU's punter that gave the Tigers possession at the Bulldogs' 16-yard line early in the third quarter.
Two plays later, Ashford scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown that trimmed Mississippi State's lead to 24-12. Auburn went for two but the Bulldogs intercepted Ashford's pass.
Jaylin Simpson intercepted Rogers to give Auburn possession at the Bulldogs' 19, but the Tigers gained only 5 yards on four plays, turning over on downs.
Wooden's sack forced a punt that traveled only 13 yards giving Auburn another short field at State's 35.
"We kept playing our game," said Wooden, who along with his D-line mates rushed Rogers 59 times. "We stuck with it, kept playing and kept rushing. It paid off."
This time, the Tigers cashed in with Ashford's third-down sweep for an 18-yard touchdown that pulled Auburn within one score at 24-19 with 4:18 to play in the third quarter.
Trailing 17-0 in the second quarter, Jeffrey M'ba sacked Rogers, forcing a fumble that Dylan Brooks recovered and returned 7 yards to the MSU 8-yard line, but the Tigers were penalized twice and had to settle for Carlson's 27-yard field goal for Auburn's first points.
Mississippi State's Lideatrick Griffin returned Carlson's kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown that regained momentum for the Bulldogs along with a 24-3 lead.
Bigsby produced Auburn's biggest play of the half, taking a shotgun snap, faking a pitch to Ashford, and running 38 yards to State's 20. Carlson connected on a 42-yard field goal that reduced MSU's lead to 24-6 at the 4:05 mark of the second quarter.
With 1:35 left in the half, Wooden recovered Derrick Hall's strip sack to give Auburn possession near midfield, but two incompletions and a sack ended the opportunity.
"Huge for us," said Hall of the trio of turnovers. "That starts in practice. Practice carries over to the game. As a defense, we're really making strides and getting better."
Auburn sacked Rogers five times, with Hall recording two and Wooden, Harris and M'ba each getting one.
Mississippi State led 17-0 in the first minute of the second quarter after a field goal and two Rogers touchdown passes.
"Forget the scoreboard," Williams told his team at halftime. "We're going to keep fighting, keep punching. Those kids didn't blink. Nobody quit."
The Tigers (3-6, 1-5) return to Jordan-Hare Stadium next Saturday to host Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Postgame Notes>> Captains: Derick Hall, Owen Pappoe, John Samuel Shenker, Robby Ashford
>> Coin Toss: Auburn wins the toss and defers; Mississippi State will receive
>> Overtime coin toss: Mississippi State wins and will play defense
>> Interim head coach: Carnell Williams (first game)
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: Caleb Wooden, J.D. Rhym, Camden Brown
>> Auburn has scored in 126 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> This is Auburn's second overtime game this season (also Missouri, W, 17-14).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> John Samuel Shenker is appearing in his 59th career game, tying the Auburn record set by T.D. Moultry (59 games from 2017-21).
>> Shenker is the Auburn career leader in tight end receptions (68). Shenker is now 2nd in tight end career receiving yardage (779); the career leader is Cooper Wallace (829 from 2002-05).
>> Tank Bigsby now has 2,614 career rushing yards, to rank 10th all-time at Auburn, passing Onterio McCalebb (2,586 from 2009-12); next is Ronnie Brown (2,707 from 2000-04).
>> Bigsby scores his 8th rushing TD of the season and 23rd of his career.
>> Jarquez Hunter scores his 6th rushing touchdown of the season and the 9th of his career.
>> Robby Ashford is the first Auburn quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Nick Marshall (100) at Mississippi State in 2014.
>> Robby Ashford scored his 4th and 5th rushing touchdowns of the season; the 20-yard rush was his longest TD run this year. This is his second game with multiple rushing scores (also Ole Miss).
>> Ashford ranks 3rd among all-time Auburn freshman passers with 1,369 passing yards; 2nd is Stan White (2,242 in 1990).
>> Ashford is 4th in freshman pass attempts (195); next is Gabe Gross (197 in 1998), Stan White (338 in 1990). Ashford is 3rd in pass completions (98); next is Stan White (180 in 1990).
>> Ashford ranks 11th among Auburn freshman rushers with 485 yards, passing Ben Tate (392 in 2006) and D.J. Williams (400 in 2019), Rusty Williams (439 in 1996), Mario Fannin (448 in 2007), Tre Smith (454 in 2002), James Brooks (467 in 1977), Stacy Danley (468 in 1987), Chester O'Neal (480 in 1981) and Michael Burks (483 in 1998); next is Onterio McCalebb (547 in 2009).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Jaylin Simpson records his first interception of the year and second of his career.
>> Dylan Brooks records his first fumble recovery and Jeffrey M'Ba records his first forced fumble and his first career sack.
>> Colby Wooden records his second fumble recovery of the season and third of his career. Wooden has 5.0 sacks and 10.0 TFL for the season and 14.0 sacks and 28.5 TFL in his career.
>> Derick Hall records his second forced fumble of the season and fifth of his career. Hall now has 7.0 sacks and 11.0 TFL this season and 19.5 sacks and 28.5 TFL for his career.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Anders Carlson is now second in Auburn career scoring with 410 points; the career leader is Daniel Carlson with 480 points from 2014-17.
>> Carlson ranks second at Auburn in career field goals made with 79; Daniel Carlson is the career leader with 92.
>> Carlson is third in career PAT made at Auburn with 173; next is Wes Byrum (183 from 2007-10).
>> Carlson (410) is now 5th among SEC career scoring leaders, passing Billy Bennett, Georgia (409 from 2000-03); next is Blair Walsh, Georgia (412 from 2008-11).
>> Carlson (79) is 5th among SEC career leaders in field goals made, passing Philip Doyle, Alabama (78 from 1987-90); next is Rodrigo Blankenship, Georgia (80 from 2016-19).
>> Carlson (173) is now 11th among SEC career leaders in PAT made; next is Wes Byrum, Auburn (183 from 2007-10) and Aaron Medley, Tennessee (183 from 2014-17).
>> Oscar Chapman has 10 punts of 50 yards or longer this season.
>> Lideatrick Griffin's 92-yard kickoff return score was the first kick return TD against the Tigers since Alabama's Jaylen Waddle in 2019.
