AUBURN, Ala. – Hometown freshman Towns McGough kicked seven field goals and drilled a 58-yarder on the final play to give Auburn's offense a 28-27 A-Day victory in front of 33,526 to conclude spring practice Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"It's really a dream," said the Auburn High School graduate, who converted all his attempts to earn special teams MVP honors. "I thought back to high school and that I've done this plenty of times and had confidence in myself. And obviously, a little bit nervous but super excited to get it done."
Fellow early enrollee Cam Coleman also shined, scoring the scrimmage's only touchdown on a 34-yard pass from Payton Thorne early in the fourth quarter.
"An abundance of joy," said Coleman, the offensive MVP who led Auburn with 92 yards receiving on four catches, including a 49-yarder from Hank Brown in the first quarter for his first Pat Dye Field reception. "It was a great feeling. They 're trusting me to win on the one-on-one balls and just go get it."
8️⃣ for SIX 🙌
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) April 6, 2024
First of many in Jordan-Hare for @CamColeman12! pic.twitter.com/WqGaZc1fAd
Staked to a 27-0 lead at the outset, Auburn's defense held that advantage until McGough's game-winner as time expired.
Defensive back Jerrin Thompson recorded a sack and tied for the team lead with three tackles to earn defensive MVP recognition.
"We let it loose. We played fast. We played excellent defense the first three quarters," Thompson said. "We gave up some plays in that last quarter that we probably wanted back, but overall I feel like we played pretty good."
Quientrail Jamison-Travis was credited with two sacks and three tackles for loss while Gage Keys also made a sack. The defense limited the offense to 46 yards rushing on 31 attempts, an average of 1.5 yards per carry.
Four Auburn quarterbacks combined to complete 26 of 49 passes for 365 yards and a touchdown. Robert Lewis led the Tigers with five receptions totaling 73 yards.
McGough kicked a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter, a 33-yarder at the end of the first half, 34, 43 and 49-yard kicks in the third quarter, and a 26-yarder in the fourth before his bomb at the buzzer, after which teammates mobbed him near midfield.
"Thankful for such a beautiful day for A-Day," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. "To walk into the stadium and to see all our cheerleaders, our band and fans show up for a spring game like today just tells you about the Auburn spirit, the Auburn Family.
"It was good for our defense to play really well. I thought they stopped the run extremely well, and then to see us make some explosive plays in the pass game was really good. Robert (Lewis), Cam (Coleman), and others got some of those opportunities.
"I'm pleased with the crowd and just love our fans. I know we've got a long way to go and a lot to clean up. We certainly can't come into this stadium flat like I felt like we did at first, but I'm pleased with the spring. I give our coaches a lot of credit; I thought they really prepared hard for every single practice and we got the most out of every minute we were allowed to be with our kids in the spring."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer