AUBURN, Ala. – Kentucky sacked Auburn’s quarterbacks seven times and scored the game’s only touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter to earn its first SEC victory, beating the Tigers 10-3 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“They did a great job of shortening the game and converting third downs at critical moments,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. “I thought they played harder than we did, and that’s frustrating to say. We did not have many possessions, and it seemed like every time we did have something going, we’d have a negative play with a sack.”
Trailing 10-3 early in the fourth quarter, Jackson Arnold relieved Ashton Daniels for a drive that began at the Tigers’ 8-yard line.
Jeremiah Cobb opened the possession with a 19-yard run, then Auburn picked up another first down on Arnold’s 12-yard pass to Omar Mabson II, but the Tigers were unable to cross midfield after a second-down sack led to a punt.
Kensley Louidor-Faustin’s third-down sack forced a Kentucky punt that gave Auburn another chance for a game-tying drive with 5:18 to play from its 17 yard-line, but Kentucky sacked Arnold on third down, leading to a three-and-out.
“When you get into that type of game and you have to drop back and throw, you’ve got to either turn it loose or protect better,” Freeze said. “I think it was a combination but mostly we just struggled to protect."
AnQuon Fegans gave Auburn another glimmer of hope, returning his first career interception 16 yards and crossing midfield before fumbling back to the Wildcats with 2:56 left in the game.
“They did a good job chasing him and stripping it,” Freeze said. “He’ll learn from that and be better the next time.”
After Auburn forced a punt, the Tigers reinserted Daniels with 2:12 to play and the ball at Auburn’s 9-yard line.
The Tigers converted on fourth-and-6 on a pass to Cam Coleman, then advanced to Kentucky’s 35-yard line on a 19-yard completion to Preston Howard before Kentucky intercepted Daniels’ desperation heave in the end zone on the game’s final play.
Daniels completed 13 of 28 passes for 108 yards and rushed for 48 yards on 15 carries.
Tied 3-3 at the half, Kentucky (2-6, 1-5) opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, taking a 10-3 lead on Cutter Boley’s 13-yard pass to Kendrick Law.
After a scoreless first quarter, Kentucky used three explosive runs to gain 40 yards, setting up Jacob Kauwe’s 48-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead at the 11:40 mark of the second quarter.
Auburn crossed midfield late in the quarter on Daniels’ 26-yard run but a fourth-down sack ended the drive and gave the Wildcats the ball on the Tigers’ 49-yard line with 1:42 to play in the half.
Freshman Elijah Melendez picked a perfect time to record his first career interception, picking off Boley and returning it 27 yards to the Wildcats’ 35-yard line with a minute left in the half.
Two Cobb runs gained 20 yards, setting up Alex McPherson’s game-tying 27-yard field goal with two seconds remaining before halftime. Cobb led Auburn with 72 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Auburn’s leading tackler in all six conference games, Xavier Atkins led the Tigers with eight tackles. Amaris Williams added a sack and two tackles for loss. The Tigers held Kentucky to 240 yards of total offense, including 79 rushing yards on 32 attempts, an average of 2.5 yards per carry.
"It certainly hasn’t been the year any of us expected. Tonight, again, our kids laid it on the line for us — especially defensively, with their effort," Freeze said. "But offensively, there are zero excuses for how poorly we’re playing at times. We really struggled to protect tonight. They did a really nice job, and you have to give them some credit. But we’ve struggled offensively, and that is unacceptable the way we played."
Auburn (4-5, 1-5) plays its final away game next Saturday at No. 9 Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer