AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn overcame an early double-digit deficit and rallied late, but Florida’s Jaden Baugh scored three touchdowns to lead the Gators to a 44-39 victory over the Tigers in the SEC opener Saturday at sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium.
“The expectation here is to go win that game,” Auburn coach Alex Golesh said. “We didn’t start well enough offensively, got ourselves in the hole, really inefficient offensively in the first quarter on first down. Got into some holes on second-and-long and just couldn’t get out of them.
“You give up 12 explosives for over 300 yards and ultimately, the lack of offense in the first quarter, and the third factor, the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third, and it’s a 17-point swing and you can’t recover from it. We’ve got to get better in all three phases.”
Trailing by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, Auburn scored two late touchdowns to cut the final margin to five.
Leading 20-17 at the half, Florida needed only three plays to take a 10-point lead early in the third quarter, opening the drive with a 37-yard pass and scoring one play later on Baugh’s 33-yard run, his second touchdown of the game.
The Gators extended their lead to 34-17 on Aaron Philo’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Wilson midway through the third quarter.
Auburn put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive, pulling within 10 points on Byrum Brown’s 10-yard touchdown pass to De’Shawn Spencer with 1:24 to play in the third quarter.
The Gators went ahead 41-24 when Baugh broke free on fourth-and-1 from midfield, running 53 yards for a touchdown. Baugh finished with 162 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.
“He’s a really good player and he creates,” Golesh said. “We didn’t get off blocks well enough and we didn’t tackle well.”
Brown helped Auburn pull within single digits, driving 90 yards in 2 minutes and 35 seconds, rushing three times for 60 yards and scoring on a 21-yard run. Brown’s two-point pass to Arliss Boardingham cut Florida’s lead to 41-32 with 6:10 to play.
Florida recovered Auburn’s onside kick, then converted its third fourth-down attempt of the game with a 9-yard completion that led to a 40-yard field goal and a 12-point lead with 2:53 remaining.
Out of timeouts, Brown drove Auburn 75 yards in eight plays, tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Chas Nimrod that brought the Tigers within five points with 24 seconds to play. Florida recovered another Auburn onside kick and ran out the clock.
Auburn fell behind after an inopportune start that featured a turnover on the game’s third play.
Florida took advantage of the takeaway, driving 41 yards in three plays and taking a 7-0 lead on Baugh’s 2-yard touchdown run.
Auburn answered by forcing a turnover when Da’Shawn Womack intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 8 yards to Florida’s 8-yard line, leading to Alex McPherson’s 40-yard field goal.
On the second play of the second quarter, Florida took a 14-3 lead on Duke Clark’s 20-yard touchdown run to cap a 16-play, 75-yard drive.
Auburn got its offense going in the second quarter, generating back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives.
Brown completed three straight passes for 53 yards to set up Jeremiah Cobb’s 2-yard touchdown run, trimming Florida’s lead to 14-10 with 12:38 remaining in the half.
After Florida kicked a field goal to go ahead 17-10, Auburn drove for the game-tying score, gaining 48 yards on Brown’s pass to Keshaun Singleton, the Tigers’ longest gain of the night.
On third and goal from Florida’s 4, Brown fired over the middle to Singleton in the end zone for the game-tying score with 5:21 left in the opening half. Singleton led Auburn with 99 receiving yards on seven catches.
Florida (3-0, 1-0) then drove 65 yards in 11 plays, taking a 20-17 halftime lead on Patrick Durkin’s 28-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the half.
Linebackers Elijah Melendez and Xavier Atkins combined for 20 tackles, five tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
Auburn (2-1, 0-1) concludes its three-game homestand next Saturday when Vanderbilt visits Jordan-Hare Stadium on Homecoming at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
“There’s no time to lick your wounds,” Golesh said. “Go right back to work. Clean up what you’ve got to clean up. You go put a great game plan together and you go win the next one.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer