LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the final contest of their three-game road trip, the Auburn Tigers (3-5, 1-4) took down the Kentucky Wildcats (3-5,1-5) 24-10 behind Jarquez Hunter’s historic rushing performance.
Kentucky jumped on Auburn in the first quarter, using two very efficient drives to grab a touchdown and a field goal. Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff completed four of his first six throws for 73 yards. The Wildcats were up 10-0 before the Tigers could even eclipse one yard from scrimmage.
It was a struggle for the Tigers offensively in the first frame. In their first two drives, Hunter had just a single rushing attempt that picked up no gain. Auburn would run 10 more plays before they ran the ball again, with one of them resulting in an interception. The furthest an Auburn drive went in the quarter was the Kentucky 49-yard line before a sack pushed them back into their own territory.
The second quarter flipped a switch on both sides of the football that would remain on the entirety of the contest. 32 rushing yards from Jarquez Hunter and Damari Alston on the opening drive of the quarter set up a beautiful Payton Thorne to KeAndre Lambert-Smith connection in the back-right corner of the end zone.
More of the same followed on the next drive. An interception by Jay Crawford stalled a Kentucky drive that was threatening to reach the end zone, and led to an eight-play drive resulting in an Alex McPherson field goal. It was McPherson’s first attempt of the season after missing the opening half of the campaign.
“It’s a double whammy,” McPherson said. “I finally got to get on the field and I got to celebrate a win with the guys. There’s no better feeling than that, especially on the road.”
Not to be outdone by the resurgent offense, the Tiger defense put up a huge effort in the second quarter. After allowing 115 yards on multiple chunk plays in the first quarter, the defense held the Wildcats scoreless, and to only 30 yards.
After going into halftime all square at 10 apiece, both trends continued for Auburn. Hunter exploded for a new career-high in rushing yards and attempts, going for 278 yards on 23 carries. Ten of Hunter’s carries went for over 10 yards, and two went for over 40 yards. His effort was good enough for fourth all-time for rushing yards in a single game in Auburn history.
“I just got tired of losing,” Hunter said. “I told coach, ‘We’re going to find a way to win this game this week, it doesn’t matter how we do it. I try to play my hardest for my teammates and my coaches and I try to give it my all and everything I got. I took the most of the opportunity that I had today and I just had to wear them out.”
It was the most yards anyone had rushed for in Division I this season, and Hunter now leads the SEC in total rushing yards and yards per carry.
The defense also came up huge, shutting out Kentucky after their first two drives. They were able to come away with three sacks and two interceptions, one of which capped off the most crucial sequence of the game.
After Auburn had gone up by two scores, Kentucky drove the ball to the Auburn 2-yard line. The Tigers stuffed the Wildcats on three straight rushing attempts, and on fourth-and-2, Kayin Lee flew in to intercept Gavin Wimsatt and effectively seal the game.
“Bend don’t break,” said Dorian Mausi referring to the goal-line stand. “It doesn’t matter what happened leading up to it, it doesn’t matter what the score is leading up to it. When they get in the red zone, it’s bend don’t break. That’s what we stand on in those moments.”
Mausi also played a key role in the success of the defense, as he totaled a team-high 10 tackles with two coming from behind the line of scrimmage.
As Thorne kneeled the ball down deep in Kentucky territory, it was evident what this win meant to the Tigers.
“We’ve obviously had our chances to win a lot of football games this year,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. “Tonight, our kids found a way to win and I just couldn’t be happier for them…just really, really proud of everyone’s effort tonight.”
Auburn now will prepare to head into the most brutal stretch of their schedule, with Vanderbilt, Louisiana Monroe, Texas A&M and Alabama on the horizon.
The Tigers will host the surprise of the SEC this season in the Vanderbilt Commodores next Saturday. Auburn will be looking for their second consecutive conference win when the game kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 11:45 a.m. CT. The game will be live on the SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
