Auburn ended its 10-game SEC losing streak with a wild come from behind, 24-20, victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
"We talked before the game that it could come down to the end. A lot of these games with Mississippi State have, and I said we've got to find a way to win," said head coach Gus Malzahn.
With 1:56 to go in the game Auburn had the ball on its own 12-yard line trailing Mississippi State 20-17.
"The atmosphere was we've got the ball and we're going down and score," said receiver Quan Bray. "No less than three (points) we were trying to win the ball game."
And that's exactly what the offense did.
Auburn drove the ball 88 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with a Nick Marshall 10-yard pass to tight end C.J. Uzomah with 10 seconds left in the game.
"It was unbelievable," Uzomah said. "When I caught the ball I looked up and saw everybody on their feet and I could not hear one thing, everybody was jumping on me and all I could hear was the 80,000 roaring."
Marshall finished the winning drive going 6-for-8 for 66 yards and 19 yards rushing. "Coach told me to just go out there and be cool calm and collected, and don't rush anything," Marshall said. "I just took his word and took with the defense gave me and executed."
Also coming up big on the final drive was true freshman receiver Marcus Davis who caught four of Marshall's six passes on the final drive.
"Marcus is a guy that, he's a freshman, but he's not playing like a freshman," Malzahn said. "He's really stepped up and you'll see him on the field more."
The victory ended Auburn's 10-game SEC losing streak. Auburn's last SEC victory came against Ole Miss in 2011.
"Yeah, you know we did not talk about that one time," Malzahn said. "We just talked about this year. You know, a new start, a new beginning, a new day, and our guys really bought into it. When you win your first SEC game, it gives you great momentum, and I'm really proud of our guys, and the way they got that done tonight."
Even though the team was not worried about ending the losing streak it still feels good for them to be 3-0.
"Especially coming off last year going 3-9 and this year we've already won three games, it feels real good," Bray said. "We just have to take this and run with it and come back tomorrow and think about LSU."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
