A successful night from quarterback Nick Marshall usually means a win for Auburn.
The Tigers' (42-35) victory over South Carolina Saturday night at Jordan-Hare stadium confirmed that.
When a big play needed to be made, the senior shined.
"It felt like last year," Marshall said. "But that was last year, and I'm just going to focus on this year's team and getting better."
The signal caller's 228 yards of total offense against the Gamecocks moved him into seventh place on the school's career list with 4,728 yards of total offense.
Marshall was the definition of a dual-threat quarterback in an offensive shootout against opposing quarterback Dylan Thompson, who threw for five touchdowns against the Tigers.
The Tigers' signal caller ran for three touchdowns. His 89 rushing yards on the night put him second in Auburn career quarterback rushing with 1,649 yards.
Marshall, who has had some inconsistencies through the air, threw for 139 total passing yards and a touchdown. He completed 12 of his 14 passes and had no interceptions.
"He played extremely well tonight," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's got a pretty good record from the last two years, considering how many ranked opponents we've played. He's played as many if not more ranked opponents than any other quarterback out there right now."
A touchdown pass to senior Brandon Fulse to tie the Gamecocks in the first quarter was the beginning for the elusive quarterback. It was Fulse's first career touchdown.
"I was thinking, 'no one's ripping it out and I'm not dropping it,' Fulse said. "I wanted to catch it and no matter what I was going to do."
By Halftime, Marshall had a rushing and a passing touchdown. He also caught a 17-yard pass from junior backup Jonathan Wallace for a first down on a trick play in the second quarter.
"They were playing man to man," Malzahn said. "That's a play we've had up and running for the last month and we've repped it 50 times so we felt pretty confident. That was a big third down play."
Auburn down again in the second quarter, Marshall tied things up with a 37-yard rush up the middle to make it 21-21 heading into the locker room. It was the longest run by an Auburn player against South Carolina since Cam Newton had a 54-yard rush in the regular-season meeting in 2010.
"I just felt it naturally," Marshall said. "I just read the block the offensive line gave me, then I just let my legs do the rest."
Strong running from freshman Roc Thomas and senior Cameron Artis-Payne, and a 24-yard catch from Fulse in the third quarter put the Tigers in scoring position. Marshall called his own number once again, and dashed four-yards to the end zone to put Auburn up 28-21.
Marshall's third rushing touchdown that put the Tigers up 42-35 came early in the fourth quarter after completions for over 48 yards to seniors Quan Bray and Corey Grant.
"Going into the game, we knew it was going to be a shootout," Marshall said. "We knew we were going to get South Carolina's best effort on the offense and defense so we just prepared for the shootout."
Continued development from Marshall is what the Tigers need to overcome a tough second half of the season. More performances like Saturday nights can keep a team that is in the toughest division in the playoff race.
"It feels great because we got back to playing Auburn football," Marshall said. "Last week during the bye week we went back to the basics and focused on getting our edge back on offense."
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