The Auburn Tigers (8-5, 4-5 SEC) suffered a 34-31 loss to Wisconsin (11-3, 8-1 Big Ten) in an Outback Bowl that came down to the wire Thursday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
With the opportunity for Auburn to end the season on a positive note, the Tigers couldn't pull together a win in overtime. Kicker Daniel Carlson's field goal attempt in overtime danced off the upright and diminished any chances at victory for the Tigers.
"We just didn't make the plays at the end of the game and they did, so give them credit for that," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "We have a lot of seniors and obviously we're disappointed we couldn't get those guys out on a positive note."
It wasn't easy for either teams' defense as both offenses were hitting on all cylinders.
Auburn's Cameron Artis-Payne's two touchdowns today gave the senior his twelfth career 100-yard game and ninth this season, good enough for third place in Auburn all-time single-season rushing (1,608).
"It's pretty much a team effort," Artis-Payne said. "Everything that I was able to do was because of the offensive line."
It was quarterback Nick Marshall's twelfth career 200-yard passing game and twelfth game with multiple touchdown passes.
The Auburn defense was unable to slow down Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon. The Heisman candidate's 251 yards rushing were the most ever by an Auburn opponent.
"We were trying to focus on that guy," Malzahn said. "Our key was to try and stop him and obviously we didn't. He made some big plays and that was a big factor in the game."
Wisconsin found the weak spots in the Tigers' defense early as the Badgers scored on their first drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joel Stave to sophomore Corey Clement.
The Tigers started to hustle on defense at the end of the first quarter and stalled the Badgers on their second drive.
Auburn was productive later on in the first half as the SEC's leading rusher Artis-Payne pounded the ball up the field and scored off a two-yard touchdown run set up by a 19-yard completion from Marshall to wide receiver Quan Bray.
The Badger's luck dwindled when their starting center Dan Volts left the game after he injured his left ankle on a first-down play at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers started playing like it was their final game of the season in the second quarter.
While Marshall had some bad reads, he came up huge for Auburn with a 66-yard touchdown pass to junior Ricardo Louis that extended Auburn's lead to 14-7 before heading into the locker room. It was Marshall's second longest completion of the season and the longest reception for Louis this season.
Auburn's defense stepped up as it recorded two interceptions in the first half. Junior Kris Frost led the way on defense with eight tackles in the first half and finished with 12.
Auburn had a 14-7 lead over its opponent at the end of the first half and 177 yards of total offense to Wisconsin's 218. Artis-Payne had 34 yards on the ground and a touchdown, while Marshall was 8-12 passing with 134 total yards at the end of the first half.
It was all Melvin Gordon in the third quarter.
The Heisman candidate started Wisconsin's second-half momentum with a 25-yard touchdown run to tie the game 14-14 with 12:09 left in the third quarter.
Auburn regained the lead with a 51-yard field goal by redshirt freshman Daniel Carlson, but Gordon continued pulverizing Auburn defenders as he battled and bruised his way 53 yards to the end zone to give Wisconsin a 21-17 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Marshall continued showing his athleticism as well. The senior hit tight end C.J. Uzomah right in the numbers for an early touchdown toss in the fourth quarter to put Auburn up 24-21 with 11:21 to go.
"Their plan was to make sure that (Nick) didn't run the football," Malzahn said. "He was able to make some good throws. The throws to Ricardo and C.J. were extremely good throws."
It wasn't long before Wisconsin and Gordon found the end zone again. A six-yard rush by Gordon put Wisconsin up 28-24 with 7:58 left in the game.
Auburn's offense continued to answer as Artis-Payne punched it in from two yards out to give Auburn the 31-28 lead with 2:55 left after a Wisconsin penalty set the Tigers up a first-and-goal.
Wisconsin tied things up again with a 29-yard field goal to make it 31-31 at the end of regulation and to make it the third Outback Bowl in the last six years to go into overtime.
Wisconsin's kicker Rafael Gaglianone hit another field goal to put Wisconsin on top 34-31 in overtime.
Auburn could not match it as Daniel Carlson missed a 45-field goal that sealed the win for Wisconsin.
"I told (Daniel) to keep his head up," Malzahn said. "He's a great kicker. He'll win games for us in the future. He's down right now."
While Gordon had his way with the Tigers' defense, several players from Auburn's secondary still stood out.
Senior Jermain Whitehead's two interceptions in the game gave him six this season and nine for his career, and it was his first game with two interceptions. Senior Trovon Reed recorded his third interception of the season as well.
Auburn's last overtime game was a 31-28 win against ULM in 2012 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It was also Auburn's second consecutive bowl game to lose by a score of 34-31.
"This season didn't turn out how we wanted it to be, but we just have to keep moving on," Marshall said.
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