Second string quarterback T.J. Finley called game.
Auburn struggled all afternoon against Georgia State. Down almost the whole contest, the Tigers had to go 98 yards to take the lead and try and win it with under two-minutes left to play.
A losing score of 24-19 lit up bright orange in the eyes of the Auburn offense. With 45 seconds to go, Finley lined up for fourth-and-nine at the Georgia State 10-yard line.
Finley took a shotgun snap, with no running back flanking him. His pocket immediately collapsed and the collective air in Jordan-Hare Stadium could almost be felt getting sucked away.
Finley rolled right to escape pressure, and then back left to evade the Panthers crashing down on him.
Coming across the back side of the endzone, senior receiver Shedrick Jackson slipped his man and found himself wide open. Finley hit him right in the chest for the score. Just like that, Auburn had its first lead.
“I saw some pressure from the left side,” Finley said. “I have never done this before, but I spun out of the tackles. Shed got open, and made the play.”
After the game, Jackson said his original route on the play was a corner fade. Jackson was the far receiver on the right side, but the broken play found him over the middle.
Now, up 25-24 in one of the more miraculous Auburn fashions, the offense had to stay on the field to go for a two-point conversion.
Finley, as if he had been the starter for years, rolled with his entire offense to the right side of the field. Starting on the left hash, Auburn’s unit moved across the turf and Finley found another man wide open.
Kobe Hudson, who just two drives before was helped off the field by the training staff, caught Finley’s pass and Auburn was up by three.
With under 40 seconds left, it was now Georgia State’s time to win it, down 27-24.
On first-and-10, quarterback Darren Grainger’s pass was deflected at the line by Colby Wooden.
Grainger took his next snap, surveyed the field, and launched one over the middle. His ball would never find the intended receiver however, as safety Smoke Monday snagged it out of the air and ran it all the way home for a score. A 36-yard pick-six for the senior sealed the game for good.
“I just consider myself a ballhawk,” Monday said. “I read my keys and picked the ball off.”
Monday’s score was his third career pick-six.
Just as impressive, Finley’s lone touchdown was Auburn’s only offensive touchdown on the night.
With under five minutes to go in the third, Auburn’s defense snuffed out a Panther drive deep in their own zone. As Georgia State’s punter lined his leg up, a leaping Caylin Newton deflected the ball perfectly and it rolled back towards the endzone.
Who else but Barton Lester, who had a punt-block score last season, jumped on the ball and gave Auburn its first touchdown of the day. That touchdown pushed the score to 24-19, in favor of the visitors.
“It means the world to me,” Newton said about his block. “I just went full-speed, expecting to make a play. And I made the play. It was a surreal moment. Definitely the best moment of my Auburn career.”
Georgia State still had the lead, but Lester’s score set up Finely to win it. Finley came into the game the drive after the punt-block score in the third quarter.
“He made a throw. We made a catch. So, I am proud of him,” said head coach Bryan Harsin. “That preparation showed up tonight when he was able to get it done. Give him the credit.”
Incumbent starting quarterback Bo Nix had an uncharacteristically poor night, generating next-to-no offense for the team. Nix missed open touchdown throws and had plenty of his balls sail far too high for his receivers. Nix finished his day going 13 of 27 for 156 yards and no scores.
In relief, Finley finished 9 of 16 for 97 yards and a touchdown pass, but no throw mattered more than the one to Jackson.
“I told him I was going to make a play for him,” Jackson said. “I have been here four years, I have seen a lot of game winning plays. It was just crazy to make one of those.”
Harsin, post-game, was asked what his early thoughts were for quarterback play going forward, and who may take the starting snaps in the team’s next game.
“I don’t have a game plan for that,” Harsin said. “I don’t have to tell anyone what it is. At the quarterback position, get yourself ready like everybody else. Everyone wants to make a big deal. The storyline is: get better.”
Looking forward, No. 23 Auburn (3-0-1) will play its next game under the lights in Death Valley against LSU. Fittingly, LSU is the exact school that T.J. Finley played at, and started for, before transferring to Auburn.
While there has been no answer as to if Finley will start over Nix or not, the sophomore will always have his Auburn moment. Harsin says he deserves all the credit tonight.
“He played damn well,” Harsin said.
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Henry Zimmer is from Jacksonville, Florida, and is currently in his fifth year with The Plainsman. He is currently the Sports Reporter and can be followed on Twitter here: @henryzimmer
