Auburn Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats
· NCAA - FootballJarquez Hunter rushes for career-high 278 yards, 2 touchdowns to rally Auburn past Kentucky 24-10
After four consecutive losses that included blowing double-digit, fourth-quarter leads against Missouri and Oklahoma, the Tigers (3-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) overcame an early deficit with Hunter’s punishing runs and Thorne’s arm. Hunter put Auburn up 17-10 with a 1-yard scoring run midway through the third before blasting a 45-yard TD early in the fourth for a 14-point cushion.
The senior topped his previous highs of 183 yards last November against Vanderbilt and 20 carries against New Mexico on Sept. 14. His total is the fourth-best single-game performance in school history and he moved past Brent Fulwood into sixth among Auburn career rushers with 3,033 yards.
Hunter passed several guys on that career list: Fulwood (2,789), Stephen Davis (2,811), Tank Bigsby (2,903) and Tre Mason (2,979).
“Every play I got, I tried to take advantage of my opportunity and I tried to wear them out," said Hunter, who also had a 50-yard run late in the third.
Guiding it all was Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who did not travel with the team on Friday because of a stomach illness but flew up Saturday morning. A football spokesman said Freeze became ill on Friday and experienced nausea, but he recovered to participate in the Tiger Walk into Kroger Field and go through his normal pregame routine before watching Auburn dominate the final 51 minutes.
“It would’ve really been miserable for everybody if I tried to travel with them yesterday," Freeze said afterward. "But nothing was really different other than I missed the Friday night meetings.”
Thorne completed 20 of 26 passes including a 6-yard score to KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the second quarter to start the remarkable comeback. The Tigers outgained Kentucky 498-224, including 452-140 over the final three quarters, to win their 10th consecutive trip to Lexington dating back to 1966.
Kentucky jumped to a 10-0 lead on its first two drives on Alex Raynor's 46-yard field goal and freshman Jamarion Wilcox's 2-yard TD run, but the Wildcats (3-5, 1-5) dropped their third consecutive game and fifth in seven.
“Bottom line, we got beat,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “Didn’t play good enough in any phase for us to win, and that’s discouraging. It didn’t surprise me that they were going to play hard. We just have to match that.”
The Wildcats tried to come back late in the fourth and drove down to the Auburn 3, but three runs gained just one yard before Kayin Lee intercepted Gavin Wimsatt at the goal line and returned it nine yards before going out of bounds.
Jay Crawford had Auburn's other interception, picking off Brock Vandagriff midway through the second quarter to set up Alex McPherson's game-tying 27-yard field goal.
Asked how important that was after the losses, Freeze added, "Just to see them happy and their continuous hard work to be gratified with the feeling of an SEC win on the road. And for coaches, particularly to go through the type of losses we have.”
Kentucky: Just as the Wildcats seemed poised to put last week's collapse in Florida behind them, they rang up another dud and jeopardized their bowl hopes.
Kentucky visits No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday.
How To Watch
How can I watch Auburn Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats?
- TV Channel: Tigers at Wildcats 2021 College Football, week 9, is broadcasted on SEC Network.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
FG | 1st Period 11:28 | Alex Raynor 46 Yd Field Goal | |
TD | 1st Period 8:24 | Jamarion Wilcox 2 Yd Run (Alex Raynor Kick) | |
TD | 2nd Period 10:56 | KeAndre Lambert-Smith 6 Yd pass from Payton Thorne (Alex McPherson Kick) | |
FG | 2nd Period 3:57 | Alex McPherson 27 Yd Field Goal | |
TD | 3rd Period 7:53 | Jarquez Hunter 1 Yd Run (Alex McPherson Kick) | |
TD | 4th Period 12:11 | Jarquez Hunter 45 Yd Run (Alex McPherson Kick) |
Statistics
AUB | UK | |
---|---|---|
27 | 1st Downs | 13 |
8-14 | 3rd down efficiency | 4-12 |
0-0 | 4th down efficiency | 0-1 |
498 | Total Yards | 224 |
172 | Passing | 154 |
20/26 | Comp/Att | 12/27 |
6.6 | Yards per pass | 5.7 |
326 | Rushing | 70 |
50 | Rushing Attempts | 27 |
6.5 | Yards per rush | 2.6 |
6-49 | Penalties | 3-40 |
1 | Turnovers | 2 |
0 | Fumbles lost | 0 |
1 | Interceptions thrown | 2 |
35:42 | Possession | 24:18 |
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