AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn fans finally had a big win to celebrate. Texas A&M, and perhaps the Southeastern Conference, not so much.
Payton Thorne hit KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a two-point play in the fourth overtime to lift the Tigers to a 43-41 victory over No. 15 Texas A&M on Saturday night, capping a brutal day for SEC playoff contenders.
The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) became the day’s latest unranked league team to play spoiler. Fans who have endured a disappointing season stormed the field and filled it from end zone to end zone but did leave the goalposts alone.
“It’s been that kind of year where you just battle through and you fight through and you keep climbing cliffs,” said Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who had taken plenty of heat in his second season. “Our locker room has continued to fight and no matter what people say, they just have chosen to say we’re going to fight to the finish.”
That’s certainly what it took this time.
With the teams both getting one play to score from the 3, Texas A&M turned to trickery on its attempt to send it to a fifth OT. Receiver Terry Bussey took the direct snap and handed off to quarterback Marcel Reed. Reed’s pass to Amari Daniels was dropped in the end zone.
The Aggies (8-3, 5-2), who had rallied from a 21-0 first-half deficit, suffered the fate of two other SEC playoff hopefuls. Florida had already upended No. 9 Mississippi’s playoff and SEC title hopes with a 24-17 upset, and No. 7 Alabama fell 24-3 at Oklahoma.
The Aggies are still alive in a bid for their first SEC championship but are heading into a game with rival No. 3 Texas.
“This one’s certainly going to hurt, and we’re obviously extremely disappointed,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “We had ourselves in a really good position. Obviously with who we play and what we’re playing for, there’s still going to be a lot of energy going into that stadium next week.”
Thorne passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns to Cam Coleman. Jarquez Hunter ran 28 times for 130 yards and three scores. Coleman had seven catches for 128 yards, and Lambert-Smith had two for 104.
“My emotions are kind of tough to put into words right now,” Thorne said. “I am still kind of riding that high. It was great. I did not know if they were going to storm the field or not, and I turned around and some fan was smacking me in the head. That is when I was like, “Whoa, this is pretty sweet.” It was awesome.”
Reed passed for 297 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 66 yards. Daniels rushed 27 times for 90 yards and a score.
Auburn and Texas A&M traded touchdowns in the first overtime and field goals in the second. Both teams had incompletions on two-point conversions from the 3-yard line in OT No. 3.
Then there was the two-point play that proved the difference.
“We have run that play since I’ve been here, since the summer,” said Lambert-Smith, a Penn State transfer. “We hit it every day in practice against the defense. I was lowkey pitching for them to call it.”
Auburn forced overtime with Ian Vachon’s 29-yard field goal with five seconds left. The 15-play drive was stalled by two false start penalties after first-and-goal. Vachon is a walk-on who got the starting job with Alex McPherson battling an illness and freshman Towns McGough struggling.
He had come to Auburn after spending two years at Birmingham-Southern before the school shut down.
“We get him out of the classroom and here we are with a guy hitting some really critical kicks for us,” Freeze said.
Texas A&M: The Aggies gained 296 yards after halftime.
Auburn: Got the biggest win of coach Freeze’s second season. Auburn had blown double-digit leads in the second half against both Oklahoma and Missouri.
Texas A&M hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday, and Auburn is at No. 7 Alabama that same day.
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