AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn converted fourth downs on two touchdown drives while allowing only one TD to beat San Jose State 24-16 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, improving to 2-0.
"I was proud of our team to finish and play well enough in the second half to win," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "We didn't play like we wanted to in the first half and we found ways to get the job done in the second half."
Trailing 10-7 at halftime, Auburn went for it on fourth-and-3 from San Jose State's 46-yard-line on the opening drive of the third quarter. T.J. Finley fumbled the snap, recovered and threw to Tank Bigsby for 11 yards to San Jose State's 35-yard-line.
"If he's blocking and I call his name, he's going to turn around and find me," Finley said. "That's exactly what happened. All the backyard ball I've been playing for all my younger years paid off."
Bigsby rushed 19 yards to the 1, then scored on the next play to give Auburn a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter.
Keionte Scott's 22-yard punt return led to a 45-yard field goal from Anders Carlson that put the Tigers ahead 17-10 with 4:48 left in the third.
San Jose State answered with a 27-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter, trimming the Tigers' lead to 17-13.
Robby Ashford raced 30 yards on the first play of Auburn's next possession, crossing midfield.
Finley fired to Ja'Varrius Johnson for 24 yards to the 4, then scored on a quarterback keeper to give Auburn a double-diglt lead at 24-13 with 12:45 left in the game.
The Spartans made it a one-possession game with their third field goal with 2:11 left but their on-side kick went out of bounds and Auburn rushed for a first down to run out the clock.
Finley completed 13 of 20 passes for 167 yards. Ashford led Auburn's rushing attack with 61 yards on seven carries. Bigsby added 51 yards on 13 carries while pacing the Tigers with four receptions for 29 yards.
Derick Hall led Auburn with eight tackles while Owen Pappoe added seven.
Auburn's defense provided a spark while the offense struggled in the first quarter.
On the opening possession, Colby Wooden recorded the first of six first-half Tiger tackles for loss. Marcus Harris made three of them, including a sack. Eku Leota and Scott also had sacks in the first half.
After Auburn's second interception at the end of the first quarter on the Tigers' 28-yard-line, the Spartans had first-and-goal at the 1, but Auburn's defense kept San Jose State out of the end zone, forcing a 33-yard field goal.
"That was really good by our crowd, to hear them and feel them in the game," Harsin said. "That's what playing at Auburn should be like. It should be really challenging for the opposing team."
Trailing 3-0, Auburn answered with a 75-yard drive on nine plays. Freshman running back Damari Alston rushed for 35 yards on the second play, Auburn's biggest gain of the game.
The rook has some SPEED! @DamariAlston💨#WarEagle🦅 | 📺 @ESPNU pic.twitter.com/GKUvqTD6lE
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 11, 2022
On fourth-and-4, Finley improvised, avoiding a rusher while finding John Samuel Shenker for 10 yards to move the chains. One play later, Finley and Shenker teamed up again for 20 yards to the Spartans' 7.
From there, Jarquez Hunter started running to his left, then cut up the middle for his fourth touchdown of the season to give Auburn a 7-3 lead with 6:31 remaining in the second quarter.
San Jose State regained the lead, driving 75 yards on 12 plays and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to go ahead 10-7 with 58 seconds left in the half.
Auburn held the Spartans to 54 rushing yards on 29 carries, an average of 1.9 yards per rush.
The Tigers host Penn State next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.
"They just keep getting better, the teams that we play," Harsin said. "We know Penn State. We know they're a good football team. We've got to focus on ourselves. We find better ways to improve our football team before we go play against Penn State. That'll be the goal.
"That's always got to be the mindset. Every single week you're improving, and you have to, because the opponents are getting better and better as the season goes on."Postgame Notes>> Captains: Derick Hall, Owen Pappoe, John Samuel Shenker, Colby Wooden
>> Coin Toss: Auburn wins the toss and elects to defer; San Jose State will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Independence from the flagpole
>> Attendance: 83,430
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: DB Keionte Scott, WR Koy Moore
>> Auburn has scored in 119 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> Auburn has won 17 straight home games against non-conference opponents dating back to a 19-13 loss to No. 2 Clemson to open the 2016 season.
>> Auburn has won 46 straight home games against unranked non-conference opponents since a 26-23 overtime loss to South Florida in 2007.
>> Auburn's defense has allowed only 24 first-quarter touchdowns in its last 68 games.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Jarquez Hunter scored his 4th rushing TD of the season and the 7th of his career.
>> T.J. Finley's rushing touchdown was the second of his Auburn career.
>> Damari Alston's 35-yard rush in the second quarter was a career long for the freshman.
>> Tank Bigsby has 3 rushing TD for the season and 18 career rushing touchdowns.
>> Bigsby now has 2,131 career rushing yards, to rank 17th all time at Auburn, passing James Bostic (2,084 from 1991-93); next is Kenny Irons (2,186 from 2005-06).
>> John Samuel Shenker ranks 7th in career tight end receptions (53); next is Victor Hall (54 from 1989-91). Shenker is 4th in tight end career receiving yardage (638), passing Philip Lutzenkirchen (628 from 2009-12); next is Robert Johnson (741 from 2000-02).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> With his first-quarter sack, Eku Leota now has 8.0 sacks and 12.0 TFL during his Auburn career.
>> Marcus Harris' 3 TFL are an Auburn best for him and give him 9.0 TFL for his Auburn career.
>> Keionte Scott recorded his first sack at Auburn.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Anders Carlson ranks fourth in career PAT made at Auburn with 160; next is John Vaughn, 162 from 2003-06.
>> Carlson is now second in Auburn career scoring with 364 points, passing Wes Byrum (363 from 2007-10); the career leader is Daniel Carlson with 480 points from 2014-17.
>> Carlson ranks second at Auburn in career field goals made with 68; Daniel Carlson is the career leader with 92.