AUBURN, Ala. – Payton Thorne threw three first-half touchdowns passes and Auburn held Mississippi State without a touchdown for three quarters Saturday in the Tigers' 27-13 win at sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"A great day to win our first SEC game," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. "We continue to work and we saw some signs today of us getting better. It's exciting to see. It's not easy to win in this league. This was a big one for us."
Thorne completed 20 of 26 passes for 230 yards, connecting with 11 receivers to help the Tigers earn their first SEC victory.
"It's a credit to our guys of being ready, knowing what to do and making the play when the ball comes to them," said Thorne, who added 38 yards rushing on eight carries.
Auburn drove 75 yards for touchdowns on its first two possessions with Thorne hitting Shane Hooks for a 27-yard score and Ja'Varrius Johnson on a perfectly thrown 45-yard strike that gave Auburn a 14-3 lead at the 4:12 mark of the first quarter.
Alex McPherson extended Auburn's lead to 17-3 with a 39-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
Late in the half, Auburn stopped Mississippi State on fourth-and-1 to give the Tigers possession at their 32-yard line one minute and 14 seconds remaining.
"A critical juncture of the game," Freeze said. "We got the fourth-down stop right before the half and we took it down and scored. That was one of our better complementary football series of the year. That gave us a lot of momentum."
Moving 68 yards in eight plays in 65 seconds, Thorne lofted a pass to Jeremiah Cobb out of the backfield for a 7-yard touchdown for a 24-3 Auburn lead with nine seconds left in the first half.
"Executing down the field in a two-minute drive and getting in the end zone and getting seven instead of settling for three," Thorne said. "I thought that was a big point in the game. Going into halftime, you feel good about that. Great way to end the half."
Mississippi State (4-4, 1-4) kicked a field goal to conclude the opening drive of the second half but Auburn answered with its own field goal, a 49-yarder from McPherson, his 14th consecutive make.
The Bulldogs scored their only touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, a 14-yard pass from Mike Wright to Zavion Thomas that trimmed Auburn's lead to 27-13.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, Zion Puckett intercepted Wright's pass at Auburn's 5-yard line to preserve the Tigers' two-touchdown lead with 7:43 to play.
The Tigers then stopped the Bulldogs on fourth down to end MSU's next possession, and Jarquez Hunter's 50-yard rush helped Auburn run out the clock.
Hunter gained 144 yards on 17 carries, adding 26 yards receiving on two catches.
Thorne completed 15 of 20 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns in the first half while adding 23 yards rushing on three carries.
Auburn's defense stopped State on all six third downs in the first half and held the Bulldogs to 2-for-12 for the game. Eugene Asante led Auburn with nine tackles.
"Hustling to the ball anytime I can," Asante said. "Grateful for the opportunity to be on the field. I never take that for granted."
"If teams don't score on us, teams don't beat us," said Keionte Scott, who made seven solo tackles, a tackle for loss and broke up a pass. "We've got some cleaning up to do but I felt like the effort was there, the intention was there, and we played team defense."
Auburn (4-4, 1-4) travels to Nashville next Saturday to play Vanderbilt at 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
"You hope that it gives us a little confidence and maybe a little swagger to go play with confidence on the road," Freeze said. "It's not easy at home and it's certainly not easy on the road. Confidence is a huge factor and key in that."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Postgame Notes>> Captains: Luke Deal, Marcus Harris, Gunner Britton, Zion Puckett
>> Coin Toss: Mississippi State wins the toss and defers; Auburn will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Independence from flagpole
>> Attendance: 88,043 (capacity)
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: Connor Lew
>> Auburn has scored in 137 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> Shane Hooks' touchdown catch with 11:38 remaining in the first quarter was the Tigers' earliest score of the year.
>> Eleven different Auburn receivers have caught a pass for the first time since the 2019 Samford game.
>> Auburn's 21-point halftime advantage is the largest against an SEC opponent since the 2019 Mississippi State game (33 points).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Shane Hooks' first-quarter TD catch was his second of the season (Samford).
>> Ja'Varrius Johnson's touchdown catch was his first score of the season and the sixth of his career.
>> Payton Thorne's three first-half TD passes give him eight touchdown passes this season. The 45-yard pass to Ja'Varrius Johnson was Thorne's longest TD pass of the year.
>> Jarquez Hunter records his sixth career 100-yard rushing game and first of the season.
>> Jarquez Hunter is now 25th among Auburn career rushers with 1,716 yards, passing Curtis Kuykendall (1,619 from 1944-45), Joe Childress (1,667 from 1953-55), Brad Lester (1,689 from 2004-08) and Jimmy Sidle (1,703 from 1962-64).
>> Jeremiah Cobb scores the first receiving touchdown of his Auburn career.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Zion Puckett records his second interception of the season and of his career.
>> Jalen McLeod now has 101 career tackles (76 at Appalachian State).
>> Nehemiah Pritchett now has 101 career tackles.
>> Donovan Kaufman now has 101 tackles at Auburn (plus 15 at Vanderbilt).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Oscar Chapman now has 35 punts of 50+ yards during his career.
>> Alex McPherson has made 14 consecutive field goals.