AUBURN | Oregon’s offense looked like a runaway freight train in the first quarter.

Auburn’s defense didn’t panic, however, and knocked the Ducks off their tracks the final three quarters to spark the Tigers to a come-from-behind win.

“They were hitting us with some little outside zones, and they creased us a couple of times. Their quarterback is a really good player,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “They had a really good scheme and at halftime our defense made adjustments. The big thing was stopping the run. I think they only had a handful of yards in the second half, and that was really a good thing for us.”

The Ducks rolled up 176 total yards including 67 on the ground to build a 14-3 lead in the first 13 minutes of the game. They managed just 156 total yards the final three quarters including 13 rushing yards on 13 carries in the second half and four rushing yards on seven carries in the fourth quarter.

“We just kind of settled down and played Auburn football and that’s what it all came down to,” said defensive end Big Kat Bryant, who scooped up a fumble and returned it 83 yards in the second quarter.

"A lot of the guys like Marlon (Davidson), Derrick (Brown) told us to settle down. The first quarter, all of them just told his to settle down and play Auburn football.”

The defense came up with one of its biggest stops in the fourth quarter. Oregon, leading 21-20, drove into Auburn territory before facing a 4th and 1 at the Tigers’ 41-yard line. With quarterback Justin Herbert injured, Oregon called two timeouts before handing the ball to running back CJ Verdell, who was dropped for a 1-yard loss as linebacker Zakoby McClain put a big hit on him and Tyrone Truesdell finished him off.

“You know, you look at really the key plays of the game. I think in the fourth quarter when they had fourth and about a foot and our defense stopped them,” Malzahn said.

Safety Jeremiah Dinson had one the best games of his career. The senior had a team-high 13 tackles along with two tackles-for-loss and a sack. He credited defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who moved from the coaches’ box to the sidelines this season, for keeping the defensive players from panicking.

“He was calm, to be honest with you. That was kind of strange. He was calm,” Dinson said. “I know him; I know him like the back of my hand, and when he’s calm, he’s telling us, ‘Let’s pick it up.’ That’s what he did. We came in and everybody gave each other a positive talk. We just picked each and everybody up and just went out there and executed.”

K.J. Britt added seven tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and 0.5 sacks in his first start at middle linebacker.