AUBURN | Auburn’s offense was dead in the water and Bryan Harsin knew that side of the ball needed a spark.

He turned to his backup quarterback and T.J. Finley stepped up and led the Tigers to a 34-24 comeback win over Georgia State, avoiding what could have been one of the worst non-conference losses in AU history.

Finley led AU on a 98-yard drive, throwing the go-ahead touchdown pass on 4th and 9.

“Give him the credit,” Harsin said. “There's plenty of things, and that's my nature as a coach to try to fix and make things better, but damn, the guy won the game. And other guys around him did too; it ain't just him. Other guys stepped up.”

Starting quarterback Bo Nix was just 13 of 27 for 156 yards and Auburn managed just 26 yards on seven plays, punting twice on its first two drives of the second half.

That led Harsin to make the change with 3:10 left in the third quarter and AU trailing 24-19.

“We weren't really doing anything,” said Harsin. “We had played every running back. We had played every wide receiver. You're not going to switch your offensive line out. And I made the decision to change and try to create some type of momentum at the quarterback position for the offense, and so that was my decision. That was my decision.”

Finley finished 9 of 16 for 97 yards and a touchdown in a little over a quarter of work. He also rushed for 15 yards on three carries including a 16-yard scramble on AU’s game-winning drive.

On the drive, he was 5 of 9 for 64 yards, converting a 3rd and 11 on a 15-yard pass to Kobe Hudson. On the 4th down play, GSU blitzed with six defenders. Finley managed to escape from two, step up in the pocket and find Shedrick Jackson in the end zone with 45 seconds left.

Finley connected with Hudson for the 2-point conversion to put AU up 27-24. Smoke Monday put a nail in GSU’s coffin with a pick-6 in the final seconds.

The change at quarterback will certainly bring up a lot of questions this week as Auburn prepares for its SEC opener at LSU. Nix has started 28 consecutive games for the Tigers. Finley transferred from LSU during the offseason.

Harsin, however, isn’t ready to discuss a potential starter for next week.

“I don’t have a gameplan like that, and I don’t have to tell anyone what the gameplan is. Alright,” Harsin said. “I played it. I coached it. Those guys, the quarterback position, you get yourself ready like everybody else. Bottom line. You’re part of this team. Wide receivers, get yourself ready. DBs, get yourself ready. Specialists, get yourself ready.

“There’s no—I know everybody wants to make a big thing out of that. That becomes the storyline. The storyline is ‘get better.’ That’s the storyline.”

Auburn plays at LSU next Saturday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN.