When Eli Stove looked up, all he saw was the green and yellow "OREGON" in the end zone in front of him.

Following a 36-yard run along the right sideline by Stove to put Auburn back in the red-zone, where it had struggled mightily up to that point, the junior quickly bounced to the other side of the field and lined up as the outside receiver.

But no one was guarding him.

"I didn’t even get the play," Stove said Tuesday. "I was still waiting on the play and he just looked at me. He snapped and he just threw it. It was crazy."

An up-tempo drive caught Oregon's defense in the midst of confusion. As superstar linebacker Troy Dye ran off the field, he thought he was substituting. Instead, his exit left Oregon with just 10 players on the field.

Safety Javon Holland noticed Stove standing uncovered on the outside and quickly directed cornerback Thomas Graham that way. By then, it was far too late — Bo Nix had already identified the busted coverage, and was sending signals Stove's way.

"I looked down and was like, there’s nobody covering me, and then [Nix] kept looking at me and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s fixing to throw me the ball,'" Stove said. "So, I was just like, ‘Oh, shoot.’ So I just turned around and caught it.

"... It was a good play he made, smart quarterback decision. He saw I wasn’t covered, so he made a really good decision."

The play was supposed to be an inside zone look with Boobee Whitlow, Gus Malzahn told reporters.

"Our quarterback was headsy enough to see that and just throw it out there," Malzahn said.

Stove said last week he was working in the offseason to become more of a passing threat after being primarily used as a side-to-side flanking receiver in his earlier years in the offense.

Against Oregon, Stove caught three balls and was Nix's second-most targeted receiver behind Seth Williams. His touchdown reception served as the first of his career.

The touchdown brought Auburn within single digits and marked Nix's first score of his college career. After a first half in which Nix looked all the part of an inexperienced true freshman, with a 33 percent completion percentage and a pair of interceptions, he rebounded to throw two touchdowns in the final two quarters.

Including his touchdown to Stove, Nix completed seven of his final 11 passes. Auburn's offense out-gunned the Ducks in terms of offensive yardage in the second half, 222-133.

Nix's game-winning toss to Williams with nine seconds remaining was also a cerebral play by the QB. He saw the cornerback come shallow and Williams being left alone with a safety.

"It kinda surprised me at the moment," Stove said. "But then again he’s a smart quarterback, so I know it’s just something he does."