Jarquez Hunter put Auburn on his back and carried the Tigers to their first SEC win.

The senior had a career-high 278 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns to lead Auburn to a 24-10 win over Kentucky Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium.

Hunter scored on runs of one and 45 yards in the second half to help AU erase an early 10-0 deficit. His 278 rushing yards is the fourth-most in program history.

The Tigers improve to 3-5 overall and 1-4 SEC, breaking a four-game conference losing streak.

After totaling 100 yards on its first two drives, Kentucky was held to just 124 the rest of the game. AU had three sacks including two by Keldric Faulk to bring his season total to seven.

UK drove down to AU’s 2-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but AU stiffened and Kayin Lee intercepted a pass on fourth down to stop any chance of a comeback.

Jay Crawford has his first-career interception in the first half.

After falling behind 10-0 and failing to gain a yard on its first two drives, Auburn rallied to score 10 in the second quarter including a 6-yard touchdown pass from Payton Thorne to KeAndre Lambert-Smith and a 27-yard field goal by Alex McPherson.

The Tigers had a chance to take a halftime lead, but Thorne was sacked at the UK 21-yard line on third down and AU couldn’t get a field goal attempt off before the clock ran out.

The Tigers had (-8) rushing yards in the first quarter and 90 in the second. AU finished with 326 rushing yards and 498 total yards.

After starting the game 5-10 for 41 yards with an interception, Payton Thorne finished 15 of 16 for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Auburn returns to Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time in a month as it hosts No. 25 Vanderbilt next Saturday.