AUBURN | It was the suboptimal start to the second half that Auburn didn’t need on Saturday night against Penn State. Running a trick play, Tigers’ wide receiver Kobe Hudson, looking to pass, fumbled while transferring the ball in his hands. The Nittany Lions recovered, and four plays later entered the end zone for a 21-10 lead.

At the moment, it would have been easy for the Tigers to hang their heads. But, instead, redshirt freshman Donovan Kaufman saw the exact opposite.

“Nobody quit,” the safety said. “I love this team because, like, even though we were in situations, I always felt like we were in control of the game. And I know my teammates felt like that also.”

Though Hudson was upset on the sidelines, the Auburn offense responded to the first adversity they have faced this season. Riding the legs of Tank Bigsby, Bo Nix and the Tigers marched 75 yards down the field on 15 plays for a touchdown to let Penn State and the 109,000-plus almost all decked out in white that this was going to be a fight.

The defense did its part on the next Nittany Lions’ possession, holding them on a fourth down for the second time in the game. Auburn’s offense clicked again but settled for a field goal to make it a one-point game. Penn State made it 28-20, and the Tigers couldn’t muster another score as they suffered a tough loss in Kaufman’s words.

Still, the Vanderbilt transfer took some positives from the game.

“It just taught us a lesson, and the only thing it’s going to do is bring us closer as a team, and we’ll be stronger when we get down late on the road and get to more games like that because we will have more games like that,” Kaufman said.

Those games arrive soon as the Tigers enter a brutal part of their SEC schedule in Baton Rouge against LSU next week. Kaufman admits some things need correcting in the secondary, stating that they are minor, but he believes this team can be special.

"I honestly feel like we have a great team," he said.