DJ James took a desperation heave from Western Kentucky quarterback Austin Reed and housed it. With that play, he outscored the Hilltoppers in the second half by himself.

That encapsulates the half Auburn's defense had.

Auburn didn't change much in its secondary, so what inspired the improved play?

"When we came into the locker room, the seniors came in here, they gave us a not-so-nice talk," said safety Jaylin Simpson. "But they just gave us some words of wisdom in the locker room. And, you know, I think that changed the energy for everybody, the whole team. It didn't just change the DB group or whatever. But those words struck us, obviously, we came out and did our thing in the second half."

The Hilltoppers ended the first half with 14 straight points and Reed was torching the Auburn secondary down the field.

Reed had 222 passing yards at the half, but only managed 78 in the second and completed just 48% of his passes.

"Shout out to our secondary," said defensive lineman Colby Wooden. "They definitely locked them down. There were a couple of times we almost got there but they got the ball out. They stepped up when they needed to. I love my guys."

Auburn played the Hilltoppers' receivers tightly and racked up 10 pass breakups on the day.

"We know we have to play really tight coverage," Simpson said. "We have no middle-of-the-field help. We were talking about just being sticky all week. So I think we just did a really good job of being real sticky on those guys all night."

James' pick-six came with just over six minutes left in the game which all but sealed the game for Auburn.

James was due for the pick.

"Man, we've been waiting on it," Simpson said. "And plus he dropped one. He dropped an easy one. You know, the ball touches your hands you gotta catch it. I think that was on his mind the rest of that game and I don't think he was really chasing it. I think he just got it right back. It was a good thing to see, man. I love seeing my teammates succeed like that."