AUBURN | Sure, Carlton Davis gave up a few plays to No. 3 Clemson Saturday night, but Auburn’s junior cornerback also made more than his share of good plays in the 14-6 loss.

Deon Cain caught a leaping 20-yard pass from quarterback Kelly Bryant on Clemson’s touchdown drive at the end of the first half. Clemson continued that momentum on the opening series of the third quarter with a 33-yard pass from Bryant to RayRay McCloud setting them up in scoring position.

“Those were 50-50 balls,” senior safety Tray Matthews said. “He was in the great position a lot of those plays. I just kept getting in his ear, 'Hey, you're one of the best corners in this league. You've got it. Just move on.' With corners, you've always got to have that mentality, to move on to the next play.”

Davis also had a 15-yard pass interference penalty on next drive but Auburn recovered a fumble two plays later.

Davis, however, led the defense with a career-high tying 11 tackles, all solos, and two pass breakups as Auburn held Clemson to 284 total yards.

“Everybody wants to say, 'Well, he had three catches on him.' Did anybody see the top knocked off the coverage? No,” Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said. “They threw a lot of balls, a lot of balls, and I think they caught two on him and he had a PI on one. But they were contested throws. He was there and he was contesting and he was fighting.”

Davis, a third-year junior, has started 21 career games, the second-most among Auburn’s defensive players.

“That's a hard position to play, a very hard position to play,” Steele said. “And when you've got an accurate quarterback and good receivers, they're going to catch some. The key to it is, I don't think anybody can say they saw his man wide open. I don't think anybody can say that they saw his guy running down the field uncovered. There wasn't no question who had the coverage because he was right there.”

Auburn returns to action Saturday against Mercer at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff on the SEC Network is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT.