When the game is on the line, you want the ball in the hands of your best player no matter the sport. Tank Bigsby had been Auburn's best producer all day, leading the Tigers in rushing yards (96) and receiving (68). It seemed Bryan Harsin understood that the sophomore running back was his best chance at pulling out a win on the final drive, handing the ball to Bigsby, who rushed for an eight-yard gain.

Tank never touched the ball again. Three incomplete passes from T.J. Finley gave the ball back to Houston, and a first-down run by Alton McCaskill on 3rd-and-1, something Auburn couldn't convert, secured the 17-13 victory for the Cougars.

"There's a lot of fixable things," Harsin said. "There's a lot of things I know we can be much better at."

Giving Tank, returning for his junior season after rumors of him departing the Plains, the ball in clutch situations would be one fixable thing. Harsin has already acknowledged that he will have a lot of control in next year's offense after hiring Austin Davis away from the Seattle Seahawks as his next offensive coordinator. With Bigsby, Jarquez Hunter and incoming four-star Damari Alston coming in, the Tigers will have plenty of options in the backfield, but none better than the player wearing No. 4 on the back of his jersey.

Bigsby, in total, rushed 16 times and had five catches. He averaged 7.8 yards per touch. Harsin had a Porsche in his hands but decided to keep him in the garage when it mattered most. It was a late Christmas gift from Auburn to the Cougars by not giving the ball to its best player, someone that Houston had almost no answer for during the game.

"I've learned more this season than any other year I've played or coached," Harsin said.