AUBURN | There wasn’t anything easy about last week, and there wasn’t anything easy about Auburn’s win over Arkansas Saturday.
But the Tigers persevered, overcoming injuries and a disappointing loss at Georgia seven days prior, to come up with a much-needed win as Anders Carlson delivered a game-winning field goal just two and a half minutes after he missed one.
“Any time you have that (Georgia loss) it's a tough week. We were extremely beat up,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “Our guys found a way. They hung in there. And I'm just proud of the way that we fought back and won after they got the momentum and our guys kept battling.”
Auburn was playing without three of its four permanent team captains as linebacker K.J. Britt, defensive end Big Kat Bryant and running back Shaun Shivers were all out with injuries.
It was a lone Bo Nix who went out to midfield for the pregame coin flip.
“I honestly don't think it was tough at all just because of how bad it hurt -- how bad I wanted to get back on the field, how bad I wanted to play again,” Nix said.
“We were all extremely fired up to come out here and play again, extremely fired up to get back winning, back on track like we're supposed to be. It's a huge win for us.”
The Tigers were missing several other starters and key players. Starting wide receiver Eli Stove and starting cornerback Jaylin Simpson were out with injuries, as was top backup tackle Austin Troxell, who was likely in line for his first start of the season before an injury in practice last week.
Offensive lineman Brodarious Hamm didn’t start because of an injury, but came in at right tackle and finished the game. Wide receiver Seth Williams played through an injury to catch three passes for 70 yards.
It looked like Auburn might cruise to an easy win despite the injuries when it jumped out to a 17-0 lead. But Arkansas fought back with two touchdowns at the end of the first half and another to start the second and cut AU’s lead to 20-18.
AU stretched it to 27-18 on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Nix to Anthony Schwartz, but Arkansas scored 10 unanswered points to take a 28-27 lead with 5:29 left.
AU drove for the winning score but Anders Carlson missed a 34-yard field goal with 2:38 left.
The defense, which had given up 373 yards on the Razorbacks’ previous six drives, forced a 3-and-out and got the offense the ball back with 2:06 remaining. AU drove 23 yards in seven plays and Carlson nailed a 39-yarder with 7 seconds left to clinch the win.
“It's extremely tough. It's extremely tough to do,” said Malzahn of fighting back when Arkansas had taken the momentum. “The emotional high and then all of a sudden the bottom drops out and you've got to find a way to dig deep down. Our guys did that and they fought. They fought for 60 minutes.
“They found a way to win, and that's really a great characteristic of a team. That's going to be something we can build upon the rest of the season.”
No. 13 Auburn plays at South Carolina next Saturday. Kickoff is 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.
