No Quit in Auburn Leads to Comeback Win Over Kentucky

Kentucky fans came out again to support UK against Auburn but again left Kroger Field with a SEC loss. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Auburn was 2-5 overall and 0-4 in Southeastern Conference play going into Saturday night’s game at Kentucky.

If that was not enough, head coach Hugh Freeze was ill Friday and did not travel with the team to Lexington. Instead, he came Saturday and watched his team overcome a 10-0 deficit to easily beat UK 24-10 with a dominant second half

“(They) had a great chance to just lay down tonight, down 10-0 on the road there’s no quit in them and just really, really proud of everyone’s effort tonight,” Freeze said after the game. “Just a tough place to play and a really good defensive football team – and I thought our kids handled everything really well.”

Freeze noted how his team had blown fourth-quarter leads in games this season but his team did not quit on him. Auburn is one of just seven teams in the country averaging over 6.5 yards per run and giving up five or less yards on defense. The other six teams had a combined record of 36-4 going into Saturday’s games compared to Auburn’s 2-5 mark.

“Whether it’s been the lack of confidence or us not believing in ourselves because of our youth enough, and obviously turnovers played a role in some of those … But the hope is, you come and win one on the road that it grows your confidence for sure cause, it’s not gonna get any easier with the teams we’re playing,” Freeze said. “So we’re gonna need that confidence moving forward.”

That confidence is something Kentucky certainly does not seem to have and certainly did not display against Auburn.

The Tigers got 278 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 23 carries from Jarquez Hunter who was unstoppable after the first quarter. Kentucky’s defensive line created some sacks and tackles for loss but could not stop him.

“To be honest I got tired of losing,” Hunter explained after the game. “I told Coach we’re going to find a way to win this game this week. It don’t matter how we do it or how it gets done, we’re just going to find a way.

“ I try to play my hardest for my teammates and my coaches. I try and give them my all every play I got. I try to take advantage of the opportunities that I got today. I tried to wear them out.”

Kentucky needs someone with that attitude who can convey that to teammates. Certainly UK has played who do not like losing but it seems that message is not resonating with the team.

“I felt like we did a great job as a team by not getting down on ourselves like we have in the past. I felt like we just kept going out there and competing. I mean you look at the end result, we won the game when you don’t give up on yourself at the beginning,” Hunter said.

“I mean, it’s always adversity at the beginning, I messed up on a lot of plays at the beginning. You might not see it, but I did and you just have to let it go and just play the next play. You can’t let that one play beat you. You have to go out there and dominate.”

Sounds simple but Kentucky certainly has not been able to do that.

“Kentucky is a physical team. Coach made sure to emphasize that when we were preparing for this game. We knew coming in that it was going to be a dirty physical game, we wanted to make sure we were suited up correctly, had our chin straps tightened and just ready to play,” Auburn linebacker Dorian Mausi said.

Auburn did that and won a “dirty physical game” because it played harder and more focused.