LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Jarquez Hunter passed for career highs of 278 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter, Payton Thorne passed for 172 yards and a score and Auburn came back from a 10-0 deficit with 24 unanswered points to beat Kentucky 24-10 on Saturday night.

After four straight losses that included double-digit fourth-quarter leads against Missouri and Oklahoma, the Tigers (3-5, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) overcame an early deficit with Hunter’s. punitive races and Thorne’s arm. Hunter gave Auburn a 17-10 lead with a 1-yard score midway through the third before throwing a 45-yard touchdown run early in the fourth for a 14-point cushion.

The senior surpassed his previous highs of 183 yards last November against Vanderbilt and 20 carries against New Mexico on September 14. His total is the fourth-best single-game performance in school history and he passed Brent Fulwood for sixth among Auburn career rushers. with 3,033 yards.

Hunter passed several guys on this career list: Fulwood (2,789), Stephen Davis (2,811), Tank Bigsby (2,903) and Tre Mason (2,979).

“Every play I had, I tried to take advantage of my opportunity and tried to wear them down,” said Hunter, who also had a 50-yard run late in the third.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who did not travel with the team Friday because of a stomach illness, flew out Saturday morning. A football spokesperson said Freeze became ill Friday and experienced nausea, but recovered to participate in the Tiger Walk into Kroger Field and follow his normal pregame routine before watching Auburn dominate the final 51 minutes.

“It really would have been miserable for everyone if I had tried to travel with them yesterday,” Freeze said afterward. “But nothing was really different, other than I missed the Friday night meetings.”

Thorne completed 20 of 26 passes, including a 6-yard score to KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the second quarter to begin a remarkable comeback. The Tigers outscored Kentucky 498-224, including 452-140 over the final three quarters, to earn their 10th straight trip to Lexington dating back to 1966.

Kentucky took a 10-0 lead on its first two drives thanks to Alex Raynor’s 46-yard field goal and Jamarion Wilcox’s 2-yard run, but the Wildcats (3-5, 1-5) lost their third straight game and their fifth. in September.

“At the end of the day, we got beat,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “We didn’t play well enough in any phase for us to win, and that’s discouraging. It didn’t surprise me that they played hard. We just have to match that.

The Wildcats tried to come back late in the fourth and drove to the Auburn 3, but three runs gained only one yard before Kayin Lee intercepted Gavin Wimsatt at the goal line and returned it nine yards before going out of bounds.

Jay Crawford had Auburn’s other interception, picking off Brock Vandagriff midway through the second quarter to set up Alex McPherson’s game-tying 27-yard field goal.

I could have had more

Auburn didn’t let up once it found its rhythm, although it wasn’t quick enough and missed a scoring opportunity late in the first half. Thorne was sacked for a down seven at the Kentucky 14 with 7 seconds left and the Tigers immediately tried to set up for a field goal, but time ran out before they could get the ball back.

Takeaways

Auburn: Whether this will save their fragile playoff hopes remains to be seen. The Tigers got the needed boost from their slide and did it in an unbalanced manner on both sides of the ball.

When asked how important that was after the losses, Freeze added, “Just to see them happy and their continued hard work to be gratified with the feeling of an SEC victory on the road.” And for coaches, especially dealing with the type of losses we have.

Kentucky: Just as the Wildcats looked ready to put last week’s collapse at Florida behind them, they committed another hiccup and put their bowl hopes in jeopardy.

To be continued

Auburn hosts No. 25 Vanderbilt on Saturday ahead of its second bye of the season.

Kentucky visits No. 7 Tennessee on Saturday.

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