Auburn’s road to the SEC championship

Auburn 41, Georgia Southern 7

The Tigers opened their 2017 season on the right note, blowing out Georgia Southern thanks to 31 unanswered points. In his debut as Auburn quarterback, Jarrett Stidham recovered from an early turnover that gave the Eagles their only points, throwing for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Kerryon Johnson led the way on the ground with 136 rushing yards and one score.

Clemson 14, Auburn 6

Auburn’s defense kept it within striking distance of the defending national champions, but the Auburn offense had no answers and no second-half points against a tough defense. Jarrett Stidham was pulverized by the Clemson pass rush throughout the night and wound up being sacked 11 times. While it came in an eight-point defeat, the Auburn defense showed its potential by giving up only 281 yards and forcing two turnovers.

Auburn 24, Mercer 10

Auburn came out of the gates slowly against its FCS opponent before pulling away courtesy of running back Kamryn Pettway. Pettway put up two second-half touchdowns — he had three on the day — and 128 total yards as the Tigers avoided the threat of an upset.

Auburn 51, Missouri 14

Kerryon Johnson showed why he’s a top-tier running back in the SEC, rushing for a career-high five touchdowns in Auburn’s blowout win over Missouri. Johnson, who scored the first four touchdowns of the game, played an important role in an Auburn win that finally saw its offense clicking on all cylinders. The Missouri defense found no way to stop Auburn, which ended the evening with 482 yards of offense. The Auburn defense, meanwhile, forced four Missouri turnovers in the victory.

Auburn 49, Mississippi State 10

The Tigers made it two straight conference blowout wins with a commanding 39-point victory over then-No. 24 Mississippi State. Kerryon Johnson rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns, while Jarrett Stidham showed off his big arm by throwing for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With the game already out of hand, Auburn defensive back Javaris Davis got in on the scoring frenzy, returning an interception 37 yards for another Tigers score.

Auburn 44, Ole Miss 23

Kerryon Johnson added another career-high mark to his season, rushing for a personal-best 204 yards and putting up three touchdowns in another dominant Auburn victory. Johnson’s efforts along with Jarrett Stidham’s two touchdown passes — a screen to Ryan Davis that went for 75 yards and a 19-yard throw to Darius Slayton — left the Tigers sporting a 35-3 lead at the halftime intermission.

LSU 27, Auburn 23

The Auburn Tigers were in total control of their showdown with LSU — until they weren’t. Up 23-7 with 2:16 left in the third quarter, Auburn’s offense totally stalled out as LSU mounted a tremendous comeback. LSU scored 20 unanswered points, taking its first lead of the afternoon with Connor Culp’s 42-yard field goal with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter. After an Auburn drive gained no yards and ended with an incompletion on fourth down, Culp padded the lead to four points with a 36-yard kick with less than one minute to go. Auburn had one more shot to answer but once again turned the ball over on downs. Auburn’s second loss of the season seemed to be the finishing blow to its College Football Playoff hopes.

Auburn 52, Arkansas 20

Kamryn Pettway was once again a sure thing with the ball in his hands, racking up three touchdowns along with 90 rushing yards in an impressive offensive effort for the Tigers. The second half was all Auburn, with the Tigers taking their slim 11-point lead entering the third and outscoring the Razorbacks 28-7 in that quarter alone. Auburn wide receiver Ryan Davis got a chance to show off his arm in the third quarter, firing a 62-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton that left the score 38-6. The victory meant Auburn had outscored Arkansas 108-23 in their past two meetings.

Auburn 42, Texas A&M 27

A strong second quarter coupled with a dominant second half lifted Auburn to its seventh win of the 2017 season. After being shut out in the opening quarter, the Tigers answered with Jarrett Stidham’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Kerryon Johnson and Stidham’s 53-yard throw to Darius Slayton that gave Auburn its first lead of the afternoon. The Tigers’ special teams helped end the first half with all the momentum, as Malik Miller recovered a blocked punt and scored with just 20 seconds to go until halftime. Auburn effectively put the game away in the first seven minutes of the third quarter with Stidham’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Davis and Kerryon Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown run.

Auburn 40, Georgia 17

The Tigers made the most of its showdown with No. 1 Georgia, blowing out the Bulldogs for their first win in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry since 2013. The Tigers capitalized on several Georgia miscues and running back Kerryon Johnson’s 167 rushing yards. Auburn put the game out of reach midway through the third quarter, when quarterback Jarrett Stidham hit wide receiver Ryan Davis for a 32-yard touchdown that left the score 30-7. The victory repositioned Auburn as a true contender for the College Football Playoff.

Auburn 42, UL-Monroe 14

After seemingly sleepwalking through the first half, the Tigers turned on the jets to blow out their Sun Belt Conference opponent. With the Tigers only leading 14-7 going into the third quarter, Auburn running back Kam Martin did his part by scoring on a 1-yard run and a 41-yard pass from Jarrett Stidham in the quarter. Kerryon Johnson led the ground game with 137 rushing yards along with one touchdown, while Stidham threw for 235 yards and two scores.

Auburn 26, Alabama 14

The Tigers completely dominated the then-No. 1 Crimson Tide in an Iron Bowl that decided the SEC West division. For the Auburn offense, it started and stopped with Jarrett Stidham, who threw for 237 yards and also had a rushing touchdown. While Stidham kept the Tigers’ offense rolling, his teammates on defense did a tremendous job of leaving the Crimson Tide with more questions than answers. After taking its first lead of the game with 13:22 to go in the third quarter, the Alabama offense was shut out for the rest of the contest.

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Auburn’s road to the SEC championship."