Jarquez Hunter rushed for a career-high 278 yards and scored two touchdowns to help Auburn to a 24-10 victory over Kentucky on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play in Lexington, Ky.
Hunter rushed 23 times and had a touchdown of 45 yards in addition to scoring runs of 50 yards and 46 yards as the Tigers (3-5, 1-4 SEC) halted a four-game skid. Hunter’s passing yards are the fourth best in school history behind Curtis Kuykendall (307 yards in 1944), Tre Mason (304 in 2013) and Bo Jackson (290 in 1985).
Hunter (3,033 yards) also became the sixth player in Auburn history to top 3,000 career rushing yards.
Payton Thorne completed 20 of 26 passes for 172 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Auburn, which won its 10th straight in Lexington. Kayin Lee pulled off a key save and KeAndre Lambert-Smith scored for the Tigers.
Brock Vandagriff completed 9 of 17 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown for Kentucky (3-5, 1-5) before being benched in the second half. Gavin Wimsatt played the second half and went 3-of-10 for 34 yards and one touchdown.
Jamarion Wilcox ran for a touchdown and Dane Key had four catches for 87 yards for the Wildcats, who lost their third straight game.
Auburn outgained Kentucky 302-79 in the second half to finish the game with a 498-224 edge in total yards.
Auburn overcame an early 10-point deficit with 24 unanswered points.
The Tigers scored on Thorne’s 6-yard scoring pass to Lambert-Smith with 10:56 left in the first half. Auburn scored on Alex McPherson’s 27-yard field goal with 3:57 left.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted seven minutes. Hunter capped it off with a Kentucky 1 with 7:53 left in the third quarter as Auburn took the lead for good.
On the Tigers’ next possession, Hunter broke free and ran 50 yards to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line. But the drive stalled, and McPherson was wide on a 47-yard field goal attempt.
In the fourth quarter, Hunter got free for a 45-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 24-10 lead with 12:11 left in the game.
The Wildcats had a chance to cut the deficit, but Wimsatt had a fourth-down throw that was intercepted by Lee at the goal line and returned to the Auburn 9 with 4:39 remaining.
Hunter then broke free for a 46-yard run to help put the game away.
Kentucky scored the game’s first 10 points on Alex Raynor’s 46-yard field goal and Wilcox’s 2-yard scoring run.
–Field Level Media
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