Auburn football needed a big-time performance from its playmakers to knock off No. 15 Texas A&M Saturday.

The Tigers 469 yards of total offense and a 43-41 four-overtime finish inside Jordan-Hare Stadium is enough proof of a big-time performance.

Payton Thorne passed for 301 yards through the air finding Cam Coleman for both of his touchdowns. Coleman’s 128 receiving yards led the team as Keandre Lambert-Smith added 104 receiving yards.

Lambert-Smith snagged the go-ahead two-point conversion during the 4th overtime. When walking through that moment, this was something he’s been preparing for.

“We’ve ran that play since I’ve been here, in the summer. And then we hit it every day in practice against the defense,” Lambert-Smith said postgame about the game-winning catch. “We tried it on one of the previous overtimes. I think it was the one where Payton scrambled and threw it out of bounds. I was like P, just throw it. It’s just like practice. Just throw it and I’ll make the catch. He threw it, got the win. We won.”

Lambert-Smith added what the success for him and Coleman has been down the stretch, while making some history along the way. He and Coleman are the first teammates to record consecutive 100-yard receiving games in Auburn history.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve been doing anything different from the beginning of the year. Probably just more opportunity and just trying to make the best of it when it comes our way.”

Jarquez Hunter finished with a game-high 130 yards on the ground to go along with his hat trick of touchdowns.

This was Hunter’s fourth 100-yard rush game this season and his 1,146 yards on the season ranks him sixth in Auburn career all-purpose yards.

“It feels great. I think it’s one of my best games I’ve played in Jordan-Hare,” Hunter said postgame. “Well, played ever in my college career. I think we played well as a team on both sides of the ball.”

After jumping out to an early 21-0 lead in the first half, Auburn found themselves trailing by three points in the final two minutes of regulation.

This was the Tigers first overtime game since 2022, and Thorne talked about the moments leading up to the final drive knowing he did not want Saturday’s game to end like the other Auburn defeats this season.

“We had played games like this where it hadn’t gone our way. You do your best not to think ‘Here we go again.’ You don’t let that go through your mind. But [Luke Deal] brought the guys up before that last drive and said, ‘Hey we’ve got three timeouts, nobody better be hanging their head.’ And that was 100% true,” Thorne said.

“Just being locked in for that last drive and, hey, going out there and getting it. So, we were able to move the ball down the field on that last drive and make that kick to send it to overtime, that was huge. So, credit to our special teams and our kicking game there. But yeah, guys didn’t quit. Texas A&M did a good job coming back and they were fighting too. Fortunately, we were able to come out on the right side of it.”

Now with Auburn turning the page to next week’s Iron Bowl against Alabama, A bowl eligibility bid is on the line sitting at 5-6 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

A victory for the Tigers locks up a bowl bid. However, a loss starts the road to 2025 immediately.

Saturday’s victory was a pivotal victory for Auburn because not only did it affect Texas A&M playoff hopes but proved how competitive their offense can be against the elite.

“I feel like we needed that win to show people what we can do in this program and what they can do in the future,” Hunter said.