An abnormal week for Auburn ended with a fittingly surreal game for the program in the first game of the post-Bryan Harsin era.

A year after an all-time collapse at home against Mississippi State, Auburn nearly flipped the scripts Saturday in Starkville, Miss. The Tigers fell behind by 21 points in the first half but rallied to twice take the lead in the fourth quarter before ultimately succumbing to the Bulldogs in overtime, 39-33, at Davis Wade Stadium.

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It was a valiant performance for Auburn—and one that will surely resonate with fans—considering the circumstances of the game: Harsin was fired Monday, along with six other staffers (including two offensive assistants), while Cadillac Williams was named interim coach. The program was “putting out fires” throughout the week, according to Williams, and game prep was almost secondary to just keeping things together during an uncertain, emotional and difficult week within the program.

In the end, Auburn dropped its fifth straight game, falling to 3-6 on the year and just 1-5 in SEC play. Williams and several players said afterward that, despite the loss, it felt like a win for the Tigers. It was, at the very least, something they could build on. They got better Saturday, even if the final score didn’t reflect it.

How much better did Auburn get? It remains to be seen, but let’s take a look at the on-field product Saturday night with position-by-position grades for the Tigers, and Williams in his interim coaching debut:

Quarterback: C+

Robby Ashford couldn’t get anything going in the passing game, completing just 7-of-22 passes for 75 yards (3.4 yards per attempt), but the redshirt freshman’s legs were crucial to Auburn even coming close to pulling off the comeback on the road. Ashford ran for a career-high 108 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a 2-point conversion, and he was very effective on designed runs. It was the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. Still, accuracy—particularly on short throws—needs to improve, and he missed finding open receivers on multiple occasions, including one potential deep ball when Shedrick Jackson found himself streaking behind Mississippi State’s secondary.

Running backs: B+

Tank Bigsby struggled to get things going early, and most of his damage came on two big runs—a 38-yarder out of the Wildcat and a 41-yard touchdown with 6:36 to go in regulation that gave Auburn its first lead of the game. The junior still showed why he’s Auburn’s most dynamic offensive player, considering he finished with 89 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries (6.8 yards per carry) despite a generally rough game from Auburn’s offensive line. Jarquez Hunter, playing in his home state, ran for 54 yards and what looked to be the game-deciding touchdown with 65 seconds to play. That is, until Mississippi State forced overtime with 29 seconds to go.

Wide receivers: D

As mentioned, Auburn’s passing game was virtually nonexistent against Mississippi State—some of which falls on Ashford, of course, but the Tigers’ receivers needed to find ways to get more involved to make something happen. Ja’Varrius Johnson had one of the lone highlights from the group, hauling in a 29-yard reception on third-and-9 late in the fourth quarter to extend the drive that ended with Hunter’s touchdown. Outside of that, Auburn’s receivers only had five other receptions for 37 yards, led by Koy Moore’s three for 24 yards.

Tight ends: C

Auburn’s tight ends did not record a catch against Mississippi State, and the position was only officially targeted once, on a throw to Tyler Fromm (John Samuel Shenker was targeted on a play that drew a pass interference call, but that wasn’t an official pass attempt). While the unit didn’t contribute to the lackluster passing game, there were some solid blocks that helped set up some of Auburn’s success in the run game. Most notable, on Bigsby’s 41-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Shenker and Luke Deal had two key blocks downfield that helped spring Bigsby for the go-ahead touchdown. Deal also had a nice block to seal a lane for Hunter on his 8-yard score in the final two minutes.

Offensive line: F

Auburn’s offensive line really struggled in Starkville. Ashford was sacked four times for a loss of 21 yards, with three of those sacks coming on third downs—and two in the red zone. Mississippi State also racked up 11 tackles for loss (the third time this season Auburn has been stopped behind the line of scrimmage that many times in a game; Penn State and Missouri were the other two, at 11 and 12, respectively), as Auburn’s offense had a difficult time getting things going for much of the night and couldn’t capitalize on some short-field opportunities. Jeremiah Wright also committed two costly unnecessary roughness penalties, the first of which came in the red zone on a drive that ultimately resulted in an Auburn field goal, the other near midfield in the fourth quarter that put Auburn in a third-and-29 situation, leading to a punt while trailing early in the period. It wasn’t all bad, though. Auburn finished with 256 rushing yards and averaged 6.6 sack-adjusted yards per carry, though a lot of that credit belongs to Ashford and Bigsby for making some things happen in difficult situations.

Defensive line: A

Credit to Auburn’s defensive line, which teed off on Mississippi State quarterback Will Rogers after the Bulldogs’ quick start in the first quarter. The Tigers had a season-high 10 tackles for loss, with half of those coming from the defensive line. Auburn also had a season-high five sacks, and the defensive line created two of the three turnovers on the night. Derick Hall and Colby Wooden were particularly effective, as Hall finished with a team-high eight tackles, with three for a loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Wooden had four tackles, 1.5 for a loss, with a sack, two pass breakups, a hurry and a fumble recovery.

Linebackers: B-

Mississippi State’s passing game did a lot of damage underneath, as is usually the case with Mike Leach’s Air Raid. Rogers completed 29-of-37 pass attempts on routes 5 yards or shorter, totaling 171 yards, but while the Bulldogs were efficient on quick passes, the Tigers did well to stuff the run. Even though Mississippi State runs the ball less than any team in the country, the Bulldogs are typically effective on the ground. Still, Auburn’s defense was stout against the run while limiting Mississippi State to 13 rushing yards (59 sack-adjusted rushing yards) and less than 1 yard per carry. Owen Pappoe had six tackles to lead the position, but Auburn also got some quality reps from Cam Riley (who played really well against the run), walk-on Barton Lester (a tackle for loss) and former walk-on Jake Levant.

Defensive backs: C

Rogers put up some big numbers, completing 42-of-59 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns against Auburn. The secondary had trouble at times slowing the Bulldogs’ Air Raid. Nehemiah Pritchett got mossed on a touchdown. Freshman J.D. Rhym was called for a (questionable) pass interference in overtime that set up Mississippi State’s walk-off touchdown. Auburn also gave up six passes of 15-plus yards, including a 57-yarder, a 22-yard touchdown and a 33-yard score downfield. There were some rough moments in the secondary, but there were also some positives. Rhym had some nice plays, including a pass breakup at the goal line, and he nearly had a game-sealing interception at the end of regulation. Jaylin Simpson had an interception while playing at safety for most of the game on a night Auburn was without Donovan Kaufman. D.J. James also continued to shine at corner, allowing just two catches for 18 yards while being targeted six times.

Special teams: F

Whew, this is going to be one that stings for Auburn, as special teams miscues loomed large in the overtime loss. Auburn gave up a 92-yard kick return touchdown as it fell behind 24-3 in the second quarter and Anders Carlson continued to struggle to put the ball deep on kickoffs. Carlson also missed a 38-yard field goal to open overtime. After the kickoff return touchdown, Auburn opted to attempt squib kicks on kickoffs the rest of the night, ceding some field position in hopes of avoiding another big return. That was complicated late in the fourth quarter after Hunter’s touchdown, when the short kick was compounded by a facemask penalty that gave the Bulldogs the ball at midfield with 56 seconds to play and needing just a field goal to force overtime, which they got. There was also an unintentional onside kick by Mississippi State, when a line-drive kickoff caromed off Sean Jackson and right back to the Bulldogs; fortunately for Auburn, Mississippi State missed its potential game-winning kick at the end of regulation. At least Oscar Chapman was relatively effective, averaging 44 yards on seven punts, with one pinned at the Mississippi State 7-yard line and a long of 51 yards.

Coaching: A-

After the week that Auburn had, this team had no business winning in Starkville—and certainly not after falling behind by 21 in the first half. It would have been easy for this team to fold, but credit to Cadillac Williams and the remaining staff, particularly the fully retooled offensive staff, for holding things together this week. Auburn showed an impressive amount of resolve, given the circumstances, and Williams has provided a renewed sense of hope within the locker room. Auburn didn’t get the win, and Williams assumed blame for any lack of discipline, saying he didn’t emphasize that enough during a whirlwind week.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.