Cadillac Williams is a gamblin’ man.

Auburn’s new interim coach has an affinity for poker; it’s a longtime pastime of his. He even won a weekend poker tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock casino in Tampa, Fla., during the summer months.

So, it should come as no surprise that he instilled that same mindset in his team as he prepared Auburn for its first game after a tumultuous week that began with Monday’s firing of former head coach Bryan Harsin and culminated with Saturday’s 39-33 overtime loss to Mississippi State on the road. In Williams’ mind, Auburn had nothing to lose in Starkville, Miss., regardless of what the scoreboard read at the end of the night.

“We know nobody gives us a chance in anything,” defensive lineman Colby Wooden said. “So, like Coach ‘Lac says, let’s play with house money. Let’s gamble on us. No one gives us a chance. It’s just us. It’s all we need. Let’s go out there and play.”

Auburn did that against Mississippi State. The Tigers came out flat, falling behind 24-3 midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs’ lead hitting 21 on a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 8:12 to go in the first half. But the Tigers doubled down and showed resiliency, rallying with 22 unanswered points to take their first lead of the game with 6:36 to go in the fourth quarter. That came on a 41-yard touchdown run by Tank Bigsby that sent Auburn’s sideline into a frenzy.

“It was just energy on the sideline, man,” linebacker Owen Pappoe said. “We loved it. Loved it.”

What followed was a back-and-forth final stretch. Mississippi State reclaimed the lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Will Rogers to Rara Thomas with 3:49 to go. Then Auburn surged in front again with 1:05 to play on an 8-yard touchdown run by Philadelphia, Miss., native Jarquez Hunter.

The Bulldogs tied it at 33-33 with 29 seconds to go on a 44-yard field goal, then they won it in overtime with a 5-yard touchdown run that was preceded by Anders Carlson’s missed 38-yard field goal to open the extra period.

“It hurts like every loss does,” quarterback Robby Ashford said. “We fought our butts off, came back (from) down 24-3. But end of the day, you’re just proud of everybody, because we fought our butts. Everybody fought. It’s been a crazy past five, six days with everything that’s happened. To see the fight we put out there, I mean, yeah, we didn’t win and, definitely, losing in overtime hurts. But at the end of the day, I’m just proud of everybody.”

Ashford ran for two touchdowns as well as a 2-point conversion in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 108 yards on the ground, the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. He, Bigsby, Hunter and a resurgent Auburn defense sparked the rally in regulation, helping breathe life into a program that was gasping for air after a whirlwind week.

Williams had a difficult time putting into words what this week was like inside Auburn’s athletics complex. The coaching change came suddenly, and while Williams was immediately promoted to interim coach, six other staffers—including offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau and tight ends coach Brad Bedell—were fired as well. That resulted in a shuffling of Auburn’s remaining staff, and an on-the-fly week of preparation as Will Friend and Ike Hilliard assumed co-offensive coordinator duties while splitting play-calling on the field Saturday.

“You’ve seen what happened, but you have no idea the week that we just had with the lack of preparation because what went down on Monday and a couple things throughout the week that went on,” Williams said. “We were just putting out fires everywhere.”

The hectic week of uncertainty left Williams short on sleep. He got maybe eight hours total between Monday and Thursday. Friday night, at least, he said he got close to four hours of rest.

Then he woke up feeling not just hopeful, but confident as he headed into his first game as a head coach at any level — even with the chips stacked against his team. His message to the team: Auburn was going to win in Starkville.

That didn’t quite come to fruition, the Tigers coming up just short in overtime. Even in defeat, he and players said, the Tigers felt triumphant on this night.

“This night was special for me,” Williams said. “All day, it just felt right…. The energy was just different. You’ve seen it in those kids’ eyes, and then to get in this stadium (and fall behind 24-3)… man, them kids, they didn’t blink. They did not blink. Like, ‘Coach, we got you. Nobody’s quitting. We’re going to continue to serve. We’re going to continue to bleed. We’re going to continue to fight. We’re going to continue to fight on offense, man.’ We laid an egg in the first half, challenged those guys, and they responded. They responded.”

Auburn didn’t fold under the circumstances, and even though the Tigers came up short at Davis Wade Stadium, they seem to be all-in on Williams and ready to bet on themselves during this final stretch of the season.

“It felt like a win,” Pappoe said. “We felt like we got better. This is something we can build upon. Like I said earlier, we’re disappointed we didn’t get the W, but it was still a win for us in a sense.”

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