Auburn was a few plays away from overcoming a 24-3 deficit during Saturday’s 39-33 overtime loss against Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium. Tank Bigsby’s 41-yard fourth-quarter touchdown gave Auburn its first lead of the game. Bigsby’s score emphatically punctuated a 22-point run of unanswered points by the Tigers.

Jarquez Hunter scored a touchdown with less than 90 seconds left, giving Auburn a 33-30 lead. The Tigers could’ve folded after Lideatrick Griffin housed an Anders Carlson kickoff for 92 yards with 8:12 remaining in the first half.

“But 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,” Williams said. “We’re going to continue to bleed. We’re going to continue to fight. We’re going to continue to fight on offense, man.’”

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Carlson’s 27-yard field goal leading to the kickoff felt like a significant loss for the Tigers. The reason why leads to one of several essential plays in the heartbreaking loss for Auburn.

Mississippi State 17 Auburn 0 2nd and 10 ball on MSU 26 2nd QTR 12:34

It got ugly fast for Auburn. The Tigers had 29 yards in the first quarter, five passing, and 24 rushing yards against the Bulldogs. Will Rogers had 139 passing yards in the same quarter with a touchdown and got his second of the game early in the second frame.

Auburn needed a break, and it got one when Jeffery M’Ba sacked Rogers, and Dylan Brooks recovered the fumble created by M’Ba. The Tigers got the ball at the Bulldog’s eight-yard line. A touchdown puts the Tigers back in the game instantly. Instead, the drive stalled, which led to another play that didn’t go Auburn’s way.

Mississippi State 17 Auburn 0 2nd and Goal ball on MSU 10 2nd QTR 11:03

Jeremiah Wright gets called for a blindside block and targeting on the run for three yards by starting quarterback Robby Ashford. The refs reviewed the targeting and rescinded it, but the 15-yard penalty for the blindside block remained. Auburn went from having the ball on the seven-yard line to third down on the 25-yard line.

Another issue for Auburn was the fourth down situation. Ashford had a 15-yard run on third down, and it appeared the offense was going to go for it. But the team got called for a delay of game. Williams attempted to call a timeout, but the play clock ran down. Auburn kicked the field goal, 17-3, before the 90-plus-yard kickoff return.

Mississippi State 24 Auburn 6 2nd and 14 on MSU 20 3rd QTR 10:18

Auburn failed to score on the first drive of the second half. A comeback seemed bleak until Auburn’s special teams made a big play. Barton Lester and Sean Jackson tackled the Bulldog punter after a fumbled snap. Auburn’s offense got the ball at the Bulldog’s 16-yard line.

Ashford capitalized on the opportunity for his first of two touchdown runs. The Tigers couldn’t convert the two-point attempt, but 24-12 felt much more hopeful.

Ashford’s score on 3rd and three from the Bulldog’s 18 at the 4:18 mark in the third quarter brought Auburn within striking distance at 24-19.

— Williams will have a lot to feel good about when it comes to Auburn’s effort in his first game as the Tigers, interim head coach. However, there will be lots of work to do when the team reconvenes on Monday for practice to prepare for Texas A&M. The Tigers had 14 penalties for 115 yards, even if you take away the questionable call on Wright for the blindside block, he had another personal foul that was a no-doubter in the second half. Auburn can’t afford to give away yards on silly penalties.

— Auburn rushed for 256 yards and held MSU to 13 yards. However, Rogers threw for 375 yards compared to Ashford’s 75 on 7-22 passing. Ashford discussed Auburn’s dedication to running the ball despite trailing by 18 points at halftime.

“You kind of saw the conditions,” Ashford said. “The ball’s slippery. Which a lot of people don’t know because you can’t really tell, but with that kind of weird rain, the ground’s wet, so center’s got the ball; he’s not trying to make it slick, but you get it, and it’s wet, so our pass game just wasn’t great, but you’ve got to give cred to Mississippi State’s defense, too. They played great. When you know, you can run the ball, and when you have running backs like what we have, you’ve gotta give those guys the ball. Auburn’s known for running the football, so it was kind of just (a) slick football. Everything around it leveled us to know, ‘OK, we’ve got to pound it.’”

— Auburn’s willingness to adapt showed during the game, but it started on Monday when Harsin departed the program. Fans might’ve been fed up with Harsin, but having to change so much with four weeks left in the season is challenging for the players and staff members who are impacted beyond three and a half hours on Saturdays in southern football stadiums.

“You know, you all have no idea the week—I know you’ve seen what happened,” Williams said, “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.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nwilborn19