Auburn report card: Evaluating the Tigers' road win at Kentucky

Auburn ended a four-game losing streak against Kentucky on Saturday night.

After trailing 10-0 to start, the Tigers came out of the second half with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that lasted over seven minutes to take a lead that they never relinquished.

Auburn moves to 3-5 this season, 1-4 in the SEC. Here's how we rated the Tigers' performance:

attack

Grade: B

After going scoreless with negative rushing yards in the first quarter, Auburn leaned on a career night from Jarquez Hunter, who rushed for 278 yards and two touchdowns.

The Tigers totaled 498 yards of offense and completed 27 first downs, while Kentucky had 13. Payton Thorne completed 20 of 26 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown to Keandre Lambert-Smith. His interception in the first quarter was Auburn's only turnover.

Despite a great performance, the Tigers' offense was far from perfect, as Thorne took several sacks. A sack cost Auburn three points before halftime.

defense

Grade: A-

Kentucky's offense stalled after taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter against Auburn. The Tigers scored 24 unanswered points as the defense held Kentucky to just 224 yards of offense.

Dorian Mausi dominated the defense with ten total tackles and Keldrick Faulk led the Tigers with two sacks in the first half.

Auburn forced two Wildcats turnovers, while Jay Crawford and Kayin Lee both grabbed interceptions in the secondary.

Special teams

Grade: B-

Alex McPherson made his season debut playing in the kicker lineup alongside freshman Towns McGough. He tied it with his first extra point attempt and a 27-yard field goal in the first half.

He finished the night 1 of 2 on field goals and missed a 47-yard attempt in the third quarter.

McGough handled all kickoff duties for the Tigers on Saturday.

Coaching

Grade: A

Since the chances of him making a late trip to Lexington due to food poisoning were slim to none, Hugh Freeze and his staff found a way to lead the Tigers over Kentucky.

With 50 rushing attempts and 326 total rushing yards on the ground, Freeze used this session throughout the second half to wear down the Wildcats defense.

In total

Grade: B+

Auburn finally found a way to close out a game, giving them hope for a possible bowl bid.

The Tigers now return to Jordan-Hare Stadium to host Vanderbilt next week and look to keep the momentum going over the final three games.