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AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn overcame an early double-digit deficit and rallied late but Florida’s Jaden Baugh scored three touchdowns to lead the Gators to a 44-39 victory over the Tigers in the SEC opener Saturday at sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium. Trailing by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, Auburn scored two late touchdowns to cut the final margin to five. Leading 20-17 at the half, Florida needed only three plays to take a 10-point lead early in the third quarter, opening the drive with a 37-yard pass and scoring one play later on Baugh’s 33-yard run, his second touchdown of the game. The Gators extended their lead to 34-17 on Aaron Philo’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Wilson midway through the third quarter. Auburn put together a 15-play, 75-yard drive, pulling within 10 points on Byrum Brown ’s 10-yard touchdown pass to De’Shawn Spencer with 1:24 to play in the third quarter. The Gators put the game out of reach when Baugh broke free on fourth-and-1 from midfield, running 53 yards for a touchdown that put Florida ahead 41-24. Baugh finished with 162 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries. Brown helped Auburn pull within single digits, driving 90 yards in 2 minutes and 35 seconds, rushing three times for 60 yards and scoring on a 21-yard run. Brown’s two-point pass to Arliss Boardingham cut Florida’s lead to 41-32 with 6:10 to play. Florida recovered Auburn’s onside kick, then converted its third fourth-down attempt of the game with a 9-yard completion that led to a 40-yard field goal and a 12-point lead with 2:53 remaining. Out of timeouts, Brown drove Auburn 75 yards in eight plays, tossing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Chas Nimrod that brought the Tigers within five points with 24 seconds to play. Florida recovered Auburn’s onside kick and ran out the clock. Auburn fell behind after an inopportune start that featured a turnover on the game’s third play. Florida took advantage of the takeaway, driving 41 yards in three plays and taking a 7-0 lead on Baugh’s 2-yard touchdown run. Auburn answered by forcing a turnover when Da’Shawn Womack intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 8 yards to Florida’s 8-yard line, leading to Alex McPherson ’s 40-yard field goal. On the second play of the second quarter, Florida took a 14-3 lead on Duke Clark’s 20-yard touchdown run to cap a 16-play, 75-yard drive. Auburn got its offense going in the second quarter, generating back-to-back 75-yard touchdown drives. Brown completed three straight passes for 53 yards to set up Jeremiah Cobb ’s 2-yard touchdown run, trimming Florida’s lead to 14-10 with 12:38 remaining in the half. After Florida kicked a field goal to go ahead 17-10, Auburn drove for the game-tying score, gaining 48 yards on Brown’s pass to Keshaun Singleton , the Tigers’ longest gain of the night. On third and goal from Florida’s 4, Brown fired over the middle to Singleton in the end zone for the game-tying score with 5:21 left in the opening half. Singleton led Auburn with 99 receiving yards on seven catches. Florida then drove 65 yards in 11 plays, taking a 20-17 halftime lead on Patrick Durkin’s 28-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the half. Linebackers Elijah Melendez and Xavier Atkins combined for 20 tackles, five tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Auburn (2-1, 0-1) concludes its three-game homestand next Saturday when Vanderbilt visits Jordan-Hare Stadium on Homecoming at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network. Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer Captains: Byrum Brown , Cody Sigler , Alex McPherson , Elijah Melendez , Jake Johnson Coin Toss: Florida won the toss, deferred. Auburn to receive and defend south end zone. First career starts: DT Jourdin Crawford , LG Wilson Zierer First start for Auburn: TE Arlis Boardingham Auburn has scored in a school-record 169 consecutive games, dating back to the first game of 2013. Auburn has an 811-486-47 record in 133 seasons of football, the 14th most wins among FBS programs. INDIVIDUAL NOTES - OFFENSE QB Byrum Brown made his 35th career start. He leads the SEC in career starts by a QB; fifth-most nationally. OL Cole Best started his 25th consecutive game dating back to the 2024 season at USF. RB Jeremiah Cobb with the ninth rushing touchdown of his career at 12:39 in the second and it was his second running score of the season. WR Keshaun Singleton with a season-long 48-yard reception in the second quarter. The yardage is also the longest pass for Brown this year. Singleton’s score in the second was his first of the season and 12th of his career. Singleton extended his streak to 18 games with at least one reception. Singleton finished with 99 yards to set a season best. WR Deshawn Spencer with the second touchdown of his career in the third quarter. TE Jake Johnson ’s 10-yard catch in the third tied his season long. With his three TD passes and one rushing score in the game, Brown now has had his hand in 101 TDs in his career (66 TD passes, 33 rushing scores and 2 TD receptions). WR Chas Nimrod finished with 95 yards on the night to set a season high and scored the first touchdown of his Auburn career in the fourth. INDIVIDUAL NOTES - DEFENSE BUCK Da’Shawn Womack with the first interception of his career at 9:58 in the first. LB Elijah Melendez with three TFLs tonight, setting a career high. Melendez finished with 11 tackles, having reached double digits twice in his career. CB Gavin Jenkins with the first TFL of his career. DL Cody Sigler upped his career TFL number to 23.0 after having one in tonight’s game.