Vanderbilt beats Auburn to keep College Football Playoff hopes alive

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Diego Pavia threw a 4-yard pass to Cole Spence in overtime, and No. 15 Vanderbilt rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Auburn 45-38 on Saturday.

The win keeps hopes of a College Football Playoff berth alive for Vanderbilt (8-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference, No. 16 CFP).

The Commodores had left themselves with no room to spare after losing 34-31 at Texas last week.

Auburn’s Ashton Daniels tied it up at 38-all by throwing a 23-yard TD pass to Cam Coleman before finding Coleman again for a 2-point conversion with 5:27 left. Daniels’ pass into the end zone at the end of regulation was batted down.

In overtime, needing to match Pavia’s TD, Daniels overthrew Coleman in the end zone on fourth-and-7.

Pavia threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran for 112 yards and another score.

Tight end Eli Stowers had 12 catches for 122 yards, and Tre Richardson finished with 124 yards on three receptions. Sedrick Alexander also ran for a pair of TDs in the shootout as Vanderbilt allowed season highs in points and offensive yards well before overtime.

Vanderbilt had a chance to try and win in regulation. Coach Clark Lea left the ball in Pavia’s hands on fourth-and-1 instead of trying a field goal, and Auburn stopped Pavia for a 3-yard loss with 1:06 left.

Auburn (4-6, 1-6) hadn’t beaten a ranked team on the road since Sept. 21, 2019, and this was the Tigers’ first game since coach Hugh Freeze was fired and replaced by interim coach DJ Durkin.

The Tigers had lost their first four games against ranked opponents by just 29 points combined.

Daniels, starting his second straight game, gave Auburn the offensive spark it had lacked much of this season. He threw for 353 yards and two TDs, and he ran for 89 yards and two more scores.