NASHVILLE – Auburn finished its up-and-down football season with a spectacular performance – a record-setting encore in the Music City Bowl.
Jarrett Stidham passed for a career-high 373 yards and five touchdowns in his final college game as his Tigers pounded Purdue 63-14 Friday afternoon.
The Tigers (8-5) opened the season with a top-10 ranking before stumbling in Southeastern Conference play against unranked and ranked teams alike. The Tigers finished with their first postseason victory since the 2015 Birmingham Bowl against Memphis, as well as a whole bunch of records.
Auburn scored the most points by an SEC team in a bowl, topping Alabama’s 61-6 win over Syracuse in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1953. The Tigers had a chance to match the most points ever in a bowl at 70, most recently by Army in the Armed Forces Bowl last week, but took a knee at the Purdue 1 after a replay review overturned a very late touchdown run by Joey Gatewood.
“We’ve had some ups and downs this year,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said, crediting his seniors for keeping the Tigers together. “This was a big win for us.”