AUBURN, Ala. — — Auburn fans finally had a big win to celebrate. Texas A&M, and maybe not so much the Southeastern Conference.

Payton Thorne hit KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a two-point play in the fourth overtime to lift the Tigers to a 43-41 win over No. 15 Texas A&M on Saturday night, capping a brutal day for SEC playoff contenders.

The Tigers (5-6, 2-5 SEC) became the last unranked league team of the day to play spoiler. Fans coming off a disappointing season stormed the field, filling it from end zone to end zone, but left the goalposts alone.

“It’s been one of those years where you just keep fighting and fighting and climbing cliffs,” said Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who had struggled in his second season. “Our dressing room has continued to fight and no matter what people say, they have just chosen to say that we are going to fight to the finish.”

That’s certainly what it cost this time.

With the teams both given one play to score from the 3, Texas A&M turned to cheating in its attempt to send it to a fifth OT. Receiver Terry Bussey took the direct snap and passed it to quarterback Marcel Reed. Reed’s pass to Amari Daniels was dropped in the end zone.

The Aggies (8-3, 5-2), who had rallied from a 21-0 first-half deficit, suffered the fate of two other SEC playoff hopefuls. Florida had already upended No. 9 Mississippi’s playoffs and SEC title hopes with a 24-17 loss, and No. 7 Alabama fell 24-3 to Oklahoma.

The Aggies are still pursuing a bid for their first SEC championship, but are heading into a matchup with rival No. 3 Texas.

“This one is definitely going to hurt, and we’re obviously extremely disappointed,” Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. “We were in a very good position. It is clear who we play with and what we play for. There will still be a lot of energy going to that stadium next week.”

Thorne passed for 301 yards and two touchdowns for Cam Coleman. Jarquez Hunter ran 28 times for 130 yards and three scores. Coleman had seven catches for 128 yards, and Lambert-Smith had two for 104.

“My emotions are kind of hard to put into words right now,” Thorne said. “I’m still riding that high. It was amazing. I didn’t know if they were going to storm the field or not, and I turned around and a fan hit me in the head. Then I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty sweet.” It was great.”

Reed passed for 297 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 66 yards. Daniels rushed 27 times for 90 yards and a score.

Auburn and Texas A&M traded touchdowns in the first overtime and field goals in the second. Both teams had incomplete two-point conversions from the 3-yard line in OT No. 3.

Then there was the two-point play that proved the difference.

“We’ve been running that play since I’ve been here, since the summer,” said Lambert-Smith, a transfer from Penn State. “We faced the defense every day in training. I was pitching quietly so they could call it.”

Auburn forced overtime with Ian Vachon’s 29-yard field goal with five seconds left. The 15-play drive was halted by two false start penalties after first-and-goal. Vachon is a walk-on who was given the starting job with Alex McPherson battling an illness and freshman Towns McGough struggling.

He had come to Auburn after spending two years at Birmingham-Southern before the school closed.

“We take him out of the classroom and here we are with a guy throwing some very critical kicks for us,” Freeze said.

The takeaway

Texas A&M: The Aggies gained 296 yards after halftime.

Auburn: Got the biggest win of coach Freeze’s second season. Auburn had opened up double-digit leads in the second half against both Oklahoma and Missouri.

Next

Texas A&M hosts No. 3 Texas on Saturday, and Auburn faces No. 7 Alabama the same day.

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