The Tigers (6-2) broke open a 24-21 game with Johnson's two TD runs in the final four minutes of the third quarter, including a zigzagging 78-yarder on the last play. Coming off losses at No. 13 Mississippi State and No. 8 Florida, Auburn secured its first winning season since 1997.
McCown added his fourth TD pass in the final quarter for the Bulldogs (2-6), who entered as 32-point underdogs. He finished 47-of-65 for 433 yards and was intercepted twice, completing his first 10 passes. McCown set a Louisiana Tech record for completions, and also broke the mark for an Auburn opponent. He has 10 TD passes in the past two games.
Auburn countered with Johnson, the first Auburn back to eclipse 200 yards since Stephen Davis had 246 against Arkansas in 1994. He also became the first Auburn back to post a 1,000-yard season since Davis in 1995. It was Johnson's seventh 100-yard effort of the season.
McCown wasn't done until late in the fourth quarter. He capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Delwyn Daigre with 7:15 to play.
The Bulldogs' final drive ended with 2:10 left on a failed fourth down play after a long pass was called back by offensive pass interference. That enabled Auburn to run out the clock.
The Tigers rushed for 301 yards on 48 carries compared to Louisiana Tech's 17 carries for 36 yards. The Bulldogs' James Jordan caught 15 passes for 100 yards and Sean Cangelosi added 100 yards on eight catches.
Mistakes quickly canceled out two McCown first-quarter TD passes and a 14-7 Louisiana Tech lead. Auburn took over deep in Bulldog territory on consecutive drives off an interception and a 10-yard punt, twice cashing in with 4-yard Johnson TD runs. A fumbled snap halted a promising drive at the Auburn 15.
The second half began much the same, with a McCown interception on the first play setting up a Damon Duval field goal. McCown hit Faheem Ali on an 18-yard score to make it 24-21. Johnson answered with a 5-yarder and the 78-yarder.
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH FINAL --- --- --- --- ----- Louisiana Tech 14 0 7 7 28 Auburn 7 14 17 0 38 First Quarter Aub-Evans 9 run (Duval kick), 11:29. Lou-Newman 10 pass from McCown (Scobee kick), 8:04. Lou-Daigre 24 pass from McCown (Scobee kick), 2:35. Second Quarter Aub-R.Johnson 4 run (Duval kick), 13:21. Aub-R.Johnson 4 run (Duval kick), 8:19. Third Quarter Aub-FG Duval 22, 13:48. Lou-Ali 18 pass from McCown (Scobee kick), 8:52. Aub-R.Johnson 5 run (Duval kick). Aub-R.Johnson 78 run (Duval kick), :00. Fourth Quarter Lou-Daigre 3 pass from McCown (Scobee), 7:15. Lou Aub --- --- First downs 29 21 Rushes-yards 17-36 48-301 Passing 433 135 Comp-Att-Int 47-65-2 12-18-1 Return Yards 71 94 Punts-Avg. 4-34 4-50 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 10-69 5-36 Time of Possession 32:36 27:24 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Louisiana Tech, Simon 7-20, Jordan 1-13, McCown 8-3, Ali 1-0. Auburn, R.Johnson 33-249, Moore 6-21, Evans 4-17, B.Johnson 1-16, Carter 1-15, Leard 3-(minus 17). PASSING-Louisiana Tech, McCown 47-65-2-433. Auburn, Leard 12-18-1-135. RECEIVING-Louisiana Tech, Jordan 15-100, Cangelosi 8-100, Daigre 7-66, Simon 6-68, Newman 4-35, Ali 2-40, Stark 2-20, Jefferson 2-(minus 5), Thompson 1-9. Auburn, Daniels 3-35, Willis 3-22, Evans 3-21, Green 2-35, Robinson 1-22. A-82,140