AUBURN – Most of the sellout crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium assumed they were coming to watch No. 6 Auburn cruise to an easy win over an FCS opponent and see the debut of Jordan-Hare Stadium's $13 million video board.
 
What they witnessed came close to being one of the biggest upsets in college football history.
 
Jacksonville State (1-1), No. 5 in FCS but a five-touchdown underdog, led by a touchdown with less than a minute remaining. Auburn tied the score with 39 seconds in regulation, then scored on its first possession in overtime to claim a 27-20 victory on Saturday in the first meeting between the state schools.
 
"We're definitely not satisfied," said head coach John Grass after the Gamecocks out-gained 438-401 and dominated time of possession. "We felt like could have won the game. We left some plays out there and we definitely could have won."
 
The Gamecocks made the 108-mile trip to the Plains a memorable one.
 
Jacksonville State led 10-6 at halftime and dominated the Tigers (2-0) in every phase, leaving the capacity crowd of 87,451 stunned. Auburn regained the lead early in the third on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Johnson to former Oxford High School star Roc Thomas, but Connor Rouleau tied the contest at 13-13 with 10:43 left in the fourth with a 26-yard field goal.
 
An 11-play, 56-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown was set up by linebacker Dawson Wells' interception of Johnson, one of two by the opportunistic Gamecock defense. Troymaine Pope finished it off by running the last five yards and Rouleau tacked on the extra point to put JSU ahead 20-13 with 5:38 left.
 
Jacksonville State's offense – which had moved the football up and down the field for much of the day – couldn't muster a much-needed first down after Randy Robinson recovered Thomas' fumble at the JSU 13 at the 3:06 mark, giving Auburn one last chance to force overtime.
 
Johnson found a leaping Melvin Ray in the end zone on third-and-7 from JSU's 10 with 39 seconds left in regulation and Daniel Carlson's kick made it 20-20.
 
Grass opted to have quarterback Eli Jenkins take a knee in the waning seconds to send the game to overtime.
 
Auburn scored first on its overtime possession when Peyton Barber ran in from the 4 for a 27-20 lead. Jacksonville State's shot at forcing a second OT ended when Jenkins' long pass to Barge on fourth down was caught out of bounds.
 
"Give those guys credit," said Auburn head coach Gus Malzhan. "We didn't play our best, but they had something to do with it."
 
Jenkins and junior receiver Josh Barge were spectacular on the biggest stages of their college careers.
 
Barge caught a school record 14 passes for 132 yards, including an 11-yard reception in the second quarter that gave Jacksonville State its first lead at 10-6.
 
Jenkins set new career highs in completions (26) and pass attempts (43). His 43 passes marked the first time a Gamecock quarterback had thrown 40 passes in a game since Marques Ivory attempted 49 at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 6, 2010.
 
The Gamecocks out-gained Auburn 438-401 and held an edge of nearly 11 minutes in time of possession.
 
Jacksonville State opens its Ohio Valley Conference schedule next Saturday against Tennessee State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Postgame Notes
- Captains for the Gamecocks were all seniors: OL Blake Burks, WR Ruben Gonzalez, DE Chris Landrum, Sr., LS Chad Sharp and S DeBarriaus Miller.
- For the second-straight week, JSU won the toss and deferred.
- One Gamecock made his first career start against the Tigers, junior Desmond Owino started at DL in place of Devaunte Sigler.
- The Gamecocks are now 1-6 all-time against the Southeastern Conference and 0-1 against Auburn.
- Redshirt freshman placekicker Cade Stinnett made his Gamecock debut on the opening kickoff.
- The Gamecocks are now 5-18 against FBS foes since moving up from Division II after the 1992 season.
- The crowd of 87,451 at today's game is the largest crowd to ever see the Gamecocks play, passing the previous high of 82,691 at Florida on Nov. 17, 2012.
- Today was just the fourth time in 22 tries the Gamecocks have held the lead at the half against an FBS foe. JSU led 20-9 at Ga. State in 2013 (won, 32-26 OT), 9-7 at Fla. State in 2009 (lost 19-9) and 21-7 at La.-Lafayette in 2000 (won, 28-14).
- Jacksonville State is now 7-6 in overtime and has won seven of its last nine in extra time.
- Sophomore Joel McCandless' interception in the second quarter was the first of his career.
- Junior wide receiver Josh Barge's 14 catches in the game broke Joey Hamilton's school record for catches in a game. Hamilton had 11 vs. Nicholls State on Sept. 25, 1999. Barge's previous high was nine at Austin Peay on Nov. 2, 2013.
- With his 14 catches in today's game, Barge moved past Donald Young into second on the school's career receptions list with 136. He only trails Joey Hamilton's (1996-99) school record of 178.
- Josh Barge finished the game with 132 receiving yards, his eighth career game with over 100 yards and first this season. It moves him into second on the school's career receiving yards list with 1,988. He passed Derrick Thomas in third and Alan Bonner in second. He trails Joey Hamilton (1996-99), who holds the school record with 2,903.
- Senior Ruben Gonzalez' eight catches are a new career high, passing his previous best of seven against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 15, 2014.
- Barge (132) and Gonzalez (101) each had over 100 yards receiving in today's game, the first time since the same duo surpassed the 100-yard mark against EIU on Nov. 15, 2014 (Barge 153, Gonzalez 113).
- Dawson Wells' interception in the fourth quarter was the second of his career and his first of the season.
- Senior Troymaine Pope's five-yard touchdown run with 5:38 remaining in the game was his first of the season and the 16th of his career.
- Brandon Bender's forced fumble in the fourth quarter was the fourth of his career and his first of the season. Randy Robinson's recovery on the play is the first of his career.
- With 277 yards, Eli Jenkins threw for over 200 yards for the third time in his career. It was his second-best performance behind his career high of 288 vs. Eastern Illinois on Nov. 15, 2014.
- Jenkins set new career highs in completions (26) and pass attempts (43). His 43 attempts make him the first Gamecock to throw 40 passes in a game since Marques Ivory threw 49 at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 6, 2010.
- The loss snaps JSU's 11-game winning streak in regular season games. Their last regular-season loss came in the 2014 opener at Michigan State.
- Eli Jenkins' 314 yards of total offense in the game give him 4,868 yards in his career, moving him into ninth on the school's career total offense list. He passed Doc Lett in ninth place and trails David Coffey (4,920) in eighth place.