Auburn made a stunning comeback on Saturday in a victory against Texas A&M, illustrating every coach’s plea to play for 60 minutes.

That’s what won the game for the Tigers. Not the gameplan, not 55 minutes of execution from either their offense or defense.

As with every game, there were things to like and not to like. Here are five things I liked about Saturday’s heart-pounding 28-24 victory, and three more things that need to be improved.

Things I liked

1.Red zone offense: The Tigers didn’t have many red zone opportunities, but they made the most of their chances. Auburn reached the red zone on four occasions and scored touchdowns each time. Twice those scores came off turnovers and that made the difference in the game.

2. Never give up: Auburn had every opportunity to call it quits. The Tigers were doing very little offensively and Texas A&M had two chances in the fourth quarter to put the game away. But both times the Auburn defense held. The Aggies missed a field goal on one late possession and turned the ball over on the next, opening the door for an Auburn comeback.

3. Making plays in the clutch: The Tigers didn’t do much for the first 55 minutes of the game. The defense set up one easy score early, but Texas A&M’s defense was mostly choking the life out of Auburn. Two key plays swung the game. Noah Igbinoghene made a great interception that stopped an Aggies drive and set up an Auburn touchdown. The other was the winning touchdown catch by Seth Williams. Both were clutch plays under pressure.

4. Stidham’s leadership when it counted: Tigers quarterback Jarrett Stidham was having a bad game. He missed open receivers and his timing appeared to be off. But when it counted, the Auburn QB came through in a big way. In Auburn’s final two possessions combined, Stidham completed 7-of-8 passes for 125 yards and the winning score.

5. Nick Coe pressure: The SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after recording 3.5 sacks at Ole Miss, Coe didn’t have big numbers on Saturday but came through with the game on the line. Coe stopped Texas A&M QB Kellen Mond on a third-down play, and then sacked him on the game’s final play, preventing the Aggies strong-armed passer from throwing a Hail Mary.

Things to improve

1.No run game: It is extremely rare for a team to rush for 19 total yards and win. Yet that’s exactly what the Tigers accomplished on Saturday. It’s not a formula for winning on a consistent basis. The Tigers are going to have to put together a running game especially with Georgia and Alabama coming up on the schedule.

2. Receivers don’t help: Granted, Stidham didn’t have his best game. He was off on his timing on several throws when receivers were open. But far too many times, Auburn receivers could not break free and Stidham was left with few options. Still, the Auburn QB had decent numbers (18-for-29, 239 yards, 2 TD) and did not throw an interception.

3. Run defense: Texas A&M ran the ball for 201 yards. That was the most this season on Auburn’s defense next to Mississippi State’s 349 yards. Two Texas A&M running backs averaged 5 or more yards per carry. That’s generally a bad recipe and for 55 minutes it was.