Auburn runs onside kick in first quarter, recovers (GIF)

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn reached into his bag of tricks early in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday against Missouri, and his boldness paid off.

After scoring on a Nick Marshall touchdown run to go up 14-10 in the first quarter, Malzahn called for an onside kick. There was some confusion over whether the ball went 10 yards before Auburn touched it, and there were additional questions about whether Missouri touched it first, which would allow Auburn to touch the ball before it traveled 10 yards.

I thought Auburn touched it first, but it looked like the ball went 10 yards when they touched it. Whatever the case, Auburn was unable to move the ball and missed a 54-yard field goal attempt, so they didn’t get any points out of the onside kick. But it was still very cool to see them make that play.

Here’s the close-up to decide who touched it first:

GIFs via GIFD Sports