The top 10 games of the Tuberville era are in....

[AU alum 2]

Always puts a smile on my face

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NJtDtb_1ZQ

Awesome.

I can't ever find the one w/ the Samford & Son music anymore. That one made me laugh, laugh, laugh.

Well, it isn't the one w/the Samford and Son music. But y'all started me looking at youtube videos of the game. That was so much fun! This one stood out to me:

I think you'll enjoy it.

[WarTiger 4,011]

No 6

Nov. 23, 2002 - Auburn 17, Alabama 7

Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Click here for a printer friendly version Printer-Friendly Format

Click here to email to a friend E-mail this article

Aug. 22, 2008

Coach Tuberville's Top 10: Number 6

This summer, Auburn fans had the opportunity to vote on the Top 10 games during the Tommy Tuberville Era. Fans had 25 games to choose from during the month-long voting. Now, AuburnTigers.com will unveil how fans voted, with game recaps and video highlights daily Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1.....So sit back, relax and enjoy....Here's No. 6...

No 6

Nov. 23, 2002 - Auburn 17, Alabama 7

Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Freshman tailback Tre Smith ran for a career-high 126 yards as Auburn upset ninth-ranked Alabama, 17-7, in Tuscaloosa. The win improved the Tigers' record to 4-0 all-time in Tuscaloosa.

Smith carried the ball 25 times while making his first career start because of injuries to Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown and Chris Butler. His 51-yard run on the first play of the second Auburn drive set up sophomore quarterback Jason Campbell's 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robert Johnson to give the Tigers an early 7-0 lead. It took the underdog Tigers only three plays and 1:25 to get the ball in the end zone.

After stopping the Crimson Tide on a fourth-and-31, Roderick Hood returned an Alabama punt 36 yards, putting the Tiger offense at midfield. Campbell went 3-for-3 finding Jeris McIntyre for six yards, Ben Obomanu for 17 yards and finally hitting a wide open Johnson in the middle of the field for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Damon Duval kicked his second extra point of the game as the Tigers went up 14-0 in the first quarter.

Duval extended the Auburn lead to 17-0 by nailing a 40-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. The drive took almost six minutes off the clock.

Holding a 17-0 advantage at halftime, Auburn's defense stepped up against the SEC's top offensive attack in the second half, holding Alabama to just 27 yards rushing and only seven points. The Tigers limited the Crimson Tide's Santonio Beard to just 41 yards and Shaud Williams to only 48 yards for the game.

Auburn committed its only turnover of the game on its opening possession of the second half, leading to Alabama's lone touchdown on the day. Following an interception, the Crimson Tide used an 8-play, 46-yard drive that was capped by Beard's run from one yard out to cut the Tigers' lead to 17-7.

Both defenses controlled the fourth quarter as neither team was able to find the end zone.

The Tiger defense forced Alabama to attempt seven fourth-down conversions during the game, and the Crimson Tide were only successful twice.

Auburn's defensive efforts were led by senior safety Travaris Robinson, who had a team-high12 tackles en route to being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week the following Monday.

The win marked the first time in 20 tries that an unranked Auburn team defeated a ranked Alabama squad.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back... "Nobody gave us a chance [against Alabama] because we didn't have anybody at tailback in terms of experience other than Tre Smith, who had ran the ball a little bit. We didn't have a fullback on the team because Brandon Johnson got hurt, so we moved Cooper Wallace to fullback. We had some good players around and we knew that if we could generate just a little offense then our defense would play well.

"This might be my number one game (in my mind) because when you go on the road in those circumstances, after a tough loss the week before, and you have all those injuries and you have backups that have to step up; it was a game that we found out about ourselves, how tough we were physically and mentally and also how far along our program had come.

"That was one of their better teams that we played. If I'm not mistaken, we were a couple of touchdown underdog. We took control of the game pretty early and never really felt threatened after we got the running game going."

[IslandTiger 0]

The 2001 Florida-Auburn game was the most fun game on any level I have ever attended. The weather for that game was crazy. I remember looking at the flags in the endzone and not one of them was blowing in the same direction. At some point during the game, someone threw a a yellow poncho in the air which proceeded to float above the stadium in the middle of the field. Everyone in my section stared in silence at this poncho that seemed to hover motionless in the air for a few seconds. When it finally started raining in the 4th quarter, the rain drops would come down on one end of the stadium only to be blown out the other end without ever making you wet. I still have my ticket stub.

DITTO!!!(and the '04 LSU Game too!!)

[Plainsman105 0]

No. 5

Nov. 12, 2005 - Auburn 31, Georgia 30

Samford Stadium, Athens, Ga.

Coach Tuberville's Top 10: Number 5

This summer, Auburn fans had the opportunity to vote on the Top 10 games during the Tommy Tuberville Era. Fans had 25 games to choose from during the month-long voting. Now, AuburnTigers.com will unveil how fans voted, with game recaps and video highlights daily Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1.....So sit back, relax and enjoy....Here's No. 5...

No. 5

Nov. 12, 2005 - Auburn 31, Georgia 30

Samford Stadium, Athens, Ga.

During a Nov. 12, 2005, showdown of the Deep South's oldest rivalry between Auburn and Georgia in Athens, Ga., no lead was safe. The game featured eight lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter, and in the end, junior placekicker John Vaughn clinched one of 2005's most exciting victories with a 20-yard field goal with only six seconds left as the No. 15 Tigers upset No. 9 Georgia, 31-30.

With 3:25 on the clock in the fourth quarter, Auburn worked to its own 35-yard line before facing fourth-and-10 and a two-point deficit. Tiger quarterback Brandon Cox found Devin Aromashodu in the middle of the field for a 62-yard reception and the first down. Aromashodu actually had the ball knocked loose at the 3-yard line, but Courtney Taylor recovered it in the end zone, giving the Tigers the ball at the spot of the fumble. Three plays later, Vaughn was set up to knock through the game-winning field goal and delivered.

Auburn led 21-20 entering the fourth quarter and in just over five minutes, the two teams traded touchdowns. The Tigers regained an edge over the Bulldogs on Karibi Dede's 15-yard fumble return to give Auburn a 28-27 advantage with 9:28 left. A 41-yard field goal by Brandon Coutu gave the Bulldogs a 30-28 lead with just 3:25 remaining, setting the stage for Auburn's game-winning drive.

Running back Kenny Irons put Auburn on the board on the first drive of the game. He capped a 92-yard march on 13 plays with a 30-yard rush up the middle to help Auburn jump out to a 7-0 lead. Irons returned to the end zone in the second quarter on a 6-yard left side rush for a 14-10 lead following a 35-yard completion from Cox to Anthony Mix on the prior play. In the first half alone, Irons led the offensive charge by rushing for 125 yards on 19 carries. He finished the game with a 179-yard performance on 37 carries, running his streak of 100-yard rushing games to five straight.

The Tigers totaled 506 yards of total offense, while the Bulldogs countered with 446 yards of their own. Cox completed 16-of-28 for 279 yards on the evening while Georgia signal caller D.J. Shockley was 20-of-36 for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

Aromashodu led Auburn's receivers with four receptions for a career-high 135 yards including catches of 62 and 53 yards.

Dede, who recovered two fumbles, snatched one on special teams setting up a 30-yard touchdown on an end around by Ben Obomanu midway through the third quarter.

Defensive back David Irons and linebacker Antarrious Williams led the Tigers defensively with six tackles each.

The win gave Auburn its 10th win in its last 12 tries in contests in Athens. It also boosted Auburn's all-time series record against Georgia to 53-48-8.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back... "That was the most exciting game, but probably, after looking at these top games, our worst-coached and played game up until the end. We were fortunate that we stayed in the game. We made some plays; Kenny Irons made some good runs. Defensively we didn't tackle very well. It was one of those games that felt like it was slipping away from us. We couldn't find a handle on it because we'd get something going, then something would go wrong.

"At the end, I'll never forget they scored to go ahead with a couple minutes and we weren't able to do anything in the second half on offense. We got a penalty and got the ball moved back to the 10-yard line so we had to go about 90 yards. We threw the ball around and had to squeeze out a couple of third-down possessions just to get the ball into decent field position. Then they had us on fourth and long and we caught them in a coverage that worked perfect against the play. Devin (Aromashodu) made a good catch.

"Our center was out; Joe Cope tears his knee up and we have a backup center in the game, Jonathan Palmer, who had mostly played guard. Jonathan goes in and we're just worried about getting the snap and getting some plays going. Jonathan does good and he gets stronger and stronger, but on that fourth down play it's a very bad shotgun snap and Brandon (Cox) has to reach down and pick it up because they're coming, they're blitzing. Brandon does a great job of picking it up without looking at the ball, which was very fortunate for us because he gets it back and is able see through the gap to throw a short post route and made the play. "It goes to show you how that team persevered. That was a good football team and to be able to beat Georgia on their own field like that, when they probably had a better team than we did that year, worked out pretty good for us.

"He (John Vaughn) missed five field goals against LSU. We had the ball on the 5-yard line and we had to make a decision...are we going to try to score a touchdown or do we kick a field goal to win this game and run the clock down. So we decided to do that (kick). We ran one outside play and the rest of the time we just tried to center it up to kick it. I never said anything to John; I stayed away from him. All the players knew that this was his chance. Of course, they carried him off on their shoulders and this is what it's all about. "

Sorry to steal your thunder Tiger, just didn't see the update and went looking for it.

[WarTiger 4,011]

no worries...I didn't have time to put this one up.

[AUTiger1 0]

No. 5

Nov. 12, 2005 - Auburn 31, Georgia 30

Samford Stadium, Athens, Ga.

Coach Tuberville's Top 10: Number 5

This summer, Auburn fans had the opportunity to vote on the Top 10 games during the Tommy Tuberville Era. Fans had 25 games to choose from during the month-long voting. Now, AuburnTigers.com will unveil how fans voted, with game recaps and video highlights daily Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1.....So sit back, relax and enjoy....Here's No. 5...

No. 5

Nov. 12, 2005 - Auburn 31, Georgia 30

Samford Stadium, Athens, Ga.

During a Nov. 12, 2005, showdown of the Deep South's oldest rivalry between Auburn and Georgia in Athens, Ga., no lead was safe. The game featured eight lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter, and in the end, junior placekicker John Vaughn clinched one of 2005's most exciting victories with a 20-yard field goal with only six seconds left as the No. 15 Tigers upset No. 9 Georgia, 31-30.

With 3:25 on the clock in the fourth quarter, Auburn worked to its own 35-yard line before facing fourth-and-10 and a two-point deficit. Tiger quarterback Brandon Cox found Devin Aromashodu in the middle of the field for a 62-yard reception and the first down. Aromashodu actually had the ball knocked loose at the 3-yard line, but Courtney Taylor recovered it in the end zone, giving the Tigers the ball at the spot of the fumble. Three plays later, Vaughn was set up to knock through the game-winning field goal and delivered.

Auburn led 21-20 entering the fourth quarter and in just over five minutes, the two teams traded touchdowns. The Tigers regained an edge over the Bulldogs on Karibi Dede's 15-yard fumble return to give Auburn a 28-27 advantage with 9:28 left. A 41-yard field goal by Brandon Coutu gave the Bulldogs a 30-28 lead with just 3:25 remaining, setting the stage for Auburn's game-winning drive.

Running back Kenny Irons put Auburn on the board on the first drive of the game. He capped a 92-yard march on 13 plays with a 30-yard rush up the middle to help Auburn jump out to a 7-0 lead. Irons returned to the end zone in the second quarter on a 6-yard left side rush for a 14-10 lead following a 35-yard completion from Cox to Anthony Mix on the prior play. In the first half alone, Irons led the offensive charge by rushing for 125 yards on 19 carries. He finished the game with a 179-yard performance on 37 carries, running his streak of 100-yard rushing games to five straight.

The Tigers totaled 506 yards of total offense, while the Bulldogs countered with 446 yards of their own. Cox completed 16-of-28 for 279 yards on the evening while Georgia signal caller D.J. Shockley was 20-of-36 for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

Aromashodu led Auburn's receivers with four receptions for a career-high 135 yards including catches of 62 and 53 yards.

Dede, who recovered two fumbles, snatched one on special teams setting up a 30-yard touchdown on an end around by Ben Obomanu midway through the third quarter.

Defensive back David Irons and linebacker Antarrious Williams led the Tigers defensively with six tackles each.

The win gave Auburn its 10th win in its last 12 tries in contests in Athens. It also boosted Auburn's all-time series record against Georgia to 53-48-8.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back... "That was the most exciting game, but probably, after looking at these top games, our worst-coached and played game up until the end. We were fortunate that we stayed in the game. We made some plays; Kenny Irons made some good runs. Defensively we didn't tackle very well. It was one of those games that felt like it was slipping away from us. We couldn't find a handle on it because we'd get something going, then something would go wrong.

"At the end, I'll never forget they scored to go ahead with a couple minutes and we weren't able to do anything in the second half on offense. We got a penalty and got the ball moved back to the 10-yard line so we had to go about 90 yards. We threw the ball around and had to squeeze out a couple of third-down possessions just to get the ball into decent field position. Then they had us on fourth and long and we caught them in a coverage that worked perfect against the play. Devin (Aromashodu) made a good catch.

"Our center was out; Joe Cope tears his knee up and we have a backup center in the game, Jonathan Palmer, who had mostly played guard. Jonathan goes in and we're just worried about getting the snap and getting some plays going. Jonathan does good and he gets stronger and stronger, but on that fourth down play it's a very bad shotgun snap and Brandon (Cox) has to reach down and pick it up because they're coming, they're blitzing. Brandon does a great job of picking it up without looking at the ball, which was very fortunate for us because he gets it back and is able see through the gap to throw a short post route and made the play. "It goes to show you how that team persevered. That was a good football team and to be able to beat Georgia on their own field like that, when they probably had a better team than we did that year, worked out pretty good for us.

"He (John Vaughn) missed five field goals against LSU. We had the ball on the 5-yard line and we had to make a decision...are we going to try to score a touchdown or do we kick a field goal to win this game and run the clock down. So we decided to do that (kick). We ran one outside play and the rest of the time we just tried to center it up to kick it. I never said anything to John; I stayed away from him. All the players knew that this was his chance. Of course, they carried him off on their shoulders and this is what it's all about. "

Sorry to steal your thunder Tiger, just didn't see the update and went looking for it.

This game was outstanding!!! I will never forget, my wife gave up on us ,went to bed at the TV timeout and asked me if I was going to stay up and watch. I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears. I screamed, jumped up and down and she comes running in the living room to see what in the world is going on. I scolded her for giving up on . I think she learned her lesson, b/c she has yet quit watching a game no matter what the score.

One of my favorites. Anytime we beat UA, UT, UGA or LSU it's a good day!

[Plainsman105 0]

I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears.

[AUTiger1 0]

I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears.

Maybe, I cold have swore she had the paw print painted on her face, but that works for me too!

[WarTiger 4,011]

No. 4

Oct. 14, 2006 - Auburn 27, Florida 17

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

Click here for a printer friendly version Printer-Friendly Format

Click here to email to a friend E-mail this article

Aug. 26, 2008

Coach Tuberville's Top 10: Number 4

This summer, Auburn fans had the opportunity to vote on the Top 10 games during the Tommy Tuberville Era. Fans had 25 games to choose from during the month-long voting. Now, AuburnTigers.com will unveil how fans voted, with game recaps and video highlights daily Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1.....So sit back, relax and enjoy....Here's No. 4...

No. 4

Oct. 14, 2006 - Auburn 27, Florida 17

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

Tre Smith returned a third quarter blocked punt for a touchdown and Auburn's defense forced three turnovers and did not allow a point in the second half as the 11th-ranked Tigers scored the game's last 19 points to upset No. 2 Florida, 27-17, at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The 27-17 victory over Florida marked the first time since a 9-0 victory over Alabama on Nov. 18, 2000, that the Tigers defeated their opponent without scoring an offensive touchdown. The win stretched Auburn's all-time series record against Florida to 41-38-2 and pushed its home field record to 25-8-1 against the Gators. It also marked the second-highest nationally-ranked team that the Tigers had knocked off since a 23-20 victory over top-ranked Florida in 2001.

After first-half struggles to maintain Florida's explosive offense, Auburn's special teams unit came up big and ignited a comeback for the record books.

Opening the second half with a 17-11 lead, the Gators' were forced to punt on fourth-and-18. Florida's Eric Wilbur could not handle the snap and had his punt blocked by Jerraud Powers at Florida's 15-yard line. Smith scooped up the block and returned it 15 yards for the touchdown to give Auburn an 18-17 lead.

Auburn added to its lead with just 32 seconds left in the game on a 39-yard field goal from John Vaughn to go up 21-17.

On the ensuing possession, Florida quarterback Chris Leak threw three incomplete passes and faced a fourth-and-10. Although he connected with Jarred Fayson, the Gator receiver fumbled the ball and Auburn's Patrick Lee recovered it and dashed 20 yards into the end zone as time expired to give the Tigers' the 27-17 victory.

The Auburn defense picked up where the special teams left off at the start of the second half. After giving up 17 points through two quarters on 18 plays to the Gators, the Tiger defense tightened in the second half and denied Florida on the scoreboard. The Gators were limited to 85 offensive yards in the second half, including 31 on the ground.

Quentin Groves paced Auburn's stout defense, finishing with three sacks, all in the second half. He also forced a fumble on Auburn's 6-yard line in the fourth quarter, which Tray Blackmon recovered and returned to the Tigers' 38.

Groves was also instrumental with less than three minutes in the game, pressuring Leak. Eric Brock stepped in front of Leak's pass for his first interception of the season, which effectively killed the Gators' attempt to overcome the 18-17 deficit.

The Tigers began the game's scoring on a 22-yard field goal with nine minutes remaining in the first quarter. Florida, however, matched that five minutes later when Chris Hetland connected from 22 yards out.

Dallas Baker made it 10-3 in favor of Florida a minute into the second quarter, catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from Leak.

With Florida pinned inside its five four minutes later, the Tiger defense used a little luck to make it 10-5. The Gators were guilty of a holding penalty in the end zone, giving Auburn a team safety.

Six minutes later, Vaughn kicked his second field goal of the game, a 31-yarder, to bring Auburn to within two, 10-8.

The Gators scored their final points of the game at the 4:10 mark of the second quarter on a Tim Tebow quarterback run from 16 yards out.

With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Vaughn connected on his third field goal from 34 yards out.

Brandon Cox finished 18-of-27 passing for 182 yards and Brad Lester led the rushing attack with a career-high 94 yards on 17 carries.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back...

"Ironically, that (first half) was probably the worst half of defense we have played since I have been here. We couldn't tackle Chris Leak; we didn't defend anybody. Fortunately, offensively we were able to make some first downs and make them go long distances when they did score points. That game could have gotten out of hand very quickly and they were a very good football team. Obviously, they won the national championship. We held our composure, and we didn't crumble in the first half, which would have been easy to do with the amount of talent they had.

"We went into the locker room at the half and got them all settled down. We made our adjustments, what we wanted to do, what angle we wanted to take. We knew we had to do something on offense to give ourselves a chance. We knew we needed a big play on special teams. Basically, I challenged [the team]: we can go out and lose by 50 points or, no matter what the score looks like, we can get back in the game. Of course, the game-changing play of the year was Tre Smith picking up the ball for the touchdown off of Jerraud Powers' punt block.

"That was a great game because there was a lot of big plays and, unfortunately, most of the big plays were on their side. We didn't have much to celebrate until that blocked punt, and winning that kind of game doesn't happen very often. We beat the team that would eventually win the national championship. They don't lose to anybody else, and we don't score an offensive point, that is hard to do. We saw how things were going on defense, so, I told the team that we are going to run the clock on offense. We couldn't get the ball down the field, we couldn't protect, but we could run the ball a little bit. Every first down for us was like scoring points. We won that game by heart. It was all heart, all character, and our players overcame our coaching."

[weagle251 1]

I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears.

That picture almost makes the last two beatdowns they've given us worth it.

Almost.

[Plainsman105 0]

I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears.

The paw print was on the other cheek.

[JB33 1]

Guessing the top 3 will be some combination of UF 2001; UT 2004 (SECC); and LSU 2004. That said, if UGA 2004 somehow doesn't make the list, it'd be a travesty. Understand the game wasn't close, but that was, IMHO, the best Auburn "gameday," by far, since uat '93 ("Eleven and Oooooohhhh!!"). I'll never forget coming down I-85, and seeing that giant AU flag waving over the (under construction) College Street exit. Man!!! It still gets me . . .

WOW!!! It's gametime, y'all!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!! Beat LAMO!!!

[AUTiger1 0]

I remember seeing some woman with the paw print and UGA painted on her face waving her finger in the air and then they showed her again and she looked like she was about to bust out in tears.

The paw print was on the other cheek.

Ahh, Thanks, I see it now!

[DCWarEagle 0]

Number Three is the 2007 Florida game. This was a sweet game. No one thought we had a chance after we snuck up on Florida the year before, especially being down in the Swamp. Byrum hitting the field goal twice then doing the Gator Chomp was definitely the highlight of last season.

I predict One and Two are the 2001 Florida and 2004 LSU games (not sure what order). If I am correct, that would mean some pretty major games from 2004 didn't make the list: UGA, the SECCG, or our second ever win in the Sugar Bowl to cap the 13-0 season. I haven't had a major issue with any of the results except last year's Iron Bowl being on the list. I think there were at least five better games.

http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-foot.../082708aaa.html

No. 3

Sept. 29, 2007 - Auburn 20, Florida 17

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.

Freshman Wes Byrum kicked a game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift Auburn to a 20-17 victory over No. 4 Florida in front of 90,685 stunned fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Byrum actually made the final field goal twice, but his first attempt was nullified by a timeout called just before the snap.

The Tigers snapped the defending national champion's 11-game winning streak and gave Florida coach Urban Meyer his first home loss since he took over the program in 2005. For the first time since 1994, Auburn left Gainesville with a win and stretched its all-time series lead to 42-38-2.

With 3:38 remaining and the score tied at 17-17, the Tigers drove 35 yards on 10 plays while eating up the clock. Ben Tate rushed seven times for 19 yards and Brandon Cox found Rodgeriqus Smith for 10 yards and Prechae Rodriguez for six during the drive, placing the ball on the 26-yard line with just three seconds to set the stage for Byrum's heroics.

Cox finished the game completing 17-of-26 passes for 227 yards.

The Auburn defense was the difference maker, as it held Florida to just 17 points, 312 yards of offense and 14 first downs. Entering the contest, Florida was averaging 49.2 points, 517.8 yards and 25 first downs per game.

In addition, Auburn shut out Florida in the first half, becoming the first team to hold the Gators scoreless during the opening half since South Carolina on Nov. 14, 1992. The Tiger defense allowed just one play over 25 yards and held Florida without a first down on five of 10 offensive possessions.

The Tigers got on the board on their first possession with a 14-play, 86-yard drive that consumed 7:32 off the clock. Cox completed all five of his passes, including three to Smith for 43 yards, and Ben Tate and Mario Fannin combined for 40 all-purpose yards, setting up Kodi Burns' six-yard dart up the middle for a touchdown.

In the first quarter alone, Auburn owned the ball for 11:43, totaled 113 yards, made eight first downs and held a 7-0 advantage.

Auburn stayed hot into the second quarter. After Sen'Derrick Marks got his hand on a 34-yard field goal attempt to thwart a Florida scoring attempt, Auburn started another long scoring drive from its 20-yard line. Cox connected on a 7-yard pass to Gabe McKenzie, a 22-yard pass to Carl Stewart and a 25-yarder to Montez Bilings to set up a fourth-and-1 on the Florida 4 that the Tigers converted. On the next play, Tate ran for three yards to give Auburn a 14-0 lead with 6:21 remaining in the half.

Florida opened the third quarter with Tim Tebow connecting on a 52-yard pass to Percy Harvin that put the Gators on the Auburn 3-yard line. Auburn's defense stepped up and the Gators settled for a 23-yard Joey Ijjas field goal to get on the board, 14-3.

At 10:54 in the third, Patrick Lee picked off Tebow and allowed the Tigers to go ahead by two touchdowns following a 30-yard field goal from Byrum.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Tebow threw a 6-yard pass to Cornelius Ingram for a score that moved Florida within seven.

The Gators knotted the score at 17 with 7:36 remaining on a drive that saw Tebow throw for 48 yards and run for 35 more, including a 2-yard scamper for the score.

Tate ended the game with 65 yards rushing, while Fannin tallied 62. Smith finished with 102 yards receiving, while Billings added 56 yards on three catches.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back...

"We went into their [Florida's] place and we knew the revenge factor was on. We were the only blemish on their schedule the year before on a national championship team and they always have to live with that."

"We made a decision that week that we had to do something with our offensive line. We were already starting one true freshman and Hugh Nall decided that we have to put some competitors in because he felt like we weren't competing well enough on the offensive line. He started Ryan Pugh and Chaz Ramsey. If you think about that, we are going to play one of the top teams in the country in a revenge game and they have all these athletes and we are going to take three true freshman offensive linemen in that atmosphere."

"That place is very tough because they are almost on top of you. It was a night game on national television and was not a very good draw for us. We started out on offense and we moved the ball. We took control defensively early. We took [Tim] Tebow out of the game and we took advantage of our opportunities. I went for it on fourth down in the first half to score a touchdown because I felt like we weren't going to beat them by field goals. It worked out for us and we had to hold on for the second half. Ironically, the way the game went, we made two game-winning field goals in one game. To do that after the way we had started put a signature on that team about the possibilities of what we could do, and after that we played pretty well for the rest of the year."

"We went through that whole game just holding on because you could feel in that stadium that something was about to explode. By the end of the game, we were playing wholly on emotion."

[WarTiger 4,011]

No. 2

Sept. 18, 2004 - Auburn 10, LSU 9

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

Click here for a printer friendly version Printer-Friendly Format

Click here to email to a friend E-mail this article

Aug. 28, 2008

Coach Tuberville's Top 10: Number 2

This summer, Auburn fans had the opportunity to vote on the Top 10 games during the Tommy Tuberville Era. Fans had 25 games to choose from during the month-long voting. Now, AuburnTigers.com will unveil how fans voted, with game recaps and video highlights daily Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, counting down from No. 10 to No. 1.....So sit back, relax and enjoy....Here's No. 2...

No. 2

Sept. 18, 2004 - Auburn 10, LSU 9

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

Courtney Taylor caught a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 to play as No. 14 Auburn defeated fifth-ranked LSU, 10-9, in front of a sell-out crowd of 87,451 fans. It was a game that was served as a spring board for the program in its run towards a perfect season.

Taylor's touchdown was the only of the game for Auburn, which improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Southeastern Conference play. Quarterback Jason Campbell finished the game 16-of-27 passing for 170 yards, and led the Tigers on a 12-play, 59-yard drive to cap the victory.

Auburn's lone touchdown drive started on its own 41-yard line with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Ronnie Brown moved Auburn into LSU territory on a 20-yard run, but the Tigers later faced a 4th-and-12 from the LSU 28-yard line. Campbell found Taylor for a 14-yard pass to the right to get the first down and two plays later, Campbell connected with Taylor again to give Auburn the winning touchdown.

Tied at 9-9 after the Taylor touchdown, Auburn missed the ensuing extra point, but an LSU personal foul on the play gave the Tigers a second try, which John Vaughn promptly nailed. Vaughn's kick through the uprights maintained Auburn's streak of consecutive extra point conversions at 191. That streak ranked second in the SEC and dated back to the 1999 season.

Junior Rosegreen halted LSU's final drive when he picked off a JaMarcus Russell pass intended for Early Doucet. The Auburn defense allowed LSU 308 yards, but just three points after the Bayou Bengals opened the game with an 80-yard scoring drive. LSU quarterbacks Russell and Marcus Randall combined to throw for 168 yards on 12-of-28 passing.

After Randall found Dwayne Bowe for a 9-yard touchdown to begin the game, Auburn used a 14-play, 69-yard drive to put three points on the board. Vaughn connected on a 29-yarder to bring the score to 6-3 (LSU had missed its extra point).

The Bayou Bengals answered back with a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter to go up 9-3, and the score stayed unchanged well into the fourth quarter as both teams' offense's stalled until the winning drive.

Carnell Williams led Auburn with 75 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Taylor, whose touchdown marked the first of his career, led the Tigers with five receptions for 71 yards.

Travis Williams and Will Herring both had eight tackles to lead the Tigers. As a team, Auburn tallied nine tackles for losses equating to 31 yards.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back...

"Our players had to stay in a hotel that week because school was closed [due to Hurricane Ivan] and the administration said that if we were going to keep them here, we had to keep them all together. We couldn't come and practice and so we had the banquet room and we blocked chairs. We put chairs up and we had guys go to their blocking assignments. It was the weirdest preparation I've ever been around and LSU had the same thing."

"I think we found out, in that game, that we had a pretty good football team. We found out a lot in that game. Our defense played tremendously and our offense did what we needed. We didn't play great. We didn't do anything basically until that last drive."

"The team that played the best that night probably didn't win. We didn't play as well as we probably should've played. We made a couple of fumbles, we had a few more penalties than we should've had, but we found a way to win. When you have championship years, they're teams that find a way to get it done. We found our way that night and that was probably one of LSU's better football teams."

[DCWarEagle 0]

That 2004 LSU game is one of my favorite Auburn games ever. It was the first sign that this team was going to be something special. The defense was fantastic, the offense did just enough to win, we benefited from a weird call, it was played in the aftermath of a hurricane. All of that seems just about right for an integral piece of the Auburn-LSU rivalry.

Courtney Taylor's first career TD could not have come at a better time, and I think everyone agrees that this was the game that led us to our perfect season in 2004. Love the highlights of the conversion on fourth down, the touchdown, the LSU QB just getting destroyed on that sack (was that Eddins?) and Junior making another timely interception. Excellent stuff.

[DCWarEagle 0]

The number one game: 2001 Florida. No surprise there. This was a fantastic game with a great finish. Unranked Auburn knocking off Number One Florida and Tub got a win over the man in the visor.

So now that the top ten are done, what does everyone think of the list?

http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-foot.../082908aaa.html

No. 1

Oct. 13, 2001 - Auburn 23, Florida 20

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.

Damon Duval nailed his third straight game-winning field goal as Auburn defeated top-ranked Florida, 23-20, at Jordan-Hare Stadium, snapping a seven-game losing streak in the series. Duval's 44-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining was set up by Karlos Dansby's interception off Gator quarterback Rex Grossman with under five minutes left in the game.

Jeff Chandler got Florida on the board first with a 45-yard field goal, only to have Duval respond with a 45-yard field goal of his own to tie the score at 3-3 in the first quarter.

Auburn moved ahead of Florida on its first drive of the second quarter when Daniel Cobb capped an 11-play, 59-yard drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak to give the Tigers a 10-3 lead. Just before halftime, Chandler connected on a 32-yard field goal to bring the Gators within four points of Auburn.

Grossman directed a six-play, 72-yard drive, culminated by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Reche Caldwell midway through the third quarter put the Gators ahead, 13-10. For the rest of the third quarter neither team was able to produce a positive drive.

A three-point Auburn deficit was erased at the start of the fourth quarter on a Chris Butler two-yard run around the right end, as the Tigers regained the lead, 17-13. On the Gators' first play of the next drive, Grossman was picked off by Mayo Swell and Duvall knocked in a 32-yard field goal to give Auburn a 20-13 edge.

That edge was wiped out on Florida's first play following the ensuing kickoff as Grossman hit Jabar Gaffney with an 80-yard touchdown play to tie the game, 20-20, with 12:09 left in the game.

Despite turning the ball over on its next two possessions on fumbles, including one in Florida's end zone, Auburn regained possession of the ball on Dansby's key interception.

The Tigers marched 49 yards down the field in 10 plays to set up Duval's game-winning field goal. Cobb went three-for-three on passes for 30 yards on the final drive.

Auburn's students celebrated the upset win by storming the field at the conclusion of the game and tearing down the south end zone goal post.

Defensively, the Tigers had four interceptions and set a school-record against an SEC opponent by holding Florida to a minus 36 yards rushing.

The win marked the first time an unranked Auburn squad had defeated the nation's top team since 1942.

It also was the first time an unranked team beat the nation's top team since Nov. 7, 1998, when Michigan State defeated No. 1 Ohio State, 28-24, in Columbus, Ohio.

Tuberville's thoughts looking back...

"That was a game where we were wondering how we were going to stay in the game because they were loaded. That was one of Florida's better football teams. Probably the break that we got was that the day of the game, the wind started blowing and they were forecasting rain. The game was on ESPN, it was a night game and our fans were into it. When our fans get into it, our players are going to get jacked up."

"I'm sure that he [steve Spurrier] came in and wanted to prove that this was the team in college football because they were number one. We weren't hitting on all cylinders, but that night, the winding blowing a little bit knocked them off sync. We were able to play well enough to get some turnovers. We had lost every starting linebacker in the first half. We played our backup linebackers in the second half of that game. It was one of those games where you're thinking that this can't be happening."

"We had a decent football team, but the team on the other side was going to win the national championship. Our players kept on making plays and our coaches did an excellent job of keeping them psyched up on the sidelines. Our fans were awesome, but you could feel the weather changing and the wind blowing, but it never rained. We were able to move the ball down, make a couple of plays, and get it down."

"We decided to kick a field goal and at about that time, it starts to rain and the wind picks up. The wind was blowing from our home side across the field and Florida called timeout. I called Damon over and he said, "Coach, I got it. The wind's blowing and I'm going to have to play it wide right, but I'm going to try to hook it back in there."

"When he kicked the ball, it had to be at least ten to twelve yards right of the goal post and it perfectly hooked center-cut right through the middle. As soon as it goes through, we win the game and everybody runs on the field and the good Lord opened the skies and it rained like it hasn't rained in Auburn since."

"That was an exciting game and it was a game in my career that we hadn't beat a team of Florida's stature. They were the team to beat in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That game put us on the map of credibility and what we were doing and how we were doing it."

[mowegl 4]

I could've done without the 2006 UF game (at least as highly as it was) and the 2007 UAT game. Both of those got votes because of their recentness. The 2004 UGA game needed to be on the list somewhere for sure.

Other notable games (not necessarily deserving on the list)

2003 Music City Bowl - yes I said the music city bowl. Had that game gone differently a lot of things might be different and not just from a coaching standpoint.

2004 SEC CG - It's not everyday you win an SEC CHAMPIONSHIP. As we've seen it's our only win in the current format.

Maybe one of the other UGA games - 1999 or 99 LSU game though I woudn't necessarily put them on the list.