The Auburn Tigers continue their dominance in the SEC Conference (8-0 over-all and 5-0 Southeastern Conference). They took advantage of a LSU defense on a huge play by Onterio McCalebb as he sprinted for a 70 yard touchdown, with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter for the go ahead score. Auburn survived against the LSU defense with a 24-17 victory at Jordan-Hare Stadium with 87,451 people in attendance at Auburn, Alabama last week.
Junior quarterback, Cam Newton, put on record breaking performances by rushing for a career high with 217 yards, two touchdowns on 28 carries, giving him a total of 1,077 rushing yards, the most in Auburn University history. The record was held by Jimmy Sidle with 1,066 rushing yards in 1963. The host Tigers had a golden opportunity to be the fifth straight SEC team to produce another national champion. Sidle also topped Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan’s 40-year-old school mark of 26 touchdowns rushing and passing in a season. “Going into this game, we knew it was the No.1 offense vs. the No.1 defense: the clash of the titans,” said Newton, according to ESPN.com. Newton has run for more yards than any other SEC quarterback. “There was licks I was taking from different people left and right. We knew that was going to be the case during the game.”
Les Miles, LSU Tigers Head Coach, likes to stir up weird plays. However, the Tigers were unsure about what they wanted to do on a critical play. Jarrett Lee, the quarterback for LSU, tried to scramble for the first down, but he was stopped short by Neiko Thorpe. LSU went to 7-1 on the season and 4-1 in the SEC Conference. “The decision was not close at all,” said Miles according to ESPN.com. “I just wanted to make sure we had the right call. I just felt like the way we were controlling the ball on the ground and the chance of mishandling the punt…” Both of these teams were living on the edge as the game went down to the wire. “Obviously, this was a great, great game,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik, according to ESPN.com. “It came down to the end and somehow or other our team found a way to win it.”
Cam Newton, in the contest, was 10 for 16, with 86 yards passing and 28 carries. He had two touchdowns for 217 total yards. Newton had a total of 1,364 yards and 13 touchdowns, a quarterback rating of 172.08. This makes a statement also in the Heisman Trophy race with other quarterbacks such as Kellen Moore, Denard Robinson, and Terrell Pryor also having great years of their own. Auburn Tigers can certainly run the table to an undefeated season if they can shift the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Friday November 26. It will be the showdown of Alabama’s two finest football teams which will square off later on in the regular season.
