theBIGness
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<EMBED SRC=http://vmedia.rivals.com/flash/contentheadlines.swf?h1=Winners+and+losers%3A+Auburn+escapes+&h2=&lwidth=620&lheight=60&lshadow=1&sFontColor=000000&sLink= WIDTH=620 HEIGHT=60 SALIGN=lt QUALITY=best SCALE=noborder wmode=transparent ID=rvflash NAME=rvflash BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF allowscriptaccess=always TYPE=application/x-shockwave-flash PLUGINSPAGE=http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash></EMBED></OBJECT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></P>Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer
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This clearly isn't the same Auburn team that rode Cam Newton's arms and legs to the national championship.
The Tigers no longer have Newton, the Heisman-winning quarterback who arguably had the greatest single-season performance of his generation last fall. Nor do they have defensive tackle Nick Fairley, the 2010 Lombardi Award winner who was sorely missed Saturday in Auburn's opener.
But the Tigers still have their fourth-quarter magic.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>Michael Dyer and the Tigers needed a late rally to top Utah State.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Image-->Auburn needed all that mojo and then some to avoid what would have been the most embarrassing season-opening loss ever by a reigning national champion. Auburn escaped with a 42-38 victory over lightly regarded Utah State only after scoring two touchdowns in the last 2 minutes, 7 seconds to erase a 10-point deficit.
"I think that [it] has kind of been instilled in this group that you never look at the clock and the scoreboard until it says 0:00," Auburn coach Gene Chizik told reporters afterward. "So in that regard, we are thrilled that we came out with the win. No question about it, I think it is obvious that everybody that saw the game realizes that we did not play well as a football team. There are no excuses for that."
This marked the fourth time in its past 13 games that Auburn has rallied to win after trailing by double digits. Auburn was behind or tied in the fourth quarter of half its 14 wins last season.
Auburn spotted Clemson 17 points in the second week of the 2010 season. Auburn won that game 27-24 in overtime after scoring the tying TD with 12:36 left in regulation.
One week later, Auburn rallied to beat South Carolina 35-27 after trailing 27-21 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Wes Byrum made game-winning field goals as time expired in a 37-34 victory over Kentucky and in a 22-19 BCS championship game triumph over Oregon.
Auburn trailed Arkansas 43-37 with 12 minutes remaining before scoring the last 22 points of the game.
Onterio McCalebb's tiebreaking 70-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left gave Auburn a 24-17 victory over LSU.
In the most memorable comeback of all, Auburn rallied from a 24-0 deficit in Tuscaloosa to beat Alabama 28-27 in its regular-season finale. Auburn trailed 27-21 at the start of the fourth quarter.
This latest comeback may have been the most stunning.
[Yahoo! Sports Radio: Auburn WR Emery Blake]
Auburn looked dead after a gutsy fake field-goal call by Utah State coach Gary Andersen set up a touchdown that put Utah State ahead 38-28 with 3:38 left. New Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter led a quick touchdown drive that kept the Tigers alive, then a flawless onside kick gave the Tigers the ball back. Michael Dyer's 1-yard touchdown run capped that drive with 30 seconds left and gave Auburn the win.
"If we had played like we did at the end of the game all game long, it really shouldn't have been close," Trotter said afterward.
Of course, the bigger shock was that Auburn had to rally at all against a traditional WAC also-ran. Utah State has had 13 consecutive losing seasons, and Auburn made Aggies quarterback Chuckie Keeton, a true freshman and former two-star recruit from Houston, look like an All-America candidate in his college debut.
Keeton completed 70 percent of his passes for 213 yards and ran for two touchdowns to engineer an offense that gained 448 yards and controlled possession for more than 37:30. Stunningly, Utah State outrushed Auburn 227-78.
As much as Auburn was expected to miss Newton, the Tigers might miss Fairley even more at this point of the season. If Utah State could move the ball up and down the field against Auburn, how is this defense going to slow Mississippi State and Clemson the next two weeks?
Only the most faithful Auburn fans expected this team to make a serious run at a second consecutive national title. Auburn had 11 players making their first career starts Saturday. Tre Mason, who scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, was one of 13 true freshmen to play against Utah State.
[College Football Pick'em: Sign up and play today]
Still, as young as they are, the still have enough talent to compete for an SEC West title if they grow up fast. But if Auburn keeps playing the way it did Saturday, the team that won last season's national championship could struggle to earn any kind of bowl bid at all.
"We didn't play well, period," Chizik said. "No excuses. I thought it was a very poor defensive effort. That's not acceptable at Auburn, so I fully expect us to rectify that next week."
While Utah State's near-upset of Auburn garnered the majority of attention in the first Saturday of the season, here's a recap of the day's other major winners and losers.
<EMBED SRC=http://vmedia.rivals.com/flash/contentheadlines.swf?h1=Winners+and+losers%3A+Auburn+escapes+&h2=&lwidth=620&lheight=60&lshadow=1&sFontColor=000000&sLink= WIDTH=620 HEIGHT=60 SALIGN=lt QUALITY=best SCALE=noborder wmode=transparent ID=rvflash NAME=rvflash BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF allowscriptaccess=always TYPE=application/x-shockwave-flash PLUGINSPAGE=http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash></EMBED></OBJECT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></P>Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer
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This clearly isn't the same Auburn team that rode Cam Newton's arms and legs to the national championship.
The Tigers no longer have Newton, the Heisman-winning quarterback who arguably had the greatest single-season performance of his generation last fall. Nor do they have defensive tackle Nick Fairley, the 2010 Lombardi Award winner who was sorely missed Saturday in Auburn's opener.
But the Tigers still have their fourth-quarter magic.
<!--Start Image--><SCRIPT language=Javascript>document.write(insertImage('/IMAGES/Player/video/090311-AUBMDYER_250.JPG', '', 0, 300, 250, 1, 'Michael Dyer and the Tigers needed a late rally to top Utah State.', '', 1315099160000, '', 1014, 'Align=Left'));</SCRIPT><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=258 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD width=252>
"I think that [it] has kind of been instilled in this group that you never look at the clock and the scoreboard until it says 0:00," Auburn coach Gene Chizik told reporters afterward. "So in that regard, we are thrilled that we came out with the win. No question about it, I think it is obvious that everybody that saw the game realizes that we did not play well as a football team. There are no excuses for that."
This marked the fourth time in its past 13 games that Auburn has rallied to win after trailing by double digits. Auburn was behind or tied in the fourth quarter of half its 14 wins last season.
This latest comeback may have been the most stunning.
[Yahoo! Sports Radio: Auburn WR Emery Blake]
Auburn looked dead after a gutsy fake field-goal call by Utah State coach Gary Andersen set up a touchdown that put Utah State ahead 38-28 with 3:38 left. New Auburn quarterback Barrett Trotter led a quick touchdown drive that kept the Tigers alive, then a flawless onside kick gave the Tigers the ball back. Michael Dyer's 1-yard touchdown run capped that drive with 30 seconds left and gave Auburn the win.
"If we had played like we did at the end of the game all game long, it really shouldn't have been close," Trotter said afterward.
Of course, the bigger shock was that Auburn had to rally at all against a traditional WAC also-ran. Utah State has had 13 consecutive losing seasons, and Auburn made Aggies quarterback Chuckie Keeton, a true freshman and former two-star recruit from Houston, look like an All-America candidate in his college debut.
Keeton completed 70 percent of his passes for 213 yards and ran for two touchdowns to engineer an offense that gained 448 yards and controlled possession for more than 37:30. Stunningly, Utah State outrushed Auburn 227-78.
As much as Auburn was expected to miss Newton, the Tigers might miss Fairley even more at this point of the season. If Utah State could move the ball up and down the field against Auburn, how is this defense going to slow Mississippi State and Clemson the next two weeks?
Only the most faithful Auburn fans expected this team to make a serious run at a second consecutive national title. Auburn had 11 players making their first career starts Saturday. Tre Mason, who scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, was one of 13 true freshmen to play against Utah State.
[College Football Pick'em: Sign up and play today]
Still, as young as they are, the still have enough talent to compete for an SEC West title if they grow up fast. But if Auburn keeps playing the way it did Saturday, the team that won last season's national championship could struggle to earn any kind of bowl bid at all.
"We didn't play well, period," Chizik said. "No excuses. I thought it was a very poor defensive effort. That's not acceptable at Auburn, so I fully expect us to rectify that next week."
While Utah State's near-upset of Auburn garnered the majority of attention in the first Saturday of the season, here's a recap of the day's other major winners and losers.
