Sept. 18, 2010
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AUBURN, Ala. - Wes Byrum's 39-yard field goal in the first overtime period propelled Auburn to a thrilling 27-24 win over Clemson in front of a sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night. Auburn trailed 17-3 at halftime but used a 21-point third quarter to take a lead before winning in the first overtime period. Clemson's Chandler Catanzaro had a chance to send the game to a second overtime period but missed a 32-yard field goal into the Auburn student section end of the stadium.
Darvin Adams finished the game with 118 yards on five catches with a touchdown, including an eight-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter that tied the game at 17-17.
Onterrio McCalebb led Auburn on the ground with 81 yards and a touchdown on 10 rushes and teammate Michael Dyer had 69 yards on 16 rushes.
Cam Newton was 7-for-14 for 203 yards and two touchdowns and added 68 yards on the 17 rushes.
Byrum kicked the game-winning field goal after Auburn went three-and-out in overtime, gaining just four yards on a pair of rushes and an incomplete pass. Clemson then took over and got it to the Auburn eight before settling for an apparent game-tying 26-yard field goal by Catanzaro. The kick, which was good, was negated by an illegal procedure penalty, pushing Clemson back to the Auburn 13. Catanzaro then lined up for the game-tying field goal but pushed it wide, giving Auburn its third straight overtime victory and the sixth in school history.
Auburn, which last overcame a 17-0 deficit in 2002, went up 24-17 lead as Newton and Adams hooked up for four completions that covered 95 yards and directly led to two touchdowns, with Adams catching one and McCalebb running one in. Terrell Zachery also had a touchdown catch in the quarter, his only catch of the night.
McCalebb's 12-yard touchdown run capped a six-play, 61-yard drive for Auburn to start the comeback, bringing Auburn to within a touchdown, 17-10, midway through the third quarter. The big play on the drive was Newton's 34-yard pass to Adams on a third and one play that brought the ball to the Clemson 18 yard line.
Auburn's next series saw Adams score his second touchdown of the season as he tapped the tip of his shoe down in bounds to finish off an eight-play drive that started at the Auburn 28 yard line and took just 3:41 off the clock.
The next time Auburn touched the ball it needed just 38 seconds to score as Newton's first pass completion to someone other than Adams gave Auburn its first lead of the day, 24-17. Following a five-yard run by McCalebb, Newton found Zachery down the sideline for a 78 yard touchdown, Auburn's third straight series that ended with a touchdown.
Clemson answered the Zachary score with an eight-play march down the field to tie the game at 24-24 with 12:36 left in regulation. The drive covered 77 yards and took just 3:27 off the clock.
Clemson went 76 yards in 12 plays on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead when Kyle Parker tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaime Harper.
Clemson increased that lead to 10-0 with an 11-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a 42 yard Cantanzaro field goal with 8:19 left in the first half. Two drives Clemson drives later it was 17-0 as it went 61 yards on just five plays, all Parker passes, when he hit Harper for a 24-yard touchdown pass with 1:54 left in the half.
Auburn managed to avoid the halftime shutout when Byrum kicked a 35 yard field goal to close out the first half. Auburn covered 53 yards on six plays, with Newton rushing for 30 yards on the drive.
Parker finished the night 21-for-35 for 227 yards and two touchdowns for Clemson.
Andre Ellington rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and Dwayne Allen led all Clemson receivers with 66 yards on five catches.
Harper finished the night with 44 yards rushing on 19 carries and 48 yards receiving on three catches, two of went for touchdowns.
No. 16 Auburn survives OT win over Clemson, 27-24
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- The first kick gave No. 16 Auburn hope and the second supplied relief because the Tigers could keep on playing. Then the third led to euphoria because the home team didn't have to.
Wes Byrum kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and Clemson's Chandler Catanzaro missed a do-over kick to tie as Auburn won 27-24 on Saturday night.
The game appeared headed to another OT when Catanzaro made a 27-yarder after a defensive stand kept Clemson shy of a winning touchdown. After a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty on the kick, the redshirt freshman's second attempt hooked wide left, touching off a big celebration for the home Tigers.
"I was trying to warm up again," Byrum said, "but I knew when the crowd went crazy he missed it."
Auburn (3-0) had rallied from a 17-0 deficit late in the first half and scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, but didn't have to do much to settle it in the end.
Clemson (2-1) has lost 14 consecutive meetings in the vintage but long dormant Southern rivalry. The loss came abruptly
"It's not good to see points off the board, but that's football," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "There's a lot of pain and hurt in that locker room."
An open Jaron Brown couldn't pull in Kyle Parker's third-down pass in the end zone on third down to force the overtime field goal try.
"It would have been a great catch by Jaron," Swinney said.
It was the first regular-season meeting since 1971 and the second straight to have extra football, including the 2007 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Clemson, which had opened with predictably lopsided wins over North Texas and Presbyterian, stepped up for the Southeastern Conference opponent with a fast start in front of the biggest crowd the program had played in front of (87,451).
The rivalry renewal turned into a roller-coaster ride, where the teams took their turns in the driver's seat. It was the first time Auburn had rallied to win after trailing by at least 17 points since coming back to beat Syracuse 37-34 in triple overtime on Sept. 28, 2002.
"They kept their faith the whole game," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said of his players. "It was one of those games where we just kept fighting. You're always trying to figure out who your football team is and you never know until you get into a situation where you're in uncharted territory, which is where we were tonight."
Cam Newton completed seven passes for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 78-yarder to Terrell Zachery after a pump fake in the third quarter to give Auburn its first lead at 24-17. Newton also ran for 68 yards but was intercepted twice.
"We had intentions to beat them deep and the pump fake stunned them and all I had to do was make a good pass," Newton said.
Darvin Adams caught five passes for 118 yards and a TD. McCalebb gained 81 yards on 10 carries.
Parker was 21-of-35 passing for 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Jamie Harper. Andre Ellington gained 140 yards on 22 carries in a game that was a statistical standoff.
Auburn had 424 yards, Clemson 414.
Auburn scored 24 straight points after getting dominated for 29 minutes. Gus Malzahn's offense racked up 258 yards in the third quarter after getting mostly held in check for the first two.
"Cam started talking at halftime and said we've got another half to play," Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley said. "And nobody had long faces."
Auburn finally cashed in midway through the third quarter after a promising opening drive ended with Xavier Brewer's interception at the 1, but it didn't came easy.
McCalebb took an end around 12 yards for a touchdown, skirting the sideline then cutting back. Auburn tied it with Adams' 8-yard touchdown pass on a third-down play five minutes later. Replay officials overturned the on-field call, ruling that he had possession when his foot came down on the line.
"When we need a big play, Darvin always seems to come down with those balls," Chizik said.
Clemson answered right back with Ellington's 2-yard TD run to tie it up early in the fourth.