Editor's Note: On this date 10 years ago, Auburn put up 65 points to win a shootout at home against Arkansas, improving to 7-0 on the season and putting Cam Newton squarely in the Heisman race. Each week, we'll be taking you back in time to relive the journey to the 2010 national championship.
The game was aptly described as a "heavyweight boxing match" by Cam Newton after the game. For three-and-a-half quarters, Auburn and Arkansas went blow for blow, matching touchdown for touchdown, and the points just kept rising. It went from 7-7 in the first quarter to 27-21 at halftime to 37-35 through three quarters. By the end it was 65-43 in favor of Auburn.
The two sides set a record for total combined points in a non-overtime SEC game (108), a record that still stood a decade later until it was finally broken by Alabama and Ole Miss last Saturday.
"It turned into a wild game, just tit for tat," Auburn offensive lineman Lee Ziemba said. "It was crazy. I felt like every time we'd come off the field, we had to go back out and do it again. That was just wild."
"That was really something," added current Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, the offensive coordinator in 2010. "Our offense played extremely well. You talk about execution. We were able to run the ball and when we threw it, we were very efficient. I just remember that game went back and forth, and our offense hung in there and just found ways."
Newton was special all year, but some could argue this was his best game in an Auburn uniform. He spearheaded a rushing attack that combined for 330 yards on the ground, averaged 6.7 yards per carry and scored six rushing touchdowns – three from Newton.
The Auburn defense thought they caught a break when Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett left the game in the first half due to injury, but backup Tyler Wilson came in and looked every bit as impressive as the starter, throwing for 332 yards and four touchdowns. However, it was that same Auburn defense who came up with three critical turnovers in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Ultimately, though, it was the Auburn offense who refused to let the Tigers lose.
"That year, the offense and defense would pick each other up," Malzahn said. "That was a game where the offense needed to respond, and they did. That just gave us more confidence as the season went on that 'Hey, we're going to keep battling and we're going to work together and we're going to find a way to win.'"
Impact Player: Cam Newton
Newton's "Heisman moment" might have come a week later with his touchdown run against LSU, but if he wasn't already in the Heisman Trophy conversation coming into the Arkansas game, his performance against the Razorbacks certainly changed that.
A week after rushing for 198 yards and four touchdowns against Kentucky, Newton proved unstoppable once again on the ground with 188 yards and three scores. He also had one of his more efficient games through the air, completing 10 of 14 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown.
"It was amazing what Cam did with the ball in his hands, both running and passing," head coach Gene Chizik said. "We always knew he could run the ball, but Cam was starting to throw the ball that day with extreme accuracy and with unbelievable confidence.
"It was after that game, a game where we had to score 65 points to win because they were scoring and matching just about every time we scored, where I said, 'You know what, not only is Cam one of the best players in the country, he's going to have to start getting recognized as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.'
Play of the Game: "The momentum swing"
From the end of the first half to the beginning of the fourth quarter, Arkansas scored touchdowns on four consecutive drives. The fourth touchdown in that span, scored with 14:09 remaining, put the Razorbacks ahead, 43-37. Auburn's offense responded with a touchdown on its next possession to reclaim the lead, but the defense desperately needed a stop.
The defense did one better. Not only did they get a stop, they scored a touchdown of their own.
On the very next drive, Arkansas ran a toss to the right on 3rd-and-1. The running back picked up the first down, but when Craig Stevens made the tackle, he jarred the ball loose. It went right to safety Zac Etheridge who picked it up and ran it back 47 yards untouched to the end zone.
"Literally the game was like we'd go off, we'd come right back on. It was just that kind of game," Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes said. "And then finally toward the end in the fourth quarter – for some reason we come alive late – it took Zac getting a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and the momentum swung."
The fumble recovery was the first of three straight turnovers forced by the Auburn defense. The next two were both interceptions by Bynes, which helped the Tigers pull away.
Key Stat: 28 fourth-quarter points
Arkansas scored first to begin the fourth quarter, but after that it was all Auburn as the Tigers scored 28 unanswered points in a span of 5:05 to go from 37 to 65 points.
With 11:44 left, Newton connected with Emory Blake for a 15-yard touchdown pass, his lone touchdown toss of the game. Two minutes later, Etheridge returned the fumble for a touchdown. After a Bynes interception, it was Newton again who took it in from three yards out. And finally after a second Bynes interception, freshman Michal Dyer found daylight on a 38-yard touchdown run with 6:36 still on the clock. Dyer was the fifth different Auburn player to rush for a touchdown on the day.
At the time, it was the most points Auburn had scored in the fourth quarter since also scoring 28 in the fourth quarter against Florida State (59-27) in 1985.
In Their Own Words
"I don't have the opportunity to watch everybody in America, but I can tell you this: No. 2 is one spectacular football player. And I am not one to go out on a limb, but everybody in the world sees it. It's not like I'm telling anybody anything new. He is a competitor. He wants the ball. He is humble. He keeps working. And he gives us a chance to win every week." – Gene Chizik
"It was amazing. We went out there and played as a team. The offensive line was the key. Running behind them, it just wasn't me. The whole running back core, all of them had an excellent game. So, it just wasn't me running the football, the glory goes to the whole offensive line." – Cam Newton
"It was personal. We all had a lot of downplaying before the game. A lot of people were predicting us to lose, but we just had to go out there and make a statement." – Onterio McCalebb