Auburn Comes Back Down 21 to Win 28-27...the CAMBack!
After the Alabama Crimson Tide stormed out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter of their game against the undefeated Auburn Tigers, the question seemed to be by how many points would this previously-undefeated team get throttled by.
Behind the strong play of their defense, which has been the achilles heel of the Tigers all season long, and Heisman hopeful quarterback Cameron Newton, Auburn fought their way back to an extraordinary 28-27 come-from-behind victory.
Early on in the game, it looked like things were going to get extremely ugly for Auburn. Alabama scored 3 touchdowns before the end of the first quarter to take a 21-0 lead. Due to errors made by the Crimson Tide as well as Auburn's suddenly adept defense, the Tigers were able to hold the lead to 24-0, when it could have easily been 42-0 or even more.
It certainly didn't help that the mistakes were made by the stars of Alabama. Trent Richardson dropped a sure touchdown pass as his team was in a 3rd and goal situation, Mark Ingram lost a rare fumble after a long run and senior quarterback Greg McElroy was strip-sacked with his team inside Auburn's 10 yard line. Auburn headed into the half down 24-7, but at least they had a chance due to those miscues. And Cam Newton certainly seized the chance.
Newton hit Terrell Zackery on a 70 yard bomb less than a minute into the 3rd quarter to make it a 24-14 game. Following some continued solid defense from Auburn, Newton called his own number and rushed for a touchdown from 1 yard out to make the score 24-21 with 4:45 to go in the 3rd quarter. Alabama limited Newton to a season-low 39 yards on the ground, but he had some well-timed runs in the 2nd half of the game to keep the momentum on Auburn's side.
The Tigers stopped Alabama yet again, but muffed the punt return which gave the ball back to the Crimson Tide deep in Auburn territory. However, they could not punch the ball in for a touchdown, having to settle for a field goal to make the score 27-21.
Newton led Auburn right back, hitting Phillip Lutzenkirchen on a nice throw from 7 yards out to give Auburn its first lead, 28-27, with 12:15 to go in the 4th and final quarter. The Tigers were able to hold on for the improbable victory, bringing them closer to a possible appearance in the National Championship Game.
