College Football Stories

The late writer Lewis Grizzard once pointed out that Clemson is basically just Auburn with a lake. He wasn’t wrong. The two schools have the same mascot, a similar color scheme, and in 2007, both had coaches whose first name was “Tommy”. They have played a total of 51 times, beginning in 1899. The overall series has been streaky, with Auburn winning 17 of the first 21 contests. Clemson went 8-3-1 from 1927 to 1951, and Auburn won all 14 games from 1952 through their national championship season in 2010. Clemson has won all four games between the Tigers since 2011.

Two of those meetings have come in bowl games, both of which were in Atlanta, GA. The first bowl match-up was in the 1998 Peach Bowl, where Auburn outscored Clemson 15-0 in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback from a 17-6 deficit. Terry Bowden’s Tigers took down Clemson in the first meeting between the schools in 27 years. Quarterback Dameyune Craig and linebacker Takeo Spikes were the offensive and defensive MVP’s of the game, respectively.

Bowl match-up number two was the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl, played in the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve. Clemson entered the game with a 9-3 record, ranked No. 15 in the country. Auburn was 8-4, ranked 22nd. After the 1998 season, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville replaced Terry Bowden, the brother of Clemson’s Tommy Bowden. Both Tuberville and Bowden were in their ninth season at their respective schools. Each would be looking for work elsewhere after the 2008 college football season. Oddly enough, the coaching changes that each school made led to both winning national championships in the not-so-distant-future. More on that later.

Tale of the Two Tigers

Auburn started senior quarterback Brandon Cox, who entered bowl season with 9 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. Auburn would often bring in the true freshman Kodi Burns to spell Cox and provide a run threat at the QB position. The backfield provided most of the offensive firepower, featuring running backs Ben Tate, Mario Fannin, and Brad Lester. The three combined for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 16 TD’s during the 2007 regular season. On the other side of the ball, defensive linemen Antonio Coleman, Quentin Groves, and Pat Sims led a unit that ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense. Auburn was also sixth in passing yards allowed and total yards per game.

Clemson was also a top-ten defensive unit. The Tigers were allowing less than 19 points per game. Linebacker Nick Watkins had 100 tackles, DL Philip Merling had 16 tackles for loss, and defensive back Chris Chancellor had four interceptions. On offense, Cullen Harper was the starting QB. The backfield boasted James Davis and the explosive C.J. Spiller. Both Davis and Spiller would finish the season with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Wide receiver Aaron Kelly led the ACC in both receiving yards and touchdown receptions.

There were many notable names in orange polos roaming the sidelines for each of these teams. Auburn had Will Muschamp coordinating the defense and ace recruiter Eddie Gran coaching up the running backs. Billy Napier was the recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach for Clemson. The Tigers from South Carolina also had a wide receiver coach named Dabo Swinney.

First Half

The first quarter was all about the defenses for these SEC/ACC rivals. Clemson’s first two drives combined for six plays and three yards. In between those drives, Auburn took their opening possession 58 yards in just over four minutes. After getting the ball down to the Clemson 8-yard line, multiple penalties backed Auburn up and forced the Tigers to settle for a Wes Byrum field to go up 3-0.

After Clemson forced an Auburn three-and-out, the Tigers went on an 11-play, 48-yard drive of their own. The drive was highlighted by a 20-yard completion from Harper to wide receiver Tyler Grisham. With just over a minute and a half left in the opening quarter, Mark Buchholz’ 45-yard attempt sailed right and Clemson came up empty.

After Auburn picked up two first downs with passes from Cox to WR Prechae Rodriguez and Fannin, Clemson’s defense stepped up and sacked Cox for a loss of 10 yards on third down. Ryan Shoemaker punted the ball away and pinned Clemson at their own 12-yard line. Two plays later, C.J. Spiller made a house call. Spiller’s 83-yard scoring run put the Tigers up 7-3 early in the second quarter.

Following Spiller’s fireworks, Auburn went on a 9-play, 66-yard drive after some strong runs by Tate and a completion from Cox to Fannin. Byrum lined up for a 44-yard attempt but missed wide to the right. Auburn gave Clemson the ball back, trailing 7-3 with 10 and a half minutes left in the second quarter.

After back-to-back 13-yard rushes by Davis and Harper, Clemson’s next drive stalled. Buchholz’ was once again called upon to deliver some points for the Tigers. Once again, his kick went wide right, though this one was from 53-yards out. The final eight minutes before halftime was when these two defenses showed out.

Auburn went on a 6-play, 26-yard drive that ended with a Shoemaker punt with just over five minutes left in the second quarter. The drive charts from there until the break went something like this: Clemson 3 plays, -2 yards; Auburn 3 plays, -2 yards; Clemson 3 plays, 0 yards; Auburn 3 plays, 4 yards; Clemson 2 plays, 8 yards, end of half. The Clemson Tigers led 7-3.

Second Half

Auburn received the ball to start the second half. Cox led the Tigers on their most productive drive of the game. Auburn went 78 yards on 10 plays in three and a half minutes. Cox found WR Montez Billings for a pick-up of 13 on the half’s first play from scrimmage. Lester and back-up QB Kodi Burns rushed for over 30 yards on the drive. On third-and-seven from the Clemson 22-yard line, Burns delivered a strike to Fannin for a touchdown to put the Auburn Tigers back on top, 10-7. Auburn got the ball back in less than a minute, as Clemson went three-and-out, gaining only 4 yards.

Auburn hit an explosive play on their next drive, as Lester took the toss on the quick pitch from Cox 30-yards to midfield. After picking up another first down and moving inside the Clemson 35-yard line, the Auburn drive stalled. On 4th-and-3, the Clemson defensive front forced Cox out of the pocket and his pass fell well short of his intended target. Clemson took over with just under eight minutes left in the third quarter.

Harper and the Tiger offense promptly went three-and-out, with punter Jimmy Maners bombing one 59-yards. The big boot pinned Auburn back inside their own five-yard line. The Clemson defense took advantage of the great field position, forcing a quick three-and-out from Auburn. The ACC Tigers took over at the Auburn 42-yard line after a poor Shoemaker punt.

Clemson took 11 plays and over five minutes to go just 37-yards. The Tigers converted a fourth-and-short inside the red zone, but were forced to kick a short field goal. Buchholz finally made a kick, and the game was all tied up two seconds into the fourth quarter. Auburn picked up one first down on the next drive before committing a costly mistake. On 2nd-and-8, Cox was trying to force a throw to WR Tim Hawthorne in very tight coverage. The ball was tipped and then intercepted by Clemson DB Crezdon Butler. Clemson took over at the Auburn 32-yard line with 13:46 left in the game.

Harper found Kelly for a gain of 28 on third-and-nine. Several plays later, Davis found the end zone from 1-yard out to give Clemson a 17-10 lead. On the ensuing Auburn drive, Burns rushed 4 times for 23 yards while Cox hit Robert Dunn for two completions for 25 yards. Tate cashed it in from the 1-yard line to tie the game at 17-17 with eight minutes remaining in regulation.

The defenses for each team once again stepped up during the last half of the fourth quarter. Each team had two full drives during that stretch. Clemson went 14 yards in 11 plays, while Auburn gained 26 yards on their eight plays. Clemson ran out the final minute with two short runs and the game went into overtime.

Overtime

Clemson got the ball first in extra time. Harper and Co. picked up a first down to the 8-yard line. On 3rd-and-3, Harper’s pass to the end zone intended for Kelly was batted down by Auburn DB Walter McFadden. The Tigers settled for a Buchholz field goal to go up 20-17.

Auburn took over with Cox at quarterback. On 3rd-and-13, Cox completed a 12-yard pass to WR Rodgeriqus Smith to set up a fourth-and-short. Instead of opting to tie with a field goal and send it to a second overtime, Tuberville rolled the dice and went for it. Cox converted the QB sneak and gave the Tigers a fresh set of downs. Burns replaced Cox at QB, and three plays later ran it in from 7-yards out to give Auburn the touchdown and the 23-20 victory.

Both Tuberville and Bowden would be gone after the 2008 season. Tuberville’s Tigers went 5-7 and lost the Iron Bowl to Alabama 36-0, causing Tuberville to resign. Auburn hired Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik to lead the program. Chizik hired Gus Malzahn to run the offense and in 2010, signed a junior college transfer quarterback named Cam Newton. Chizik, Malzahn, and Newton led Auburn to a 14-0 record in 2010. Auburn won the SEC title and the BCS National Championship.

Bowden’s Tigers were ranked No. 9 to begin the 2008 season, but after a disappointing 3-3 start, he resigned from his position. Swinney was hired as the interim coach, and Clemson finished 7-6, capped by a 31-14 win over rival South Carolina. Swinney was retained and has taken Clemson to heights not reached since the early 1980’s. The Tigers from the Upstate have won nine ACC titles and two national championships.