NO. 22 AUBURN 9, ARKANSAS 7 : Three and out
Posted on Sunday, October 14, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE — Held in check by the brutal defense of No. 22 Auburn virtually all night, Arkansas rallied with some offensive razzle-dazzle for a late touchdown to take the lead and energize the overflow crowd of 72, 463 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
For a moment, it appeared the 13-yard pass from Casey Dick to Lucas Miller would hold up to deliver the embattled Houston Nutt regime a backs-to-the-wall victory.
It didn’t happen.
Aided by excellent starting field position, Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox engineered a 50-yard drive that led to Wes Byrum’s third field goal, a 20-yarder that propelled the Tigers to a 9-7 victory Saturday over the Razorbacks.
“That one hurts,” Nutt said. “We thought we had the game won.”
Auburn (5-2, 3-1 ) won its fourth consecutive game, its 15 th in a row in its white jerseys, and its eighth consecutive SEC road game to move into a first-place tie with Alabama and LSU atop the SEC West.
“I don’t know if we’re good enough to get to Atlanta or to win in Atlanta, but the good thing is we are getting better,” Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville said.
Arkansas (3-3, 0-3 ) took another step in the other direction. The Razorbacks face the only other winless team in SEC play — Ole Miss — next Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
Conservative offensive play ruled the game’s first 56 minutes. Auburn seized a 3-0 lead on its first possession, a 67-yard drive that was aided by 20 yards in defensive penalties, and kept it simple offensively most of the night. The Tigers could afford to do so because their No. 14-rated defense had the measure of Arkansas’ offense, particularly its vaunted rushing attack.
The Razorbacks rushed for a seasonlow 67 yards, and the dynamic duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones rushed for a combined 85 rushing yards and a subpar average of 3. 7 yards per carry. Arkansas entered the game ranked No. 2 in the country in rushing with 338 yards per game.
“We couldn’t get it going on offense,” Nutt said. “We couldn’t get Darren and Felix going.”
Meanwhile, Auburn managed 189 rushing yards, led by 91 yards from the hardcharging Ben Tate.
“Our goal was to outplay Darren Mc-Fadden and Felix Jones, and I think we did that,” Tate said.
Auburn outgained the Razorbacks 290 to 193 in total offense.
In the midst of Arkansas’ dismal offensive showing, McFadden managed to rip off a game-high 13-yard gain from the WildHog formation in the third quarter, surpassing Ben Cowins’ school rushing record. McFadden finished the game with 43 rushing yards and now has 3, 582 in his career.
“I had it in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t thinking about [the record ],” McFadden said. “I’m glad to be the top rushing leader in the school. It’s a great achievement for me.”
McFadden’s 13-yard run was one of only four gains of 10 yards or more for Arkansas until it finally cracked open the Auburn defense in the waning stages of the game.
The opening for Arkansas came after Byrum missed a 46-yard field goal wide right — a kick that would have given Auburn a 9-0 lead — with 4: 19 remaining.
A pass-interference call against Auburn’s Zac Etheridge on a pass attempt from McFadden in the WildHog formation started the drive on which the Razorbacks reached deep into their bag of tricks.
On the next play, Dick threw a long lateral to receiver Robert Johnson, a former starting quarterback who turned and lofted a 15-yard completion to a fallen Peyton Hillis.
“We tried to empty out everything we had,” Nutt said. “We had the double throwback to Peyton and tried to empty everything we had to get down there.”
Jones got free for gains of 10 and 17 yards to put the Razorbacks on the Auburn 3-yard line, but a holding call against Robert Felton moved the ball back 10 yards.
Dick took the next snap and threw toward the left pylon, aiming for the inside shoulder of Miller, who went high over defensive back Jonathan Wilhite to haul in the go-ahead touchdown pass. Alex Tejada, who had missed a 41-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, made the extra point for a 7-6 Arkansas lead with 1: 36 to play.
Arkansas made a key mistake on the ensuing kickoff when Brian Vavra kicked off out of bounds. Tuberville had Arkansas re-kick, and the move paid off as Brad Lester returned the kick to the Auburn 47.
On a second-and-10 play from the Arkansas 42, Cox passed over the middle to Robert Dunn, who broke loose for a 30-yard gain to the 12.
Four plays later, Byrum kicked the game-winner, his second of the season after beating Florida 20-17 with a lastsecond kick two weeks ago.
Arkansas avoided its first shutout since Nov. 18, 1995, a 28-0 loss at LSU.
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