COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)
-- The defending national champions aren't done yet.
Auburn and its
maligned defense bounced back in a big way on Saturday, defeating No. 10
South Carolina 16-13. The Tigers (4-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference)
overcame a spotty offense to wear down the Gamecocks at the end. Barrett
Trotter found Phillip Lutzenkirchen for the go-ahead, 9-yard touchdown
with 1:38 left.
"This was a
game they willed to win," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said.
It's been a rough go
for the BCS champions since beating Oregon for the title last January.
Heisman Trophy
winner Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley jumped to the NFL,
leaving big holes on both sides of the ball. They lost their 17-game win
streak and their aura of invincibility two weeks ago at Clemson, which
ran up 624 yards.
Plus, the Gamecocks
had plenty of motivation to succeed, losing twice to Auburn a year ago,
including a humiliating 56-17 loss in the SEC championship.
Instead, it was the
Auburn defenders who shut down South Carolina star tailback Marcus
Lattimore and gave the offense enough time to pull out its 11th straight
win against SEC opponents.
"It was a great
atmosphere and all those kind of things and to come out with the win the
way we did was great," Trotter said.
It also got Auburn
off to the right start in an October filled with powerful opponents and
critical contests. The Tigers travel to Arkansas next week before
playing Florida and LSU their next two games.
When "you beat
a top-10 team, I feel that is pretty evident what that does for you
moving forward," Chizik said.
In Auburn's case, it
may have saved a season teetering on the edge.
The Tigers were down
13-9 in the fourth quarter and couldn't break through on South
Carolina's swarming defense. But Gamecocks assistant coach Ellis Johnson
said Auburn's fast pace wore down his defenders. That was apparent down
the stretch when Barrett led Auburn on a 12-play, 57-yard drive that
ended with a pass to wide open Lutzenkirchen in front of the goal line.
The junior fumbled the ball into the end zone, then recovered it just
before sliding out of bounds to put Auburn ahead.
South Carolina
advanced to Auburn's 29 on its final possession before time expired,
though Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier argued that clock should have
stopped with 1 second left after a completed pass for a first down.
Spurrier said he was
told that receiver Bruce Ellington's knee touched the ground when the
clock had run out. "That's what he told me. I said, 'Wait a minute
now, don't you review that?'" Spurrier said.
They did not, giving
the Gamecocks their seventh straight defeat against Auburn.
"It doesn't
matter now," Spurrier said. "It's in the history books. So
it's all over. We got beat. Still haven't beaten them."
The SEC issued a
statement saying a review of the end showed game officials followed
correct procedure.
Auburn used Michael
Dyer like Spurrier had used Lattimore this season - a clock-controller
who can't be stopped.
Dyer ran for 141
yards on a career-high 41 carries. Dyer, a sophomore like Lattimore, had
come into this one with 45 fewer carries than Gamecock standout, who was
the SEC's rushing leader.
Lattimore ended with
66 yards on a season-low 17 rushes.
"The defense
played good, the offense didn't," Lattimore said. "But we left
it at that. We've got to put it behind us."
It looked like South
Carolina's defense would be enough to bail it out of trouble as
quarterback Stephen Garcia again had problems putting up points against
an Auburn defense that was ranked last in the SEC.
Instead, the Tigers
D rose and held the Gamecocks to 54 yards and one first down in the
final period. And Trotter and the Tigers found their groove just in
time. They converted four third downs in the go-ahead drive, including
the touchdown to Lutzenkirchen.
"Holding (Lattimore)
to under 100 yard and getting three or four turnovers were the goals
this week and we did it and got the win," Auburn linebacker Jake
Holland said.
Still, when
Lattimore broke through for a 15-yard TD run midway through the third
quarter, it appeared it might hold up the way South Carolina's defense
was playing.
Melvin Ingram had 3
1/2 sacks and one of four South Carolina interceptions.
Trotter was 12 of 23
for 112 yards with two interceptions.
This one looked like
a contest of who'd crack first: Auburn's last-in-the-SEC defense or
South Carolina's can't-move-the-ball-too-well offensive attack that has
struggled to score the past two weeks.
In the first half,
it was the Tigers' D that came up bigger than it had this season. They
held Lattimore to 36 yards on nine carries and the Gamecocks managed
only four first downs on nine first-half possessions.
Garcia, a lightning
rod for Gamecock criticism for his inconsistency, was at it again. He
was 9 of 23 for 160 yards and two interceptions. Garcia also had a
50-yard scoring throw to Alshon Jeffery.
Garcia didn't speak
to the media. His grandfather had passed away earlier this week, South
Carolina said, and he wanted to be with family.
Usually, it's
Lattimore who bails the Gamecocks out but even he didn't look like
himself. He fumbled on one drive and could not fight his way through
Auburn's charged up defense.
Not that the Tigers
had much success with South Carolina's defense, led by Ingram and safety
Antonio Allen. Ingram had two of the Gamecocks three first-half sacks
and picked off Auburn's chance to extend a 9-6 lead right before
halftime.
The Tigers' reliable
kicker Cody Parkey was lined up for a 32-yard field goal try with 1:06
left when holder Ryan White took the snap, rolled right and threw toward
Lutzenkirchen near the goal line. But defensive end Ingram had dropped
back in coverage to end the threat.
