You look at the score -- USF 26, to AU 23 -- you think defensive struggle. Lots of field goals, two hard-hitting defenses smashing into each other... a low-yardage affair.And it was, more or less. The Bulls outgained Auburn in every statistical category: total yards, passing and rushing, and were slightly less horrid (4-17) on third down conversions. Despite the extremely conservative playcalling of both offensive coordinators in this game, it was exciting to watch as the contest came down to an early Sunday morning overtime series.
Exciting, yes. Close score, yes. But hold on just a moment: Auburn turned the ball over to South Florida five times (three were QB Brandon Cox's doing) and suffered a six minute time of possession deficit. The stats (key numbers in bold courtesy moi):
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 |
|
| 1st Downs | 18 | 16 |
| Total Yards | 319 | 290 |
| Passing | 184 | 165 |
| Rushing | 135 | 125 |
| Penalties | 7-60 | 7-55 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 4-17 | 2-13 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 5 |
| Possession | 32:44 | 27:16 |
South Florida kept Auburn alive in this game thanks to their kicking woes.
More after the jump.
USF kicker Delbert Alvarado missed four kicks in the second half (one was blocked). They were also unable to convert a single point off of Cox's last interception of the night, which was returned by Mike Jenkins to Auburn's 3-yard line. The Bulls lost yardage on three rushing downs and Alvarado missed a 21-yarder to tie the game with approximately seven minutes remaining.
When you keep the game close late due solely to the ineptitude of the opposing team's kicker, you know you have offensive problems. That Auburn's offense hasn't been high-powered since Jason Campbell started suiting up for the Redskins is no secret; but this is ridiculous. USF should have won this game going away. Despite the close score, South Florida's Jim Leavitt was obviously confident in his team, kicking a game-tying field goal rather than going for the win in the 4th quarter.
On the opposite sideline, Tommy Tuberville's decision to take it to overtime, sitting on the ball on 3rd and 11 rather than throw downfield as the final seconds ticked down, showed just how little confidence he had in his quarterback.
Yes, vaunted Auburn was cowed by a visiting Big East team with all of 11 years of football history to their name. This was an embarassing performance by an SEC team.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-09-2007 @ 3:45PM
Clay said...
Auburn really sucks.
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9-09-2007 @ 10:34PM
SKHillin said...
Auburn should have lost last week, too.
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9-09-2007 @ 10:59PM
Paul said...
I think neither team really wanted to win. Hopefully, this will wake up Auburn and help them do better the rest of the season.
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9-10-2007 @ 10:06AM
Todd92 said...
AU gave the game away on a silver platter. Had AU had even one less turnover the result would have most likely been an ugly win and all the other stats would be equal or better. My Tigers have major issues but to say they were dominated is pretty misleading.....to say they were as inept as keystone cops would be more appropriate. AU lost to a mediocre team and if they don't right the ship they will lose a lot more. What a waste of talent it will be if they don't start playing to their potential.
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9-10-2007 @ 11:03AM
Daryl said...
Tuberville to Michigan? Maybe his heart and mind is somewhere else. If he makes a statement like "They'll bury me in Auburn" than you know he is headed north. After the beating they may take in the SEC this year he may want to go somewhere cold. In defense South Florida maybe the best or at least the second best team in the state of Florida. Tough road schedule, maybe they can beat Alabama at home and save the season. It wasn't eagle circling the field Saturday, it was buzzards.
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9-10-2007 @ 11:52AM
connor said...
brandon cox sucks
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9-10-2007 @ 2:11PM
Bullz said...
I laugh at the guy who said we are mediocre....lol....i guess you didnt see our defense play. I guess you didnt see a freshman running back put auburn players on their back...i guess you didnt see a sophmore qb come in to 87,000 fans and silence them and show poise like he had done it a million times. if you want to discredit a huge win for our program thats an excuse and a denial of reality
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9-10-2007 @ 4:36PM
Charlie said...
Being and Auburn student, I know firsthand that the we can bounce back from leasing to an unranked team. I was at the game saturday, and all i can say is that USF fans really have no class at all.
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9-10-2007 @ 4:37PM
Charlie said...
being an Auburn student, I know firsthand that we can bounce back from a loss to an unranked team. I was at the game, and all I have to say is that afterwards USF fans showed no class at all.
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9-11-2007 @ 1:43AM
Carmen said...
Steve, you are either a closet Auburn fan, or you just plain love us. War Eagle to you!
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9-11-2007 @ 1:05PM
Tim said...
Let's be clear, it was an ugly game on both sides and both teams need to tighten it up. We could go on for hours about "IF this and IF that happened" but the fact is that USF went to Auburn and outplayed them despite 83,000+ Auburn fans, some questionable calls by an SEC crew(the INT return in the 4th MAY have gotten into the endzone, and a horrible spot to force 4th and short in OT), and not to mention 4 missed FG's.
Auburn didn't hand the game over, credit the USF defense for forcing most of the turnovers and confusing Cox.
USF has won its last 4 games including at WVU, a bowl win, and at Auburn and they still are being widely viewed as a marginal team with upset potential. USF still isn't ranked and is ranked lower than Auburn in the coaches poll!(what a joke that is)
As for the fan who said that USF fans have no class, I wasn't at the game but have heard from several sources that it was USF players who had to dodge debris being thrown at them from Auburn fans...
USF is a top 20 team that is here to stay
S-O-U-T-H F-L-O-R-I-D-A ------ GO BULLS!!!
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9-11-2007 @ 4:32PM
Acid Reign said...
I thought the Bull interception was run back for a score, myself. The jumbotron replay was not at a good enough angle to tell, and I was on the opposite sideline, so I can't really say whether he stepped out or not...
There were some ugly moments from both sets of fans, sad to say. We don't EVER need to be throwing stuff at opposing fans or players. Just don't come to the game if you have to do that junk! Auburn doesn't need you!
USF's offense is tricky and hard to deal with. Ford and Grothe are the real deal. Hats off to the AU defense for holding them down as much as they did! And the USF defense back-7 is pretty stout, too. Where USF is going to get hurt is on the defensive line. That's their Achilles heel. I'm thinking revenge-minded WVa, White and Slaton are going to run wild this year...
The Bulls should definitely be ranked ahead of us, based on how we played.
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9-11-2007 @ 6:56PM
Charlie said...
Crimson, I'm sure you get the best education at Bama, I sure a school that increases tuition to get and OK coach is SO focused on its students. As for the USF fan, we had debris thrown at us too, and your team won! We had drunk fans who tried to roll Toomers corner and called some females very rude names.
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9-12-2007 @ 8:48PM
I BLEED CRIMSON !!!! said...
CHARLIE
Are you a top AUBIE Student ???? At least you corrected your spelling GO AUBIE !!!!! LMAO
Steve
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9-12-2007 @ 9:00PM
I BLEED CRIMSON !!!! said...
CHARLIE OK HA HA HA He will dust Tubbies ass like before You are a diehard aubie fan. I like aubie until they play ALABAMA !!!!!!!!!!
Carmen This CHARLIE GUY is an ass. I pull For Auburn because they are in ALABAMA and 2 cousins graduated there Tubbie better staighten up or yall will get a high dollar coach to match BAMA. This game will tell about SABAN Arkansas has a hell of a running game. WILL HE BE WORTH THE MONEY ?????HAVE A GREAT DAY AND I DO LOVE YALL !!!
Steve
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