College Football Old School Game of the Week: Auburn Escapes Kentucky with Win on Walk-off FG

Auburn quarterback Cam Newton would run for 198 yards on 28 carries and score four touchdowns while completing 13 of 21 passes for 210 yards in the Tigers' win over Kentucky.

The 2010 season for the Auburn Tigers was perhaps the greatest season in school history as the team came out of nowhere to win the national championship as the team went 14-0 with seven of their victories having a margin of eight points or less.

One of the Tigers' close calls came midway through the season when Auburn traveled up to the Bluegrass state to take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a primetime showdown.

Auburn came into the game ranked #8 in the country with a 5-0 record under head coach Gene Chizik, who was in his second season as the Tigers' head coach who had led the Tigers to a 5-0 start the previous season only for Auburn to finish with a 8-5 record.

The Tigers' rise in the polls had coincided with the arrival of quarterback Cam Newton, who had joined the Auburn football program in the spring of 2010 after playing a year in junior college following dismissal from the University of Florida after he stole a laptop computer from a fellow student.

In the Tigers' first five games of the season, Newton had thrown for 928 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for 474 yards and five touchdowns in offensive coordinator Guz Malzahn's high octane no-huddle offense.

With narrow wins over Mississippi State, Clemson and South Carolina, the Tigers were starting to be seen as a national title contender as Auburn looked to avenge their 21-14 loss to Kentucky from the year before at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn.

The Wildcats came into the game with a 3-2 record as they looked to end a two-game losing streak following a 3-0 start to the season under head coach Joker Phillips, who was in his first season as the Kentucky head coach after taking over for Rich Brooks, who retired after the 2009 season.

Kentucky had its own dynamic player in Randall Cobb who after playing his freshman season at quarterback, moved to wide receiver in 2009 while lining up at quarterback from time-to-time in the "Wildcat" formation as he accounted for 15 touchdowns to help Kentucky earn its fourth straight bowl appearance.

The Wildcats would hope for a big performance from Cobb if they were going to upset the Tigers and end Auburn's chances at an undefeated season.

Kentucky would get the ball to start the game as the Wildcats would get great field position for their first drive of the game as Cobb returned the opening kickoff 36 yards to the Auburn 49-yard-line.

From there, the Wildcats would travel to the Tigers' two-yard-line when Cobb, lined up at quarterback, ran it for the touchdown to give Kentucky a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers would begin their first drive of the game at their 22-yard-line as Auburn would drive 78 yards in nine plays culminating with a 16-yard touchdown run by Newton to tie the game at 7 with 6:44 to go in the first quarter.

After forcing the Wildcats to go three-and-out on their next possession, the Tigers would get the ball back at their 22-yard-line as the drive would begin with a 27-yard run by Michael Dyer which was followed by a 12-yard pass from Newton to tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen to put Auburn in Kentucky territory at the Wildcats' 39-yard-line.

Five plays later, the Tigers were back in the end zone as Newton ran it in from eight yards out to give Auburn a 14-7 lead with 1:17 left in the opening quarter.

Following a Kentucky punt, the Tigers would begin their next drive at their 20-yard-line as two runs by Newton for 34 yards and a four-yard pass to running back Mario Fannin moved Auburn to the Kentucky 42-yard-line when Newton was able to throw a pass downfield despite being dragged down by Wildcats cornerback Anthony Mosley, that was caught by Kodi Burns for a 33-yard gain and an Auburn 1st down at the nine-yard-line.

Fannin would run for four yards on the next play from scrimmage which was followed by Newton's third touchdown run of the game, a five-yard scamper that increased Auburn's lead to 21-7 early in the second quarter.

Kentucky looked to get things going on offense on their next possession but running back Derrick Locke would fumble the football at the end of a five-yard run as he was stripped of the ball by Auburn linebacker Daren Bates as fellow linebacker Craig Stevens would recover the fumble to give the Tigers' offense the ball at their 48-yard-line.

Three straight running plays gained 31 yards until two straight incomplete passes thrown by Newton forced the Tigers to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Wes Byrum which extended the Auburn lead to 24-7 with 7:12 left in the second quarter.

Locke would atone for his fumble by returning the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Kentucky 45-yard-line as the Wildcats would drive 55 yards in five plays to cut the Auburn lead to 24-14 as Cobb threw a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Aumiller with 4:52 to go in the first half.

The Tigers would respond with a nine-play, 80-yard drive as Newton would complete a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Darvin Adams on a 3rd & 13, then ran for 35 yards to set up his fourth touchdown run of the game, this one from two yards out to push the Auburn lead back to 17 points at 31-14 with 1:06 remaining before halftime.

The Wildcats would take over at their 33-yard-line hoping to get some points before the end of the half as their regular starting quarterback Mike Hartline would complete four straight passes to four different receivers, totaling 43 yards to move Kentucky to the Auburn 24-yard-line with 12 seconds to go.

Hartline would throw his only incomplete pass of the drive which was followed by a 12-yard completion to Locke to set up a 29-yard field goal by Craig McIntosh as time expired in the first half with Auburn holding on to a 31-17 lead.

Kentucky's Randall Cobb complied 207 all purpose yards and accounted for four touchdowns.

The Tigers would get the ball to start the second half as Fannin would get two carries for 10 yards to give Auburn a 1st down at the Tigers' 32-yard-line when Newton was intercepted by Kentucky defensive back Winston Guy to give the Wildcats the ball at their 38-yard-line.

Hartline would connect with La'Rod King for 22 yards to begin the drive which would stall at the Auburn 39-yard-line as the Wildcats could not capitalize on the turnover and would punt the ball back to the Tigers.

The Kentucky defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at the Auburn 48-yard-line as it took the Wildcats seven plays to get into the end zone as Cobb caught a screen pass from Hartline and ran it in for a 16-yard touchdown to trim the Tigers' lead to 31-24 with 8:18 to go in the third quarter.

After another Auburn three-and-out, the Wildcats got the ball back at their 43-yard-line as Donald Russell, taking over for Locke who left the game with a bruised shoulder, would get his hands on the ball on four consecutive plays as he carried the ball three times for 21 yards and caught a nine-yard pass to move Kentucky to the Auburn 27-yard-line.

Then it was when Cobb struck again as he lined up as quarterback when the Auburn pass rush forced Randall to retreat to the 50-yard-line before he was able to run down the sideline for a 26-yard gain to give Kentucky a 1st & goal where Cobb ran it for the touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 31 with 4:03 to remaining in the third quarter.

Having seen their 17-point lead evaporate, the Tigers would take over at their 25-yard-line as Newton would complete passes of 17 yards to Terrell Zachery and 39 yards to Adams to help set up a 19-yard field goal by Byrum to give Auburn a 34-31 lead just 43 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Kentucky would get the ball back at their 30-yard-line as they would hold the ball for nearly seven minutes as the Wildcats drove 53 yards in 14 plays with the drive being capped off with a 35-yard field goal by McIntosh to tie the game at 34 with 7:31 to go in regulation.

Auburn would avoid disaster on the ensuing kickoff as Demond Washington, who caught the ball on the kick, tried to pitch it to Zachery only for the senior wide receiver to drop the ball as Terrell would land on the ball at the seven-yard-line as the Tigers would embark on one of if not the most important drives of the season.

Newton would run for four yards on 1st down, then threw an incomplete pass to bring up a 3rd & 6 where he completed a nine-yard pass to Adams to move the sticks and give Auburn a 1st down at its 20-yard-line.

Newton would then run for 10 yards on two straight carries to give the Tigers another 1st down at their 30-yard-line when on a reverse, Zachery fumbled the football after a hit by Kentucky linebacker Danny Trevathan as cornerback Randall Burden made the recovery but was ruled that he did not possess the fumble as he went out of bounds, allowing Auburn to keep the football at their 30-yard-line.

Following the near turnover, Newton would complete a 11 yards pass to Adams before handing it off to Dyer whose 11-yard run put the Tigers in Kentucky territory at the Wildcats' 48-yard-line.

After a nine-yard run by Newton, McCalebb would pick up the first down on a six-yard run to move the sticks to the Kentucky 30-yard-line as Dyer would get another carry, this one going for only three yards to set up a 2nd & 7.

From there, Newton would run the ball six straight times for a total of 25 yards before taking a knee to run the clock down to two seconds before Auburn called timeout as Chizik would send in Byrum to try and win the game with a chip shot field goal.

Byrum would calmly make the 24-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tigers a 37-34 victory to improve Auburn's record to 6-0 while dropping Kentucky's record to 3-3.

Auburn players mob Wes Byrum after his game-winning field goal 

One week after the heartbreaking loss to Auburn, the Wildcats would overcome a 28-10 halftime deficit to score 21 unanswered points to shock the #10 South Carolina Gamecocks 31-28 in what would be the high point of Kentucky's season as the Cats would finish with a 6-7 record after a 27-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama.

As for the Tigers, their magic carpet ride would continue through the rest of the season as they finish the regular season with a 12-0 record as Auburn would rout South Carolina 56-17 in the SEC Championship Game to earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game against the Oregon Ducks while securing the Heisman Trophy for Newton.

In the title game, Dyer was able to rip off a 37-yard run after he landed on top off of an Oregon defender without his knee touching the ground, to help set up the game-winning field goal by Byrum from 19 yards out as time expired to give the Tigers a 22-19 win and their first national championship since 1957.(To read about the championship game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2019/08/college-football-old-school-game-of_28.html).