Published August 7, 2012 - 1:30pm
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SDS is counting down the 10 most memorable games of 2011. This countdown will not include any bowl games, the SEC Championship, nor the national championship because they would obviously take precedence. Let’s stick to the regular season. After all, it is the best regular season in all of sports.
Game 9: Auburn at South Carolina – Week 5
In a rematch of the 2010 SEC Championship game, South Carolina entered with revenge on their mind, but Auburn would have none of it.
It wasn’t the prettiest game, seeing that Auburn and South Carolina combined for eight turnovers. Nonetheless, it was a tough SEC football game.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter when the Tigers were down 13-9 and could not make any headway against the stout Carolina defense that dominated the entire game up to this point.
The next thing you know, with 3:49 left in the fourth, Barrett Trotter took Auburn on a 12-play, 57-yard drive, capped off by a nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen, who fumbled and then recovered it, to make it 16-13 with 1:38 left.
Auburn fans finally exhaled when time expired and stopped the Carolina drive at the 29-yard line before the Gamecocks could call another play or get the field goal unit on the field.
“This was a game they [we] willed to win,” Auburn coach Gene Chizik said.
Spurrier would have liked a review of the final play to see if Bruce Ellington’s knee was down before time expired. It looked like Ellington’s knee was down past the first-down marker, which would have stopped the clock with one second remaining.
“That’s what he told me. I said, ‘Wait a minute now, don’t you review that?’” Spurrier said. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s in the history books. So it’s all over. We got beat. Still haven’t beaten them.”
It’s in the history books indeed, as the Auburn Tigers upset the No. 10 ranked team in the country in the Gamecocks.
Final Score: Auburn 16, No. 10 South Carolina 13
It was over when: The clock hit 0:00, because the Gamecocks just ran out of time on their march toward field goal range.
Notable play: Stephen Garcia to Alshon Jeffery on a 50-yard TD pass, in which Jeffery stiff-armed the defender and made it into the end zone.
Uh-oh moment: All Auburn fans were holding their breath as South Carolina was driving when the clock expired.
Notable stats: Michael Dyer rushed for 141 yards on 41 carries and one touchdown, while Marcus Lattimore rushed for 66 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.
