Ad Disclosure
History Lesson: Last time Auburn faced a 2,000-yard rusher
By Jordan Cox
Published:
The last time the Auburn defense faced a 2,000-yard rusher, the Tigers had a lot of success.
Tommy Tuberville’s Auburn team held Penn State’s Larry Johnson to 72 yards on 20 carries in the 2003 Capital One Bowl, a 13-9 Tigers win.
When the 2014 edition of the Auburn Tigers face No. 18 Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, it will have been exactly 12 years to the day since Auburn last faced a running back with 2,000 or more rushing yards in a single season.
This year’s opponent is Wisconsin junior tailback Melvin Gordon — who recently declared for the NFL Draft — who has rushed for 2,336 yards and 26 touchdowns this season. That includes single-game marks of 253, 259, 205, 408 and 200 yards.
Back to history, though.
It was the Tigers’ speed against the Nittany Lions’ size in 2003. Auburn spent much of its time focusing on slowing Johnson, who entered the bowl game with 2,015 yards on the year. Tuberville used three different backs wearing No. 5 in bowl preparations.
“We’re doing everything we possibly can to get [Johnson’s] number in front of our players and let them know this is who we have to stop,” Tuberville told the Morning Call in a 2002 interview.
Auburn had success, holding Johnson to his third lowest single-game rushing output of the 2002 season. Johnson averaged just 3.6 yards per carry against the Tigers.
The loss dropped Penn State to 1-4 that season when Johnson rushed for less than 100 yards. Then a senior, Johnson didn’t mince words after his performance, calling the Penn State offense “too cute.”
“You get 20 carries against a good defense, there’s no way in the world you’re going to go over 100 against a good defense,” Johnson said after the game. “You pound it and pound it and pound it, and that’s the outcome.
“If we’d have done that, maybe the score would be reversed.”
Johnson — who finished third in Heisman voting that season — lost six yards on his first five carries of the game.
Former Auburn defensive end Reggie Torbor told reporters his defense was fueled by the talk of Johnson’s dominance.
“All week, the TV and media were just talking about seeing how far over 200 he’s going to get,” Torbor said. “Like we’re a joke. We feed off that. The more they talk, the better we get.”
It’s likely to be the same circumstances entering the 2015 Outback Bowl, as Gordon gets set to take on a bad Auburn defense.
Perhaps current Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn can channel some of Tuberville’s 2002 tactics, as the Tigers look to slow Gordon — a Heisman finalist himself.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
