SUGAR BOWL: The Tigers hold off Virginia Tech 16-13 to finish 13-0 and barely stay in the national title picture.
By Associated Press
Published January 4, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - Auburn filled in a piece of its improbable championship puzzle by hanging on in the Sugar Bowl, though it was hardly a masterpiece.
Jason Campbell threw a touchdown, John Vaughn kicked three short field goals and No.3 Auburn completed a perfect season with a 16-13 victory over ninth-ranked Virginia Tech on Monday night.
But was it enough to share the title?
Auburn (13-0) had two second-half turnovers and gave up an 80-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left, a major blow to their hopes of swaying the voters to split No.1 again.
Not that the Tigers were ready to concede anything to the winner of tonight's Orange Bowl between No.1 Southern Cal and No.t2 Oklahoma.
"Neither team is better than us," coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We'll play them anytime, anywhere."
Virginia Tech (10-3) could have made things even easier on the Bowl Championship Series by upsetting Auburn. But the Hokies had two major blunders, dropping a pass in the end zone and missing a chip-shot field goal.
When Bryan Randall threw a 29-yard touchdown to Josh Morgan with 6:58 left in the game, ruining the shutout, one could almost sense that USC, Oklahoma and especially the BCS were breathing a little easier.
Randall dealt another blow to the Tigers when he threw the long touchdown to Morgan, surely costing a few more votes.
Auburn recovered the onside kick and kneeled to run out the clock, deciding to preserve the victory rather than try to win more impressively.
The Auburn band even launched into a Bon Jovi song that summed things up for the Southeastern Conference champions: Living on a Prayer .
"I just wanted to win by one," said Tuberville, who nearly lost his job at the end of last season. "That's all that counts. If you have to win with style points, you might as well throw out all the systems."
Campbell was named MVP after going 11-of-16 for 189 yards with one interception. Randall threw for 299 yards but was picked off twice.
"People just don't understand how hard it is to go 13-0," Campbell said. "I'm not going to sit here and say we're No.2 behind anybody."
The odd team out in a troika of 12-0 teams, Auburn settled for a spot in the Sugar Bowl against the Hokies, while USC and Oklahoma were tapped for the BCS title game.
Auburn's hopes were based on this convoluted scenario: The Tigers defeat Virginia Tech convincingly, Oklahoma knocks off USC in an ugly Orange Bowl and enough voters in the Associated Press poll pick Auburn as the No.1 team, creating another split champion.
The winner of the Orange Bowl is assured of being voted No.1 in the coaches' poll. But the AP rankings aren't tied to the BCS.
Last season, USC was voted No.1 by the AP after winning the Rose Bowl, and LSU won the BCS title by beating Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
The overlooked Hokies hurt themselves with those major miscues. Jesse Allen dropped a sure touchdown on fourth and goal at the 1 midway through the second quarter. Then, Brandon Pace yanked a 23-yard field goal just left of the upright early in the fourth.
"Well we played hard, we just didn't play well enough," Hokies coach Frank Beamer said.
Carnell Williams, half of Auburn's heralded running back duo, was held to 61 yards. He also fumbled in the fourth quarter when the Tigers, leading 16-0, were driving for the touchdown that could have made the victory a lot more convincing.
Auburn had a chance to blow it open in the first half, too, but failed to score a TD on three chances from inside the Virginia Tech 10. Vaughn connected from 23, 19 and 24 yards for a 9-0 lead at halftime.
After taking the second-half kickoff, Auburn finally drove all the way to the end zone. The biggest play was on third and 16, when Campbell scrambled near the Virginia Tech sideline and spotted Anthony Mix breaking open, connecting with him on a 53-yard pass.
Then, on third and 2 from the Virginia Tech 5, Campbell froze the linebackers with play-action and hit Devin Aromashodu on a quick slant over the middle for Auburn's only TD.
It was hardly the definitive statement the Tigers hoped to make with the nation, and those crucial voters, watching.
"It was a defensive battle," Tuberville said.
That wasn't surprising. Auburn gave up fewer points per game than any team in the country, and Virginia Tech was two spots behind.
The Tigers got off to a roaring start.
Campbell threw a 35-yard pass to Cooper Wallace on Auburn's first offensive play, then Ronnie Brown broke off a 31-yard run on the next snap. But the Tigers bogged down at the 5, settling for a field goal.
VT AU First downs 19 14 Rushes-yards 22-76 43-110 Passing 299 189 Comp-Att-Int 21-38-2 11-16-1 Return Yards (-5) 53 Punts-Avg. 5-35.2 4-43.0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 7-57 4-35 Time of Possession 26:26 33:34 irginia Tech 0 0 0 13-13
Auburn 6 3 7 0-16First Quarter
AU-FG Vaughn 23, 8:44.
AU-FG Vaughn 19, 1:10.
Second Quarter
AU-FG Vaughn 24, 1:50.
Third Quarter
AU-Aromashodu 5 pass from J.Campbell (Vaughn kick), 10:39.
Fourth Quarter
VT-Morgan 29 pass from Randall (pass failed), 6:58.
VT-Morgan 80 pass from Randall (Pace kick), 2:01.
A-77,349.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Virginia Tech, Randall 9-45, Imoh 6-16, Humes 6-10, Hamilton 1-5. Auburn, R.Brown 14-68, Ca.Williams 19-61, J.Campbell 6-(minus 3), team 4-(minus 16).
Passing - Virginia Tech, Randall 21-28-2-299. Auburn, J.Campbell 11-16-1-189.
Receiving - Virginia Tech, Hyman 5-71, Morgan 3-126, Royal 3-37, King 3-12, Clowney 2-23, Mazzetta 1-20, Humes 1-10, Hamilton 1-6, Harper 1-2, Imoh 1-(miunus 8). Auburn, Taylor 5-87, Mix 2-68, Ca.Williams 2-(minus 6), Wallace 1-35, Aromashodu 1-5.
