2011 FIRST GAME VS. UTAH STATE

This wasn't what we expected. I mean we expected to win; we did not expect to have to win in this fashion.

The Tigers have to rally late to beat Utah State 42 to 38. Whew!

Freddy's home. We are there watching at Jordan Hare with our friend Ben.

The Aggies take a 10 point lead with about 3 and half minutes left. The Tigers score quickly, recover an onside kick, and score again. That's 2 TDs in a little over 2 minutes. Amazing to recover the onside kick and an amazing rally to win this game.


Phillip's blog: Disaster averted
Phillip Marshall
4 hours ago
AUBURN – There was no leaping for joy, no sprints to celebrate with the students who stayed until the bitter end at Jordan-Hare Stadium. On the first Saturday of the 2011 football season, the prevailing emotion for Auburn’s defending national champions was relief.

Utah State, with its fearless true freshman quarterback, came to town intending to win. The Aggies had come close at Oklahoma last season. When running back Robert Turbin scored from a yard out with 3:38 left in the game to make it 38-28, it seemed the Aggies would break through, that they would beat a ranked team for the first time since 1991.

Barrett Trotter and friends had other ideas. Trotter hit Philip Lutzenkirchen for 1`5 yards and a touchdown with 2:07 left. Chandler Brooks – Chris on the Auburn roster – executed a near-perfect onsides kick and Emory Blake went high to bring it in.

Trotter, playing like a veteran, calmly took the Tigers 56 yards in eight plays. Mike Dyer’s 1-yard touchdown run with 30 seconds left won it. What would have been a disastrous loss was averted.

For the fifth time in 15 games, the Tigers wiped out a double-digit deficit to win. This day, they did it twice. But the cast of characters was so different and the opponent came armed mostly with heart and freshman quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who ought to be very proud.

Yes, Auburn won in dramatic fashion. That was worthy of a smile. A wise coach one time told me “All wins are good. All losses are bad. And that’s really all that needs to be said.”

True enough, but the road ahead looks ever so daunting. A performance like Saturday’s will lead to a beatdown by Mississippi State next Saturday and against the revenge-hungry powers waiting down the road.

There were some shining moments.

Trotter directed the last two drives with calm and cool.

Freshman Tre Mason’s electfifying 97-yard kickoff return in the second quarter made it possible for Auburn to come back at the end.

Brooks’ onsides kick was a thing of beauty.

Cody Parkey had four touchbacks on kickoffs, three of which sailed through the end zone in the air.

Receiver Travante Stallworth made play after play.

Receiver Emory Blake made big plays on offense and the biggest play when he went high to snare the onsides kick.

But …

With seven minutes left to go in the second quarter, the offense had one first down.

The defense gave up touchdown drives of 16, 15, 14 and 14 plays.

The offensive and defensive lines struggled even more than might have been reasonably expected with so many new faces. Auburn ran fpr 78 yards. Utah State ran for 227.

“No excuses,” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “No excuses” said defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “No excuses,” said offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, though in the end, his unit put up five touchdowns.

Is Auburn really as shaky as it looked? Probably not. I suspect it was a combination of wide-eyed young players and older players who probably didn’t expect so much from Utah State. But regardless, as Chizik said, this Auburn team is a long way from being ready to win games against good teams and time is running out.

The old adage says teams make improve most from the first game to the second. Auburn’s team, winner now of 16 consecutive games, fervently hopes it turns out that way.

38

Final 1 2 3 4 T
Utah State 14 7 3 14 38
23 Auburn 7 7 14 14 42
42


Preview | Box | At the Stadium | PBP | Recap

Scoring Summary
First Quarter UtahSt Auburn
UtahSt TD 10:30 Kerwynn Williams 43 yd run (Josh Thompson kick) 7 0
Auburn TD 8:59 Emory Blake 56 yd pass from Barrett Trotter (Cody Parkey kick) 7 7
UtahSt TD 1:32 Chuckie Keeton 3 yd run (Josh Thompson kick) 14 7
Second Quarter UtahSt Auburn
UtahSt TD 7:58 Robert Turbin 1 yd run (Josh Thompson kick) 21 7
Auburn TD 7:46 Tre Mason 97 yd kick return (Cody Parkey kick) 21 14
Third Quarter UtahSt Auburn
Auburn TD 11:14 Michael Dyer 11 yd run (Cody Parkey kick) 21 21
UtahSt FG 4:52 Josh Thompson 34 yd FG 24 21
Auburn TD 1:57 Travante Stallworth 39 yd pass from Barrett Trotter (Cody Parkey kick) 24 28
Fourth Quarter UtahSt Auburn
UtahSt TD 11:20 Chuckie Keeton 7 yd run (Josh Thompson kick) 31 28
UtahSt TD 3:38 Robert Turbin 1 yd run (Josh Thompson kick) 38 28
Auburn TD 2:07 Philip Lutzenkirchen 15 yd pass from Barrett Trotter (Cody Parkey kick) 38 35
Auburn TD 0:30 Michael Dyer 1 yd run (Cody Parkey kick) 38 42
Team Stats
Utah State Auburn
First downs 27 17
Rushing 14 6
Passing 12 11
Penalty 1 0
3rd Down Efficiency 10-17, 59% 3-9, 33%
4th down efficiency 3-3, 100% 1-1, 100%
Rushes-Yards 53-227 30-78
Passing Yards 221 286
Return Yards 56 270
Completions-Attempts-Int 22-31-0 18-24-0
Sacks-Yards Lost 1--3 2--15
Punts 3 4
Punts-Average 50 43.5
Fumbles Lost 0-0 1-0
Penalties - Yards 6-38 7-60
Time of Possession 37:41 22:19

Scoring Summary


Scoring Summary (Final)
NCAA Football
UTAH STATE vs AUBURN (9/3/2011 at Auburn, AL)

UTAH STATE (0-1) vs. AUBURN (1-0)
Date: 9/3/2011 Site: Auburn, AL Stadium: Jordan Hare
Attendance: 85245

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
UTAH STATE.......... 14 7 3 14 - 38
AUBURN.............. 7 7 14 14 - 42



Scoring Summary:
1st 10:30 USU - Williams, Kerwynn 43 yd run (Thompson, Josh kick)
3 plays, 64 yards, TOP 1:03, USU 7 - AU 0
08:59 AU - Blake, Emory 56 yd pass from Trotter, Barrett (Parkey, Cody kick)
3 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:31, USU 7 - AU 7
01:32 USU - Keeton, Chuckie 3 yd run (Thompson, Josh kick)
15 plays, 80 yards, TOP 7:27, USU 14 - AU 7
2nd 07:58 USU - Turbin, Robert 1 yd run (Thompson, Josh kick)
16 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:52, USU 21 - AU 7
07:46 AU - Mason, Tre 97 yd kickoff return (Parkey, Cody kick)
USU 21 - AU 14
3rd 11:14 AU - Dyer, Michael 11 yd run (Parkey, Cody kick)
11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:46, USU 21 - AU 21
04:52 USU - Thompson, Josh 34 yd field goal
5 plays, 28 yards, TOP 2:16, USU 24 - AU 21
01:57 AU - Stallworth, Travante 39 yd pass from Trotter, Barrett (Parkey, Cody kick)
7 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:55, USU 24 - AU 28
4th 11:20 USU - Keeton, Chuckie 7 yd run (Thompson, Josh kick)
14 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:37, USU 31 - AU 28
03:38 USU - Turbin, Robert 1 yd run (Thompson, Josh kick)
14 plays, 65 yards, TOP 6:24, USU 38 - AU 28
02:07 AU - Lutzenkirchen, P. 15 yd pass from Trotter, Barrett (Parkey, Cody kick)
6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:31, USU 38 - AU 35
00:30 AU - Dyer, Michael 1 yd run (Parkey, Cody kick)
8 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:37, USU 38 - AU 42