Auburn Wins and Waits

Auburn did all it could do Saturday night but did it in a season when all it could do might not be enough.

No. 3 Auburn finished a perfect regular season with a 38-28 victory over No. 15 Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference championship game before 74,892 at the Georgia Dome.

“You can’t put words to an undefeated season,” Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville said.

Auburn improved to 12-0 with its 14th straight win and then waited for the bowl championship series to play itself out.

Auburn began the game third in the BCS standings behind USC and Oklahoma, but all three teams won Saturday, presenting the very real scenario that an undefeated team from the SEC would be left out of the national title mix.

“We’re going to be disappointed because it’s never going to happen again,” Tuberville said.

If the BCS standings hold, USC and Oklahoma will play in the Jan. 4 Orange Bowl for the BCS national title, and Auburn will end up in the Sugar Bowl in a probable matchup against Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech.

Tennessee, in defeat, accepted an invitation to the Cotton Bowl.

Auburn got off to a fast 14-0 lead against Tennessee (9-3) and it appeared the Tigers were going to win in a rout.

Tennessee, though, scored two touchdowns off turnovers and made Auburn fans plenty nervous when Gerald Riggs tied the score, 21-21, with 6:05 left in the third quarter on an 80-yard run.

Auburn, though, answered with a 53-yard touchdown from quarterback Jason Campbell to Devin Aromashodu.

John Vaughn put Auburn up, 31-21, with a 22-yard field goal, but Tennessee made things interesting again when Riggs scored on a nine-yard run with 10:07 left to cut the Auburn lead to 31-28.

Auburn finally put the pesky Volunteers away with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter on a 43-yard scoring pass from Campbell to Ben Obomanu.

Auburn dominated the statistics, amassing 559 yards of offense to Tennessee’s 297.

Campbell completed 27 of 35 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns. Carnell Williams rushed 19 times for 100 yards.

Riggs led Tennessee with 182 yards in only 11 carries, a 16.5-yard average.

One statistical category Tennessee dominated was penalties, committing 12 for 95 yards compared with Auburn’s four penalties for 20 yards.

“Our team had an awful lot of heart and fight,” Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer said. “We had a lot to overcome, especially in the second half. I look forward to watching the film.”

Auburn didn’t need any time to warm up, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions.

Game over?

It sure seemed that way.

Tennessee won the SEC’s West Division but played without several key players on offense, including left tackle Michael Munoz (shoulder injury) and its top two quarterbacks, Brent Schaeffer and Eric Ainge, also out with injuries.

Auburn had already crushed Tennessee, 34-10, in Knoxville on Oct. 2, so it was hard to imagine things being any different on a neutral site.

Tennessee, though, proved to be tougher than anyone imagined, especially after the way Auburn dominated early.

Auburn needed only 96 ticks on the clock to score a touchdown on its opening drive.

You might call the first series a tone-setter.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Campbell hit Courtney Taylor on a 51-yard pass play to the Tennessee 30.

Three plays later, Williams ran left into the line, fumbled the ball, only to have it recovered by teammate Cole Bennett for a touchdown.