This is a two-part column on the last time the Auburn football team tasted victory in Athens, Georgia. Part one is the reflections of a young fan; part two is the reflections of one of the heroes from that contest twenty-one years ago.
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November 12, 2005. It was a cold November night in Athens, Georgia. Tommy Tuberville had his Auburn Tigers ranked 15th in the country with a 7-2 record. Auburn was still alive in the race to represent the western division of the Southeastern Conference in Atlanta and defend its SEC Championship. To get there, they had to go through their arch-rival Georgia Bulldogs. Coming off a bye week, Mark Richt’s fifth team in Athens were ranked 9th in the country with the only blemish on their record being a 14-10 upset loss to Florida two weeks earlier. It was the last time Auburn fans left venerable Sanford Stadium in celebration. These are my memories from that night.
I was just a boy of 12 when my parents and I loaded up the car and made the three-hour drive to North Georgia. Like many other Auburn folks, we had our pregame meal at the legendary Varsity restaurant. After some burgers and extremely greasy french fries, we made our way towards campus to park the car. That was always an uncertain proposition in Athens, as my dad insisted on parking in a cluster of apartments, just a short walk from the stadium, yet held no guarantee of returning and finding your vehicle in the identical condition that existed when it was parked. Even the loss of my mom’s beloved Tiger Tail that protruded from the back of her vehicle on a previous trip could persuade him to park elsewhere.
This was my second visit to Sanford Stadium. I attended the game two years earlier, when Georgia dominated Auburn 26-7. Our seats that year were in the upper deck of the stadium. On this night, we had the good fortune of sitting field level right next to the Auburn University Marching Band. One might think sitting next to the band would be distracting to watch a football game. In reality, I found that it really focused the mind to the action as I awaited their next cadence play after play.
From the beginning, I believed it was going to be a close contest. It turned into an epic one in the storied history of the south’s oldest rivalry. Kenny Irons capped an opening touchdown drive with a beautiful 31-yard run. From then on, it was the epitome of a back and forth game between two teams that appeared as equal as the scoreboard said they were. Auburn trailed Georgia 10-7 after one quarter, led 14-13 after two, and led 21-20 entering the fourth.
After a Bulldog touchdown, an Auburn defensive score, and a Tiger shanked punt, Georgia star quarterback DJ Shockley drove his team into go ahead field goal range and the score stood at 30-28 in favor of the home team, with 3:25 to play. I’m not sure how confident I was when Auburn’s offense took the field after the ensuing kickoff, but I’m sure it waned a few minutes later when the stadium scoreboard read 4th and 10. Then it happened.
Tiger southpaw quarterback Brandon Cox dropped back to pass and hit senior receiver Devin Aromashodu deep across the middle and on the run. I started cheering, having watched #1 in white run away from many a defender over his four years on the plains. My celebration was premature. Somehow, a Bulldog defender caught the Tiger speedster and dislodged the ball near the goal line and it trickled into the end zone and was slowly tumbling towards the end line.
Junior wide receiver Courtney Taylor, on a dead sprint, then jumped on the loose ball for what I believed was the winning touchdown. Officials, after first signaling a score, then rightly placed the ball on the two-yard line, first and goal for Auburn, still trailing by 2. I remember at this point my mom being miffed about the points coming off the board, but my dad was insistent that being able to milk the clock and kick a game-ending field goal was the best outcome.
How right he was. The Tigers would bleed the clock down and with 8 seconds remaining, junior kicker John Vaughn would kick the game-winner. Final Score: Auburn 31 Georgia 30. I still remember well the celebration with my family and other Auburn fans that followed, as the Tigers closed out their second straight win over Georgia and their 15th SEC win in the last 16 played. It was a memorable experience that does not seem possible was over two decades ago.
In part two of this column, we talk to the unsung hero of 4th and 10 about his memories of that night, his career at Auburn, and his thoughts about the future for the Tiger Football Team.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
