Auburn vs Clemson: 5 Things We Learned from Saturday's Final Score

Well it was another shootout that the Auburn Tigers found themselves in, but this time the Clemson Tigers proved to be the team that would step up and end the defending national champion's winning streak.

And with that being said, the 2011 college football season is only going to get more exciting.

Therefore, here are five things we learned from the Auburn-Clemson score on Saturday afternoon.

Auburn's Defense Still Nonexistent

They allowed 38 points to Utah State of the WAC, and a total of 448 yards.

The next week, Auburn hosted SEC foe Mississippi State and gave up 531 total yards to the Bulldogs, which translated into 31 points.

Not to mention 333 of those yards were on the ground.

This time around, the Auburn D gave up 38 points (again) and allowed the Orange Tigers of Death Valley to amass 624 total yards.

It's going to be real scary to see how many yards some of the other SEC offenses put up against Auburn.

Michael Dyer Is a Heisman Candidate

Despite the defense struggling on an epic level, Auburn RB Michael Dyer keeps blasting through tackles and defenses.

In this game, the Clemson defense was the best Auburn has faced thus far in 2011 and Dyer still hit over 150 and scored two TDs.

And although he's only a sophomore, Dyer has proven to be a force in the SEC and regardless of how the season turns out for Auburn, he will be in the Heisman discussion by season's end.

Don't be surprised if he compiles close to 1,500 yards and scores 10 TDs.

Clemson Proves That ACC Is Underrated

Other than Florida State and Virginia Tech, no one else is ranked in the ACC.

Also, since the 'Noles and Hokies aren't on each other's regular season schedule, they obviously don't play any ranked ACC schools.

That being said, however, when Clemson hosts Florida State in Week 4, there's a solid chance they will be ranked and Death Valley will be rolling.

Clemson winning was a big stepping stone for the ACC defeating the defending national champions from the SEC.

Otherwise, the SEC would have only kept getting stronger and stronger.

Tajh Boyd Puts Himself on the Map

Yes, Auburn has a weak defense, but that doesn't take anything away from Clemson Tigers' QB Tajh Boyd.

On Saturday he went 30-of-42 for 386 yards and four TDs, but more importantly, he had no interceptions.

And those numbers are only going to give him that much more confidence heading into Week 4 against Florida State.

As we know the Seminoles have a solid defense, but with 10 TDs to only one interception through three games, Boyd knows that he must keep that going to upset their ACC rival.

Because make no mistake about it, Florida State will have their hands full when the Clemson offense takes the field.

Auburn's Offense Can Be Stopped

Even though it was still a good performance, the Auburn Tigers' offense was exploited by the Clemson Tigers' defense.

Through the first two games of 2011, Auburn's offense average over 370 yards per game.

And yes, they compiled more against Clemson; however, they limited QB Barrett Trotter to only 198 pass yards on 25 attempts, who shredded defenses in his first two games.

RB Michael Dyer was big for Auburn today, (as mentioned above he will be a Heisman candidate), but in addition to slowing Trotter down, Clemson won the time-of-possession battle by over 12 minutes.

With that in mind, running the ball for over 200 yards won't allow you to keep up when the opposing offense gains over 600.

The key here is to break the Auburn defense and focus on shutting down their offensive aerial assault.

That's what Clemson did, and that's how they held Auburn to only 24 points.

Bleacher Report is your home for college football for the 2011 season. From previews to game coverage, from live blogs to updates, from the rankings to the bowls, Bleacher Report blanks the sport of college football. Keep it here throughout the season for the best news, highlights, analysis and more.

Be sure to check out John on Bleacher Report.

And you can follow him on Twitter @ Sportswriter27.