Auburn Tigers Football: Top 10 Victories of the Historic Auburn Win Streak

There is a well-known English proverb which states, "All good things must come to an end." The Auburn Tigers were defeated this past week by the Clemson Tigers 38-24. It was the Tigers' first taste of defeat since November 27, 2009—a span that included an SEC championship, a BCS national championship and a Heisman trophy winner. 

During the bulk of this streak, I remained one of the harshest critics. During the 2009 allegations against Cam Newton I stood firm that they needed to bench him. However, game after game and win after win, the Tigers had the last laugh.

There was talk of investigations, forfeited wins and pay-for-play scams. However, when the dust settled all that remained was one of the most memorable winning streaks in recent memory. What made the streak so remarkable was not the extra baggage that was associated with 2009 for so long. It was the amazing way they won so many games that they could have lost.

In this article I will list what I believe to be the ten best wins of this historic streak.   

10. Auburn Tigers 38, Northwestern Wildcats 35 (Jan. 1, 2010 @ Outback Bowl)

This win makes the top 10 list for several reasons. It was the first win of the 17-game winning streak. It was the first bowl win for Auburn under new head coach Gene Chizik. It was also our first glance at the resilience of the Tigers. 

Auburn started the game with a bang. The Tigers rushed out to a 21-7 halftime lead. The most memorable play of the first half was when Auburn cornerback Walter McFadden intercepted WIldcat quarterback Mike Kafka and returned it 100 yards for the touchdown. 

Northwestern refused to go away and tied the game in the third quarter with two touchdowns. The fourth quarter was a slug fest. Behind two Ben Tate touchdowns, Auburn regained a 14-point lead. However, it did not last long as the Wildcats scored two touchdowns in the final 3:20.

Auburn finally put Northwestern away in overtime with a 21-yard field goal by Wes Byrum and a defensive stop on a trick play. The Tigers were able to overcome Kafka's 532 yards passing. He completed 47-of-78 attempts and had four touchdowns. 

9. Auburn Tigers 17, Mississippi State 14 (Sept. 9, 2010 @ Starkville, MS)

It was the second game of the season, on a Thursday night. It was the nation’s first glance at Cam Newton on a big stage. While he did not put up jaw-dropping numbers, he did show the viewers glances of how great he could become.

Newton led the Tigers out to a 17-7 halftime lead in Starkville as Newton out-gained Mississippi State 146-125. Despite Newton’s success, it was Auburn defensive lineman Nick Fairley who dominated the game with 2.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception and three quarterback hurries.

It was the defense that would rise to the occasional in the final minute. The Bulldogs had pulled within three points on a Vick Ballard touchdown run. Mississippi State would then recover an onside kick. However, Fairley and the defense finally stopped the Bulldogs on the Auburn 40-yard line to seal the win.

8. Auburn Tigers 27, Clemson Tigers 24 (Sept. 18, 2010 @ Auburn, AL)

Following an impressive victory against Mississippi State, Auburn went from a semi-showcase Thursday night game to ESPN's College Gameday on the Auburn campus in Week 3. The 2-0 Clemson Tigers were in town to face the 2-0 Auburn Tigers.

The way that game started, it appeared that Auburn was not ready for the big stage. Clemson jumped out to a 17-0 lead. In fact, Clemson was more dominant than the lead indicated. However, for the first time we were able to see the fullness of the Cam Newton show.

Auburn would kick a field goal with no time remaining in the first half to pull within two touchdowns. Newton took over in the third quarter and passed for two of the three Tigers touchdowns as Auburn captured the lead 24-17.

This time, however, the defense would not be able to hold the lead as Clemson running back Andre Ellington scored on a two-yard run to tie the game in the fourth and eventually lead to another overtime game for Auburn.

In overtime, Auburn would strike first when Wes Byrum kicked a 39-yard field goal. Clemson would then tie the game with a 27-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro. However, Clemson was flagged for an illegal procedure penalty, and Catanzaro missed his next attempt from 32 yards. 

Auburn would escape and keep the new streak alive. Newton finished the game with 271 total yards and two touchdowns.

7. Auburn Tigers 35, South Carolina Gamecocks 27 (Sept. 25, 2010 @ Auburn, AL)

For the third straight week, the Auburn Tigers found themselves in a nail biter, this time against the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks. 

Auburn would once again trail at the half, 20-14. However, during the first half, Cam Newton had touchdown runs of 54 yards and three yards.

Newton would add his third rushing touchdown of the game in the third quarter to give Auburn a short-lived 21-20 lead. Gamecock quarterback Stephen Garcia would ensure that the Tigers would have to make yet another fourth-quarter comeback when he connected with Tori Gurley for a three-yard touchdown and a 27-20 lead.

Trailing in the fourth quarter, Newton proved he was more than just a running quarterback. He would connect on two touchdown passes of seven and twelve yards. Newton finished the game with five total touchdowns and 334 total yards in the 34-27 victory.

While it was Newton who snatched the headlines with his dynamic numbers, it should be noted that it was the defense coming up with two late interceptions that sealed the game. It was also the coming-out party for freshman sensation Michael Dyer, who rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries.

6. Auburn Tigers 65, Arkansas Razorbacks 43 (Oct. 16, 2010 @ Auburn, AL)

The preview for the matchup between No. 12 Arkansas and No. 7 Auburn was billed as an offensive slug fest. However, I am not convinced anyone anticipated how explosive these two offenses would be. The Tigers and the Razorbacks combined for 1,036 yards of total offense and 108 points. As a result, this game was the highest scoring non-overtime game between two conference opponents in SEC history. 

This game was supposed to be a showdown between two Heisman candidates in Cam Newton and Ryan Mallett. However, Mallett went down in the first half, but the show was far from over. Tyler Wilson entered the game in the second quarter with the Razorbacks trailing the Tigers by 10 and put on a show. He completed 25 of 34 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns. 

Newton would not be outshined, however. He finished the game with 188 yards rushing, 140 yards passing and four touchdowns. The defense, despite giving up 45 points, came up big once again late in the game by forcing crucial turnovers.

5. Auburn Tigers 24, LSU Tigers 17 (Oct. 23, 2010 @ Auburn, AL)

Cam Newton referred to the Arkansas/Auburn game as a heavyweight fight. However, compared to the LSU Tigers game it was merely a welterweight. Regular season games do not get much larger than No. 6 LSU versus No. 4 Auburn, and this one lived up to the hype. 

Whatever head coach Gene Chizik said to his offense the week after the Arkansas game was effective. The Tigers had given up 566 yards against Arkansas the previous week but held the Bayou Bengals to just 243 total yards. 

Cam Newton only passed for 86 yards but rushed for an astounding 217 yards on 29 carries. However, it was Onterio McCalebb who scored the game-winning touchdown on a 70-yard run with five minutes remaining. 

Newton's 217 yards rushing set an all-time record for SEC quarterbacks. He replaced former Tiger great Jimmy Sidle to secure the record. 

4. Auburn Tigers 49, Georgia Bulldogs 31 (Nov. 13, 2010 @ Auburn, AL)

Usually a team that finished 6-7 on the season would not make it this high on a list. However, when you consider that UGA was going for their fifth straight victory against Auburn and how the game played out, it is easy to see why.

After two weeks of facing clearly inferior competition, the Tigers hosted the Georgia Bulldogs. Although the Bulldogs had struggled earlier in the season during the four-game suspension of A.J. Green, Georgia had found a star in freshman quarterback Aaron Murray.

Behind the strong play of Murray, UGA jumped out to a 21-7 first-quarter lead. The Tigers would fight back to tie the game before the half, 21-21.

The play of the game might be the first play of the second half. Auburn went for an onside kick and recovered it. Onterio McCalebb gave the Tigers back the lead with a two-yard touchdown. Although the Tigers and Bulldogs would continue to battle, Auburn would put them away in the fourth.

Newton became the eighth player to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season during this game as well.

3. Auburn Tigers 56, South Carolina Gamecocks 17 (Dec. 4, 2010 @ Atlanta, GA)

You know it was a great season when winning your second SEC championship in 20 years only lands at the No. 3 game on the list.

This game was close from the beginning. In fact, with just one second left in the first half, South Carolina only trailed by one score. However, 51 yards later, the Auburn Tigers were on their way to blowing out the Gamecocks and punching their ticket to the BCS national championship game. 

Cam Newton would put on one of the greatest, if not the greatest, SEC championship game performance of all time. Newton finished with 408 total yards and six touchdowns. The 408 yards was the most ever in an SEC championship game.

The Tigers not only scored the most amount of points in the history of the championship game, but the 39-point difference was the largest margin of victory in the championship game.

2. Auburn Tigers 28, Alabama Crimson Tide 27 (Nov. 26, 2010 @ Tuscaloosa, AL)

Despite being undefeated, Auburn went into the game as underdogs according to many betting lines. There was no way the Tigers were going to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and beat the preseason No. 1 Crimson Tide.

Alabama came out and demolished Auburn in the first half. They shut down the Heisman hopeful Cam Newton and left the visiting crowd speechless. Alabama, once again, proved why they are the media darlings of the SEC. 

However, something very strange happened. Someone forgot to tell the Crimson Tide that there are four quarters in football. The Tide must have thought they had won the game with a 24-7 halftime lead because the whole team forgot to show up in the second half. 

On Auburn's second play from scrimmage to begin the second half, Newton completed a 70-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Zachery. The Tigers were just getting started. From that point on, Gus Malzahn embarrassed Nick Saban's defense. Moreover, the Auburn defense shut down an Alabama offense that would have three first rounders in the next NFL draft. 

Coming into the game, Alabama running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson were considered the best one-two-punch in college football. However, the two backs combined for just 60 yards on 20 carries.

Newton, on the other hand, had 255 total yards and four touchdowns. As a result, the rest of the nation got to enjoy the classless tradition "rammer-jammer" being turned around on the Tide inside BDS.

1. Auburn Tigers 22, Oregon Ducks 19 (Jan. 10, 2011 @ Glendale, AZ)

To be honest. this game did not match the hype. Most expected to see a high-scoring game between two of the nation's premier offenses. However, what we got was a defensive battle.

I expected to see Cam Newton and LaMichael James lead their teams in a shootout. While Newton was good, he was not great. Well, at least not by his standards. James, on the other hand, was completely shutdown and irrelevant. 

The stars of the show were freshman running back Michael Dyer and defensive lineman Nick Fairley.

While it wasn't the shootout I had hoped for, it lands at No. 1 one because of what it meant.  As Coach Chizik stated, ""Fifty-three years, baby!! This is for you. War Eagle!"

Because of the system in place, Auburn had been left out of the championship game before. For years they had been close, but something always happened. Not this time. This was a team of destiny that reached its potential.

Final Take

I must admit, it was not until I researched this run that I could fully appreciate it. The general consensus is that this was the Cam Newton show. However, a close look will show that it was a complete team effort.

No, Auburn would not have won the BCS National Championship without Newton. But Alabama would not have won it in 2009 without Terrence Cody. Florida would not have won it without Tim Tebow. The list goes on.

What I now will most remember is how opportunistic the defense was and how clutch the kicker was. This team could have dropped three games easily with another kicker.

Auburn, this run is over. However, you should celebrate it and know that more lie ahead in the future.