Auburn takes the belt, 20–17, on the road at Florida.
AP poll, week 5: Auburn unranked at Florida No. 4 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Auburn took the belt here, ending Florida’s run of 263 days and 4 defenses (reign #261) and starting reign #262. It lasted 21 days and 2 defenses, until LSU took it on October 20, 2007.
For Auburn this was its 12th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before — and it took it back here.
It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, Auburn led the belt series 2–0; all-time Auburn leads 3–0. Every meeting →
Recap
Auburn seized control of the belt from Florida in a back-and-forth battle in Gainesville, with the game decided by a final field goal. The Tigers struck first with a Kodi Burns 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then extended their lead with a Ben Tate 3-yard TD in the second quarter to go up 14-0. Florida responded with a Joey Ijjas field goal in the third quarter, then exploded for two fourth-quarter touchdowns—a 6-yard Tebow pass to Cornelius Ingram and a 2-yard Tebow run—to take a 17-14 lead. Auburn's defense forced a turnover when Patrick Lee intercepted Tebow at the Auburn 34 midway through the third quarter, keeping the Gators from running away with it, and that defensive stand proved crucial as Wes Byrum's 43-yard field goal with no time remaining won the belt for Auburn.
- Kodi Burns 6-yard TD run (Q1) - Auburn's early strike set the tone and put them ahead 7-0
- Ben Tate 3-yard TD run (Q2) - Extended Auburn's lead to 14-0 before Florida's comeback
- Patrick Lee interception of Tim Tebow (Q3) - Crucial defensive stop that prevented Florida from building momentum
- Wes Byrum 43-yard FG (Q4 0:00) - Walk-off field goal that decided the belt and the game 20-17
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 10:30 | Auburn | +21 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Rodgeriqus Smith for 21 yards to the Aub 45 for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 6:16 | Auburn | +6 yd | Kodi Burns rush for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 6:16 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 6:09 | Auburn | +31 yd | Wes Byrum kickoff for 63 yards returned by Brandon James for 31 yards to the Fla 38. |
| Q2 11:41 | Florida | +20 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 20 yards to the Aub 23 for a 1ST down out-of-bounds, Auburn penalty 15 yard personal foul accepted. |
| Q2 9:57 | Florida | +34 yd | Joey Ijjas 34 yard field goal BLOCKED. |
| Q2 8:18 | Auburn | +25 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Montez Billings for 25 yards to the Fla 13 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 9:08 | Auburn | +22 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Carl Stewart for 22 yards to the Fla 48 for a 1ST down out-of-bounds. |
| Q2 6:21 | Auburn | +3 yd | Ben Tate rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 6:21 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 12:58 | Florida | +52 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 52 yards to the Aub 3 for a 1ST down. |
| Q3 11:58 | Florida | +24 yd | Joey Ijjas 24 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q3 10:46 | Florida | +0 yd | Tim Tebow pass intercepted by Patrick Lee at the Aub 34, returned for no gain to the Aub 34. |
| Q3 6:39 | Auburn | +35 yd | Wes Byrum kickoff for 70 yards returned by Brandon James for 35 yards to the Fla 35. |
| Q3 6:39 | Auburn | +30 yd | Wes Byrum 30 yard field goal GOOD. |
| Q4 14:56 | Florida | +6 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Cornelius Ingram for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 14:56 | Florida | +0 yd | Joey Ijjas extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 14:56 | Florida | +28 yd | Joey Ijjas kickoff for 65 yards returned by Patrick Lee for 28 yards to the Aub 33. |
| Q4 8:20 | Florida | +32 yd | Tim Tebow pass complete to Percy Harvin for 32 yards to the Aub 6 for a 1ST down out-of-bounds. |
| Q4 7:36 | Florida | +2 yd | Tim Tebow rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 7:36 | Florida | +0 yd | Joey Ijjas extra point GOOD. |
| Q4 0:00 | Auburn | +43 yd | Wes Byrum 43 yard field goal GOOD. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Florida
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 20/27 | 201 | 7.4 | 1 | 1 | 51.8 |
Auburn
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Cox | 17/26 | 227 | 8.7 | 0 | 0 | 58.0 |
Rushing
Florida
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Tebow | 19 | 75 | 3.9 | 1 | 12 |
| Percy Harvin | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 0 | 8 |
| Jarred Fayson | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kestahn Moore | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 0 | 4 |
Auburn
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Tate | 20 | 65 | 3.3 | 1 | 18 |
| Mario Fannin | 13 | 62 | 4.8 | 0 | 14 |
| Kodi Burns | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 1 | 6 |
| Carl Stewart | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Robert Dunn | 1 | -8 | -8.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Cox | 5 | -26 | -5.2 | 0 | 5 |
Receiving
Florida
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percy Harvin | 7 | 119 | 17.0 | 0 | 52 |
| Cornelius Ingram | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 1 | 17 |
| Louis Murphy | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Riley Cooper | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Brandon James | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Jarred Fayson | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Kestahn Moore | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 3 |
Auburn
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Tate | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| Gabe McKenzie | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Prechae Rodriguez | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
| Rodgeriqus Smith | 9 | 102 | 11.3 | 0 | 21 |
| Montez Billings | 3 | 56 | 18.7 | 0 | 25 |
| Carl Stewart | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 0 | 22 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Florida
No recorded stats in this category.
Auburn
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Lee | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Kicking
Florida
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Ijjas | 1/2 | 50.0 | 24 | 2/2 | 5 |
Auburn
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Byrum | 2/2 | 100.0 | 43 | 2/2 | 8 |
Punt Returns
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon James | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 11 | 0 |
Auburn
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Dunn | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Florida
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chas Henry | 4 | 144 | 36.0 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
Auburn
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Shoemaker | 5 | 225 | 45.0 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 272720057) · This game in the downloadable dataset