Auburn defends the belt, 35–7, at home over Vanderbilt.
Where this game sits in the lineage
Auburn came in 7 days into reign #262, which began with a win over Florida, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Auburn went on to defend it 1 more time before LSU took it on October 20, 2007, 21 days after the reign began.
For Vanderbilt this was its 16th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before.
This is the only time Auburn and Vanderbilt have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
Auburn dominated Vanderbilt from the opening drive, with Ben Tate punching in a 4-yard touchdown just over seven minutes into the first quarter to set the tone for the afternoon. The Tigers' offense was relentless, scoring four touchdowns in the first half alone—including a 2-yard Brandon Cox pass to Rodgeriqus Smith and rushing touchdowns from Mario Fannin and Brad Lester—to build a commanding lead by halftime. Vanderbilt's defense couldn't contain Auburn's ground game, which racked up 239 rushing yards despite the visitors controlling time of possession at 19:08 to Auburn's 17:28. Auburn added two more scores in the second half, with Brad Lester getting his second touchdown on a 5-yard rush in the third quarter, before Vanderbilt finally got on the board with a meaningless 1-yard Cassen Jackson-Garrison score in the fourth quarter. The 35-7 final score didn't capture the one-sidedness of the contest, as Auburn's defense also recorded an interception return for a touchdown by Patrick Lee to seal the belt defense.
- Ben Tate's 4-yard touchdown run on Auburn's first drive set the early momentum and never let up
- Auburn's four first-half touchdowns (Cox to Smith, Fannin rush, Lester rush) built an insurmountable 28-0 halftime lead
- Patrick Lee's interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter effectively put the game out of reach
- Auburn's 239 rushing yards controlled the line of scrimmage and dominated time of possession despite Vanderbilt's slight edge in TOP
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 7:02 | Auburn | +4 yd | Ben Tate rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 7:02 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q1 2:55 | Auburn | +2 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Rodgeriqus Smith for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q1 5:23 | Auburn | +44 yd | Ben Tate rush for 44 yards to the Vandy 26 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down. |
| Q1 2:55 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 14:24 | Auburn | +22 yd | Mario Fannin rush for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 15:00 | Auburn | +21 yd | Mario Fannin rush for 21 yards to the Vandy 22 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 14:24 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q2 4:55 | Auburn | +34 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Robert Dunn for 34 yards to the Vandy 25 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 3:29 | Auburn | +17 yd | Brad Lester rush for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q2 7:06 | Auburn | +24 yd | Brandon Cox pass complete to Montez Billings for 24 yards to the Aub 35 for a 1ST down. |
| Q2 3:29 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 14:55 | Vanderbilt | +21 yd | Bryant Hahnfeldt kickoff for 66 yards returned by Mario Fannin for 21 yards to the Aub 15, Auburn penalty 10 yard holding accepted. |
| Q3 9:39 | Vanderbilt | +26 yd | Mackenzi Adams pass intercepted by Patrick Lee at the Vandy 36, returned for 26 yards to the Vandy 10. |
| Q3 8:57 | Auburn | +49 yd | Wes Byrum kickoff for 60 yards returned by D.J. Moore for 49 yards to the Aub 41. |
| Q3 8:57 | Auburn | +0 yd | Wes Byrum extra point GOOD. |
| Q3 8:57 | Auburn | +5 yd | Brad Lester rush for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q3 4:06 | Auburn | +24 yd | Brandon Cox pass intercepted by Myron Lewis at the 50 yard line, returned for 24 yards to the Aub 26. |
| Q4 4:57 | Vanderbilt | +1 yd | Cassen Jackson-Garrison rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. |
| Q4 4:57 | Vanderbilt | +0 yd | Bryant Hahnfeldt extra point 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
Auburn
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Cox | 14/17 | 165 | 9.7 | 1 | 1 | 95.8 |
| Kodi Burns | 0/1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Nickson | 5/16 | 38 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | 2.6 |
| Richard Kovalcheck | 3/6 | 26 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 88.4 |
| Mackenzi Adams | 4/9 | 24 | 2.7 | 0 | 1 | 6.2 |
Rushing
Auburn
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Tate | 9 | 96 | 10.7 | 1 | 44 |
| Brad Lester | 13 | 77 | 5.9 | 2 | 17 |
| Mario Fannin | 11 | 54 | 4.9 | 1 | 22 |
| Carl Stewart | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 11 |
| Kodi Burns | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | 0 | 4 |
| Brandon Cox | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | 0 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cassen Jackson-Garrison | 13 | 45 | 3.5 | 1 | 16 |
| Jared Hawkins | 6 | 41 | 6.8 | 0 | 16 |
| Jeff Jennings | 9 | 35 | 3.9 | 0 | 12 |
| Richard Kovalcheck | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Mackenzi Adams | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0 | 10 |
| Kennard Reeves | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Chris Nickson | 3 | -5 | -1.7 | 0 | 1 |
Receiving
Auburn
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montez Billings | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 | 24 |
| Robert Dunn | 1 | 33 | 33.0 | 0 | 33 |
| Mario Fannin | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 | 9 |
| Rodgeriqus Smith | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 1 | 11 |
| Tommy Trott | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 0 | 16 |
| Tim Hawthorne | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Carl Stewart | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 |
| Ben Tate | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Cole Bennett | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 3 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earl Bennett | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 11 |
| Bryant Anderson | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Alex Washington | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 0 | 12 |
| Sean Walker | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Justin Green | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
| George Smith | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 |
| Jeff Jennings | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 6 |
Show more stats (4 more categories)
Interceptions
Auburn
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Lee | 1 | 26 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myron Lewis | 1 | 24 | 0 |
Kicking
Auburn
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Byrum | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5/5 | 5 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryant Hahnfeldt | 0/0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1/1 | 1 |
Punt Returns
Auburn
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Dunn | 2 | -4 | -2.0 | 2 | 0 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Washington | 4 | 29 | 7.3 | 15 | 0 |
| Justin Wheeler | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
Punting
Auburn
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Shoemaker | 5 | 208 | 41.6 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
Vanderbilt
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Upson | 6 | 218 | 36.3 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
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 272790002) · This game in the downloadable dataset