January 11, 2011 Postseason Neutral site Belt defended

Auburn defends the belt, 22–19, at a neutral site over Oregon.

Home · Challenger

OregonAP No. 2 19

Away · Defending Holder

AuburnAP No. 1 22

AP poll, week 15: Auburn No. 1 at Oregon No. 2 · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Auburn came in 38 days into reign #277, which began with a win over South Carolina, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. Auburn went on to defend it 2 more times before Clemson took it on September 17, 2011, 287 days after the reign began.

For Oregon this was its 17th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt.

This is the only time Auburn and Oregon have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

Auburn's defense forced three first-half interceptions of Darron Thomas to establish control early, but Oregon's offense proved resilient throughout the Gator Bowl. After Auburn jumped ahead 20-8 with Cameron Newton's two touchdown passes to Kodi Burns and Emory Blake in the second quarter, Oregon clawed back with a pair of Thomas touchdown passes—one to LaMichael James for 8 yards and a two-point conversion, then another to James for 2 yards with a successful two-point conversion to Jeff Maehl in the fourth quarter. Auburn's defense couldn't stop Oregon's late surge, and the Tigers' 19-22 defeat meant they failed to protect their lineal championship despite out-gaining Oregon 519-449 total yards.

Cameron Newton's 35-yard touchdown pass to Kodi Burns gave Auburn an early 7-3 lead and showed the Tigers' offensive firepower
Auburn's three first-half interceptions of Darron Thomas kept Oregon's high-powered offense off balance and led to Auburn's 20-8 halftime advantage
Oregon's fourth-quarter comeback, capped by LaMichael James's 2-yard touchdown reception and Jeff Maehl's two-point conversion reception, sealed Auburn's first loss of the season

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.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

OregonAuburn

Total yards449519

Rushing yards75254

Passing yards378278

First downs2328

3rd down conv.5/159/17

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards6–375–47

Time of possession16:2720:13

Full 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.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 9:19	Oregon	+0 yd	Darron Thomas pass intercepted by Demond Washington at the Oregn 47, returned for no gain to the Oregn 47.
Q1 10:41	Oregon	+21 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to LaMichael James for 21 yards to the Oregn 39 for a 1ST down.
Q1 8:40	Auburn	+22 yd	Cameron Newton pass intercepted by Cliff Harris at the Oregn 25, returned for 22 yards to the Oregn 47.
Q1 5:01	Oregon	+0 yd	Darron Thomas pass intercepted by Zac Etheridge at the Aub 14, returned for no gain to the Aub 14.
Q2 14:13	Oregon	+26 yd	Rob Beard 26 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 12:00	Auburn	+35 yd	Cameron Newton pass complete to Kodi Burns for 35 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 12:00	Auburn	+0 yd	Wes Byrum extra point GOOD.
Q2 10:58	Oregon	+8 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to LaMichael James for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 12:00	Oregon	+81 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to Jeff Maehl for 81 yards to the Aub 12 for a 1ST down.
Q2 10:58	Oregon	+0 yd	Two-point conversion attempt, Rob Beard rush GOOD.
Q2 3:26	Oregon	-1 yd	LaMichael James rush for a loss of 1 yard to the Oregn 0, tackled by Mike Blanc for a SAFETY.
Q2 1:47	Auburn	+30 yd	Cameron Newton pass complete to Emory Blake for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 1:47	Auburn	+0 yd	Wes Byrum extra point GOOD.
Q2 1:47	Auburn	+23 yd	Wes Byrum kickoff for 70 yards returned by Kenjon Barner for 23 yards to the Oregn 23.
Q3 15:00	Oregon	+24 yd	Rob Beard kickoff for 65 yards returned by Demond Washington for 24 yards to the Aub 29.
Q2 0:13	Auburn	+22 yd	Cameron Newton pass complete to Darvin Adams for 22 yards to the Oregn 46 for a 1ST down.
Q2 0:19	Auburn	+20 yd	Onterio McCalebb rush for 20 yards to the Aub 32 for a 1ST down.
Q3 12:20	Auburn	+39 yd	Cameron Newton pass complete to Philip Lutzenkirchen for 39 yards to the Oregn 16 for a 1ST down.
Q3 11:30	Auburn	+28 yd	Wes Byrum 28 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 4:24	Oregon	+43 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to Lavasier Tuinei for 43 yards to the Aub 3 for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:15	Oregon	+33 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to David Paulson for 33 yards to the Oregn 41 for a 1ST down.
Q4 2:33	Oregon	+2 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to LaMichael James for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 4:09	Oregon	+29 yd	Darron Thomas pass complete to D.J. Davis for 29 yards to the Aub 11 for a 1ST down.
Q4 2:33	Oregon	+22 yd	Rob Beard kickoff for 67 yards returned by Demond Washington for 22 yards to the Aub 25.
Q4 2:33	Oregon	+0 yd	Two-point conversion attempt, Darron Thomas pass to Jeff Maehl GOOD.
Q4 1:56	Auburn	+37 yd	Michael Dyer rush for 37 yards to the Oregn 23 for a 1ST down.
Q4 0:00	Auburn	+19 yd	Wes Byrum 19 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).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Oregon

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Darron Thomas	27/40	363	9.1	2	2	41.4
Jackson Rice	1/1	11	11.0	0	0	100.0

Auburn

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Cam Newton	20/34	265	7.8	2	1	36.4

Rushing

Oregon

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
LaMike James	13	49	3.8	14
Kenjon Barner	11	32	2.9	9
Darron Thomas	8	-6	-0.8	5

Auburn

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Michael Dyer	22	143	6.5	37
Cam Newton	22	64	2.9	18
Onterio McCalebb	6	47	7.8	20

Receiving

Oregon

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jeff Maehl	9	133	14.8	0	81
Lavasier Tuinei	3	75	25.0	0	43
Drew Davis	6	60	10.0	0	29
David Paulson	3	48	16.0	0	33
LaMike James	4	39	9.8	2	21
Marvin Johnson	1	11	11.0	0	11
Kenjon Barner	2	8	4.0	0	7

Auburn

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Emory Blake	4	54	13.5	1	30
Darvin Adams	4	54	13.5	0	22
Philip Lutzenkirchen	2	48	24.0	0	39
Terrell Zachery	6	48	8.0	0	14
Kodi Burns	1	35	35.0	1	35
Mario Fannin	1	16	16.0	0	16
Onterio McCalebb	2	10	5.0	0	8

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Oregon

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Cliff Harris	1	22	0

Auburn

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Zac Etheridge	1	0	0
Demond Washington	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Josh Huff	2	35	17.5	19	0
Kenjon Barner	2	30	15.0	23	0

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Demond Washington	5	92	18.4	24	0

Kicking

Oregon

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Rob Beard	1/1	100.0	26	0/0	3

Auburn

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Wes Byrum	2/2	100.0	28	2/2	8

Punt Returns

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kenjon Barner	2	5	2.5	4	0
Cliff Harris	1	1	1.0	1	0

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Darvin Adams	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Oregon

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jackson Rice	5	184	36.8	0	0	41

Auburn

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Ryan Shoemaker	5	202	40.4	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 310102483) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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