(13) AUBURN 21, CLEMSON 17

ATLANTA -- Quarterback Dameyune Craig ran for one touchdown and
set up another with a 29-yard pass as 13th-ranked Auburn overcame
shoddy special teams play to record a 21-17 victory over Clemson
in the Peach Bowl. Clemson (7-5) took a 17-6 lead with 1:48 to go
in the third quarter on a 48-yard field goal by David Richardson,
but Auburn (10-3) rallied behind Craig, who scrambled 22 yards
for a TD to cut the deficit to 17-12 with 13:29 to play.

After a failed two-point conversion, the War Eagles defense
forced a punt. Craig again went to work, this time rolling right
and stopping just at the line of scrimmage before finding Karsten
Bailey on the right sideline. Bailey barely got his right foot
down inbounds, giving Auburn a 29-yard gain to the Clemson 7. On
the next play, Rusty Williams went off right tackle, slipped
through a crease and scored to make it 18-17 at the 8:45 mark.

Auburn again failed on the two-point conversion, but an
interception by inside linebacker Takeo Spikes led to a 22-yard
field goal by Jaret Holmes, his third of the game.

Clemson made one final push, reaching the Auburn 48 after a
27-yard pass from Nealon Greene to Rod Garner on third-and-five.
But Greene threw four straight incompletions and Auburn ran out
the clock. Auburn improved to 14-10-2 in bowls and won the Peach
Bowl for the second time, having defeated Indiana in 1990.

"For every Auburn fan, this was as probably a fitting end to the
season, much like the other games, having to fight through
adversity," said Auburn coach Terry Bowden. "We are a passing
offense and we could not catch the ball today. But the defense
played a great game."

Both of Clemson's TDs came as the result of blocked punts. Chad
Speck returned a blocked kick 19 yards in the second quarter to
give Clemson a 7-3 lead. Mal Lawyer blocked a punt and recovered
it at the Auburn 2, setting up a 2-yard run by Terry Witherspoon
with 5:15 left in the third quarter that made it 14-6.

"You have to be happy to have two punts blocked that led to
touchdowns and win the game," added Bowden.

Holmes made 3-of-5 field goals, but the misses came from 51 and
50 yards. He made a 52-yard field goal to open the scoring, tying
the Peach Bowl record held by Indiana's Pete Stoyanovich. Craig
completed just 15-of-45 passes, but threw for 228 yards. Bailey
had four receptions for 119 yards.

Auburn held Clemson to 145 yards and four first downs. Greene
completed 11-of-25 passes for only 86 yards.

"We played poorly on offense all day," said Clemson coach Tommy
West. "We had some opportunities to do things on offense, but we
dropped some passes and did not convert."


(13) Auburn 21, Clemson 17

                      1  2  3  4   F
                      -  -  -  -  --
Clemson               0  7 10  0  17
Auburn (13)           3  3  0 15  21

 Auburn-FG Holmes 52
 Clemson-Speck 19 blocked punt return (Richardson kick)
 Auburn-FG Holmes 24
 Clemson-Witherspoon 2 run (Richardson kick)
 Clemson-FG Richardson 48
 Auburn-Craig 22 run (two-point conversion failed)
 Auburn-R Williams 7 run (two-point conversion failed)
 Auburn-FG Holmes 22

                        Clemson      Auburn
First downs                   4          18
Rushed-yards              27-60      36-108
Passing yards                86         228
Sacked-yards lost          3-21         2-6
Return yards                 77          59
Passes                  11-25-1     15-45-0
Punts                    9-43.7      6-25.8
Fumbles-lost                1-0         1-1
Penalties-yards            5-59        7-63
Time of possession        27:59       32:01

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Clemson-Priester 19-62, Austin 3-3, Witherspoon 1-2, N
Greene 4-minus 7. Auburn-R Williams 18-71, Craig 9-26, Carter
4-7, F Beasley 5-4.

PASSING: Clemson-N Greene 11-25-1-86. Auburn-Craig 15-45-0-228.

RECEIVING: Clemson-Austin 3-32, Horne 2-10, Hall 2-6, Wofford
2-5, Gardner 1-27, Lawyer 1-6. Auburn-Bailey 4-119, Goodson 4-64,
Poor 4-43, Lowe 1-8, R Williams 1-3, F Beasley 1-minus 9.

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