(8) AUBURN 41, CENTRAL FLORIDA 14
AUBURN, Ala. -- Dameyune Craig was 27-of-40 for 360 yards and two
touchdowns through the air and added 57 yards and a touchdown on
the ground in a dominating performance that led eighth-ranked
Auburn to a 41-14 trouncing of Central Florida. Craig, left off
most preseason Heisman Trophy lists, has used a tremendous start
to the season to put himself in contention for the award and his
team in the running for the national title.
"I think it was a fun game," said Craig, whose four 300-yard
games are one shy of Auburn's 1971 Heisman winner, Pat Sullivan.
"I think everybody enjoyed themselves. We played well. I had all
day to throw the ball. The line kept them off of me, and the
defense played a great game to keep their offense off the field."
"He really understands the offense, and knows where the second
and third receivers are," said Auburn coach Terry Bowden. "I
wouldn't trade Dameyune Craig for (Tennessee's) Peyton Manning."
Craig found Tyrone Goodson five times for 149 yards as Auburn
(4-0) held a 477-251 advantage in total yardage. Neither played
much in the fourth quarter.
Standout quarterback Daunte Culpepper was hounded all day by the
Tigers defense. He finished 19-of-30 for 210 yards, and Mark
Nonsant caught 10 passes for 96 yards for Central Florida (1-4).
Nonsant missed a 100-yard game when he caught a pass for
minus-four yards on his final reception.
"The quarterback was real big and physical, he broke a lot of
tackles," said Auburn cornerback Martavious Houston. "People say
that he has the total package -- believe it -- he's a great
quarterback. We used a little package to stop the passing game
because we knew they wanted to pass more than they wanted to
run."
Craig threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Karsten Bailey with 5:01
left in the first quarter to put Auburn on the board. Bailey
finished with eight catches for 74 yards. Central Florida's Mike
Grant and Auburn's Rusty Williams traded 1-yard scoring runs
through the first portion of the second quarter before Culpepper
threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Joey Hubbard with 5:02 remaining
in the first half to make it 14-14.
Craig threw a 37-yard pass to Goodson, who fumbled the ball but
saw teammate Errick Lowe recover on the 1. Fred Beasley then
bulled in for the go-ahead score with 1:59 left in the half. On
the five-play, 68-yard drive, Craig was 4-of-5 for 62 yards. It
was the fourth straight drive that ended with a score.
(8) AUBURN 14, Central Florida 14
1 2 3 4 F
- - - - --
Central Florida 0 14 0 0 14
Auburn (8) 7 14 13 7 41
Auburn-Bailey 7 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Central Florida-Grant 1 run (Waczewski kick)
Auburn-R Williams 1 run (Holmes kick)
Central Florida-Hubbard 1 pass from Culpepper (Waczewski kick)
Auburn-F Beasley 1 run (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Craig 8 run (Holmes kick)
Auburn-R Williams 24 run (kick failed)
Auburn-McLeod 4 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Central Florida Auburn
First downs 14 21
Rushed-yards 29-45 29-117
Passing yards 206 360
Sacked-yards lost 3-18 0-0
Return yards 16 34
Passes 20-33-0 27-40-1
Punts 8-45.5 3-36.3
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-80 5-52
Time of possession 30:33 29:27
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Central Florida-Collins 5-24, Grant 11-21, Moore 1-2,
Culpepper 11-1, Thorpe 1-minus 3. Auburn-Craig 6-57, R Williams
10-43, Leard 2-7, Pennington 6-5, F Beasley 4-5, Embery 1-0.
PASSING: Central Florida-Culpepper 19-30-0-210, Thorpe
1-3-0-minus 4. Auburn-Craig 27-40-1-360.
RECEIVING: Central Florida-Nonsant 10-96, Burley 4-32, Cleveland
2-58, Grant 2-3, Lee 1-16, Hubbard 1-1. Auburn-Bailey 8-74,
Goodson 5-149, R Williams 5-41, Poor 3-45, Robinson 2-20, Lowe
2-16, Cooper 1-11, McLeod 1-4.
Att: 82,109
Courtesy: InfoBeat Sports