(8) AUBURN 49, LOUISIANA TECH 13
AUBURN, Ala. -- Dameyune Craig had another dominating
performance, going 20-of-32 for 355 yards and four touchdowns
with three meaningless interceptions and adding 50 rushing yards
to lift eighth-ranked Auburn to a 49-13 blowout of Louisiana
Tech. Auburn (6-0) was not caught looking ahead to next weekend's
matchup with top-ranked Florida, though the Tigers allowed the
first touchdown 2:14 into the game before running off 35 straight
points for a 35-6 halftime lead.
"I have always wanted to be 6-0 going into this game against
Florida," said Auburn coach Terry Bowden. "Our players are
playing with confidence right now and we're excited about playing
a team like Florida. We haven't played a team all year quite like
Florida and probably won't for the rest of the year."
Tim Rattay threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Cedric Williams, but a
two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Louisiana Tech (4-2)
with a 6-0 lead. Craig, whose hopes for the Heisman Trophy rest
on how he and the team perform against Florida, threw an 11-yard
scoring pass to Hicks Poor 4:41 into the game to give Auburn the
lead for good, 7-6.
Craig has four straight 300-yard passing games and six in his
career, breaking the school records set by 1971 Heisman winner
Pat Sullivan. Sullivan had 33 starts while Craig, whose four
touchdowns matched a career high and school record, has 18. Craig
has thrown for at least 200 yards in a school-record seven
straight games and has at least one TD pass in each of his last
11 contests, including at least two in four straight.
"We got the win even though I had a couple of interceptions,"
said Craig. "We have to try to turn that into positives and get
ready for Florida. I had all day long in the pocket. The line
gave me plenty of time to throw."
Auburn held a 550-382 advantage in total yardage and did not
punt. The Tigers, who have not run the ball well, had 190 yards
on the ground. Tyrone Goodson caught eight passes for 138 yards
and a pair of scores and moved into second place on Auburn's
all-time receiving yardage list with 2,014 yards.
"I am very disappointed," said Louisiana Tech coach Gary Crowton.
"We made too many mistakes, and you can't do things like that
against a team like Auburn. I think their quarterback did a good
job of being patient and making good plays. They executed well
and we hurt ourselves with turnovers."
Rattay, who was 30-of-55 for 274 yards and two TDs with four
picks, was intercepted by Takeo Spikes, who returned it 65 yards
for a TD in the first quarter. Troy Edwards, who entered the game
as the national leader in receptions and receiving yards per
game, caught eight passes for 70 yards for Tech.
(8) AUBURN 49, Louisiana Tech 13
1 2 3 4 F
- - - - --
Louisiana Tech 6 0 7 0 13
Auburn (8) 21 14 7 7 49
Louisiana Tech-Ce Williams 3 pass from Rattay (two-point
conversion failed)
Auburn-Poor 11 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Spikes 65 interception return (Holmes kick)
Auburn-F Beasley 8 run (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Bailey 12 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Goodson 23 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Louisiana Tech-Edwards 2 pass from Rattay (Kent kick)
Auburn-Goodson 16 pass from Craig (Holmes kick)
Auburn-Carter 7 run (Holmes kick)
Louisiana Tech Auburn
First downs 26 30
Rushed-yards 29-108 34-190
Passing yards 274 360
Sacked-yards lost 2-14 1-2
Return yards 5 95
Passes 30-55-2 21-34-3
Punts 5-37.4 0-0.0
Fumbles-lost 6-2 3-1
Penalties-yards 4-30 6-52
Time of possession 32:11 27:49
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Louisiana Tech-Tell 12-93, Ce Williams 1-12, Pratt 1-10,
Armstrong 4-7, Edwards 1-6, Austion 1-3, Rattay 9-minus 23.
Auburn-Carter 12-63, Craig 8-50, F Beasley 6-42, Pennington 3-17,
Embery 2-15, Nelsen 1-3, Leard 1-0, Foston 1-0.
PASSING: Louisiana Tech-Rattay 30-55-2-274. Auburn-Craig
20-32-3-355, Leard 1-2-0-5.
RECEIVING: Louisiana Tech-Bradley 9-67, Edwards 8-70, Ce Williams
7-69, Hampton 2-29, Cangelosi 2-15, Chambers 1-13, Wilson 1-11.
Auburn-Goodson 8-138, Bailey 5-53, Poor 3-73, Robinson 2-47, F
Beasley 1-34, Lowe 1-10, Bourne 1-5.
Att: 84,761
Courtesy: InfoBeat Sports