Reaction: Auburn 16, South Carolina 13

When the final second of Auburn 16, South Carolina 13 ticked off the clock, fans of both teams couldn’t help but be left with a sense of bewilderment. For much of the game, neither the Tigers nor the Gameocks played well enough on offense to win, but both teams made plays that should have propelled either to victory. After some confusion on whether or not South Carolina would get a final snap, Auburn was the team that had made just enough plays to come out victorious.

Neither quarterback played well. Had Auburn lost, the blame would almost entirely have been placed at the feet of Barrett Trotter. Because South Carolina did lose, Stephen Garcia must play the role of scapegoat. Both defenses shined; the difference being that Auburn’s was able to stop South Carolina on the ground. The Gamecocks’ D couldn’t do the same to the Tigers. Auburn’s special teams forced Garcia to navigate a long field on most drives, a task the fifth-year senior was not up to meeting. Auburn’s offense was given a short field for most of the afternoon and was able to score just enough points to win.

Most didn’t give Auburn a chance against South Carolina. The Tigers came out on top anyway, and, in what is becoming a very common tale, won a game that was decided in the final moments. Auburn is 1-0 in its brutal October stretch, and a season that appeared to be on life support is not dead yet.

WHAT WENT RIGHT?

After a rough afternoon, Trotter made huge plays on Auburn’s game-winning drive. Trotter had thrown a couple of bad interceptions, struggled with inaccuracy and hadn’t been able to lead Auburn to points for most of the game. When the Auburn took over possession at their own 43 with 5:27 remaining in the game, it was apparent that if the Tigers couldn’t score on that drive, they might not have another chance. Mike Dyer carried most of the load, but Trotter completed two huge passes. The first came on third and 13 when he fired a dart between defenders to DeAngelo Benton to pick up a first down. The second came on third and five from the Carolina 9. With Melvin Ingram bearing down, Trotter threw a perfect pass across his body to allow Philip Lutzenkirchen to get into the end zone. Without those two throws, Auburn would have likely lost the game.

The defense did exactly what it had to do. The only way Auburn’s defense was going to be able to stop South Carolina’s offense was by containing Lattimore and forcing Garcia to win the game. Mission accomplished. Lattimore finished with 66 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. With the game in his hands, Garcia completed just nine of 23 passes for 160 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Auburn front seven ended up with three sacks, six tackles for loss and five quarterback hurries. The secondary played well, intercepting passes when given the opportunity and not allowing Gamecock receivers to get open down the field. Auburn managed to force four Gamecock turnovers, including a fumble by Lattimore. For one of the few times in the Gene Chizik era, the defense was the reason Auburn won.

Dyer got his carries — and then some. The biggest complaint about Auburn’s offense had been that Dyer, the team’s best player, was not receiving enough touches. Gus Malzahn remedied that on Saturday by letting Dyer tote the ball a school-record-tying 41 times. Dyer turned those carries into 141 yards and one touchdown and, most importantly, wore down the Gamecock defensive line. Dyer grinding out yards between the tackles allowed Onterio McCalebb to use his speed and pick up 58 big yards. Thanks to Dyer’s work, Auburn was able to move the ball on its final drive against a gassed Carolina defense.

Special teams were special again. Cody Parkey missed his first career extra point. Aside from that, Auburn’s special teams set the tone for the afternoon. Steven Clark pinned Carolina inside its own 20 five times. Parkey boomed three of his four kickoffs for touchbacks. Tre Mason and Quan Bray picked up solid yardage on punts and kickoffs to give Auburn a shot field with which to work. The Tigers won the field-position battle, and that went a long way toward winning the game.

Finally, the offense hit 80 plays! Malzahn always preaches that his goal is for Auburn’s offense to run 80 plays per game. The Tigers hadn’t come close to that number this year, but broke out with 92 plays against Carolina. Even though Auburn only scored 16 points on those 92 plays, the Tigers kept the Gamecock offense and their own defense off the field. Carolina was only able to run 52 plays and hold the ball for 24 minutes. Auburn’s offense held the ball long enough to keep its defense fresh and limit the amount of opportunities for Lattimore.

Auburn was better on third down. Converting third-down attempts on offense and facing them on defense had been Auburn’s biggest problem. Not so on Saturday. Auburn was successful on 11 of 22 third downs, including seven of eight on the Tigers’ three scoring drives. The Auburn defense allowed Carolina to convert two of 10 third down attempts. What had been Auburn’s biggest weakness was its greatest success against the Gamecocks.

Lutzie was a hero. Two huge plays from Lutzenkirchen made the difference between a win and a loss. After Trotter threw a bad interception around midfield, Lutzie chased down C.C. Whitlock, stripped the ball and recovered the fumble. Auburn didn’t go on to score on that drive, but it kept Carolina from having a chance to drive a short field and take a two-possession lead. On the game-winning touchdown, Lutzie fumbled into the end zone but kept his composure and recovered just before falling out of bounds. Had he bobbled the ball, South Carolina would have taken over possession and, barring a minor miracle, run out the clock. Without Lutzie’s heads-up plays, Auburn doesn’t win that game.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

Before the final drive, Trotter was awful. It’s hard to tell what has gone wrong for the Auburn quarterback, but after playing very well in the first two games of the year, Trotter has severely regressed. Against South Carolina, he was a liability. Whether it was holding on to the ball for too long, making bad decisions and throwing into coverage or just missing open receivers, Trotter had a hard time doing anything right. At this point, he isn’t playing at the level of an SEC starting quarterback. Malzahn is going to have to take a long look at Trotter, Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier. Trotter has shown he can play well enough to lead the offense, but if he can’t get back into his early season rhythm, it will be time to find another option.

The fake field goal attempt could have cost Auburn the game. After a nice drive near the end of the first half stalled at the South Carolina 15, Chizik called for a fake field goal that was poorly executed and doomed from the beginning. It’s understandable that Auburn didn’t want to settle for three after moving the ball well, but, on the road in a low scoring game, the Tigers should have taken the points. Late in the game, when it looked like Auburn might not be able to put together a touchdown drive, those three points were sorely missed.

Ingram dominated the offensive line. Auburn’s O-line did a good job of taking Jadeveon Clowney out of the game, but Ingram made life miserable for Trotter and the running backs. Ingram had 11 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two QB hurries and an interception. With Garcia and Lattimore unable to lead the Carolina offense down the field, Ingram almost single-handedly won it for the Gamecocks. Had he been able to get to Trotter a step quicker on the game-winning play, the final score could easily be different.

The uptempo offense disappeared. On its first touchdown drive, Auburn ran the ball quickly and ran it down Carolina’s throat. The Tigers averaged a snap around every 20 seconds on that drive and didn’t allow the Gamecocks to catch their breath between plays. After that drive, the uptempo speed was rarely used. Maybe it’s because Chizik wanted to keep the Auburn defense off the field, maybe it’s because Auburn couldn’t keep the ball moving consistently. Whatever the reason, a plan that had allowed Auburn’s offense to gash South Carolina’s defense early in the game was never seen again.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Auburn is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in SEC play. The Tigers’ 17-game winning streak ended at Clemson, but the they have won 11 consecutive SEC games and 11 consecutive games at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Things haven’t always been pretty, and the team could easily be 1-4 and 0-2, but Auburn keeps winning close games. Chizik’s squad passed a major test on Saturday, defeating a heavily-favored, top-10 team on the road. The team bounced back from two underwhelming performances and never gave up in a game that could have been won by the Gamecocks.

Auburn has a long way to go and doesn’t have any time to celebrate its huge victory. Next Saturday, the Tigers travel to Fayetteville face a 4-1 Arkansas team that looks like it could put up 50 points or more against a suspect defense. Defeating the Hogs will be an even tougher task than knocking off South Carolina, but with this team, it’s impossible to know what might happen. After Arkansas, Auburn hosts a Florida team that is suddenly without its starting quarterback, travels to No. 1 LSU and hosts a bad Ole Miss team. Before Saturday’s game against South Carolina, there was a very real chance Auburn would go 1-4 in October. Now, it isn’t all that far-fetched to think the Tigers will put together at least a 3-2 record this month.

Chizik and Malzahn are going to have to figure out what to do with the passing game. If wide receiver Emory Blake misses time with his leg injury, things will be even more difficult for Trotter. But the running game is fine, and for the first time in a long time, the defense appears to be making strides. If Roof’s unit can build on its performance in Columbia, it has the potential to be good enough to slow down every team remaining on Auburn’s schedule.

Auburn still has to take this season game by game, and it isn’t likely the Tigers are going to dominate anyone. But the team has now proved it can go on the road and win a game against a very good team. Auburn was given an opportunity to do something special on Saturday, and the Tigers didn’t waste it. All it takes is a glance at the schedule to see that there are even greater opportunities ahead. It’s hard to imagine Chizik’s team won’t take advantage of those, as well.