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Outback Bowl: Auburn Football vs Wisconsin Final Score and Game Recap

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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The Auburn Tigers couldn’t stop Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon in regulation and missed a field goal in overtime to seal a 34-31 Outback Bowl loss to the Wisconsin Badgers.

Auburn kicker Daniel Carlson set a new career-high with a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter, but he missed a 44-yarder later in the second half and a 45-yarder in the extra period.

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The overtime miss came after the Tigers were stuffed on their only three offensive plays of the extra period, including a double pass trick play that was immediately questioned by Auburn football fans.

With the loss, Auburn falls to 8-5. The Badgers moved to 11-3.

Following a gutsy Wisconsin drive led by Gordon and quarterback Joel Stave, and with just 0:11 on the clock, Wisconsin kicker Rafael Gaglianone nailed a 29-yard kick to tie the Outback Bowl 31-31. Gaglianone connected again from 25 yards in overtime, in what proved to be the game-winning kick.

The Auburn defense got off to a shaky start, and allowed an 89-yard Wisconsin scoring drive on the first possession for the Badgers. Corey Clement did the heavy lifting with a 43-yard run and a seven-yard touchdown catch from Joel Stave. Auburn got on the board when Cameron Artis-Payne found the end zone at the end of an eight-play, 58-yard drive, which tied the game 7-7.

The Tigers responded on defense and played relatively well the rest of the first half.

Auburn made the first big defensive play of the game when Travon Reed intercepted Stave on 3rd-and-25 with the Badgers across midfield. Ben Bradley pressured Stave on the play, and Reed made a nice play to grab his third pick of the season.

The Tigers capitalized immediately on the turnover when Nick Marshall hit Ricardo Louis on a 66-yard touchdown pass to give Auburn a 14-7 lead with 8:01 left in the second quarter. The pass was beautifully thrown and hit the Florida native in stride for the easy score.

At that point, Marshall – a senior playing his final game as Auburn’s quarterback – had completed eight of his first ten pass attempts for 131 yards. He finished 15-for-22 for 217 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

With the Badgers driving again on the following drive, Stave couldn’t connect with Alex Erickson, who tipped a pass which Jermaine Whitehead grabbed at the Auburn five-yard line. After starting the game with four pass completions for 38 yards and a touchdown, Stave completed only four of his next eleven attempts for 39 yards and two interceptions before halftime.

Following the dreadful first defensive series of the game, the Auburn defense did a great job limiting damage in the first half, thanks to the two interceptions and a big sack by Kris Frost late in the second quarter.

The Badgers had 218 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes of the game, and Melvin Gordon accounted for 87 on the ground, but the Tigers stepped up when they needed to in order to keep Wisconsin off the scoreboard.  

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    • Until the third quarter began, that is. Gordon exploded in the second half and finished with 251 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, moving into second place all-time on the single-season rushing list.

    Perhaps realizing they could effectively run the football, the Badgers quickly drove 75 yards to the end zone on the first drive of the second half. Gordon carried much of the load, including the final 25-yard scoring run to tie the game 14-14.

    Auburn answered quickly with the 51-yard field goal by Carlson to regain the lead. On the following possession, the Badgers again picked up big chunks of yardage on the ground before a Stave play-action pass was intercepted at the Auburn five-yard line. For the second time, Whitehead picked off the Badgers’ quarterback deep in Auburn territory.

    However, the Tigers couldn’t capitalize and Carlson missed a 44-yard field goal on the next possession. Melvin Gordon made the Tigers pay when he raced for 53 yards on 4th-and-1 for a touchdown to give Wisconsin a 21-17 lead. With 0:20 to play in the third quarter, Gordon had 208 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.

    The Tigers would respond though. Artis-Payne and Corey Grant ran down the field and Marshall found senior tight end C.J. Uzomah in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. Uzomah made a terrific diving catch that gave Auburn a 24-21 lead.

    Of course, Melvin Gordon and the Badgers answered immediately with Gordon’s third touchdown on the day.

    Shortly thereafter, following a defensive pass interference call on 4th-and-11, Artis-Payne plunged into the end zone for the second time with 2:55 left in the game to give the Auburn Tigers a 31-28 lead.

    Artis-Payne, who surpassed 1,600 rushing yards for the season, scored from two yards out on first down. He finished with 126 yards and two scores on 26 carries. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it wasn’t enough to secure the victory.

    Next: Report: Melvin Smith Will Not Be Retained in 2015

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