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NEW ORLEANS (AP)- The Auburn Tigers were pleading for someone --
anyone -- to vote them No. 1. They must have sensed that giving up two
late touchdowns in the Sugar Bowl all but ruined their improbable hope
of sharing the national championship. No, the No. 3 Tigers didn't get
their masterpiece.
They settled for hanging onto a perfect season, beating Virginia Tech
16-13 Monday night. Even so, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville vowed to get
his players championship rings -- no matter how the polls turn out after
Tuesday night's Orange Bowl between No. 1 Southern Cal and No. 2
Oklahoma. And Tuberville didn't pass up the chance to make one more plea
on behalf of his third-ranked team.
"I've got a subscription to Golf Digest. I may ask them to vote us No.
1," Tuberville joked. "We're 13-0. We should be national champions.
There's no doubt about it."
Auburn had a couple of second-half turnovers and gave up an 80-yard
touchdown pass with two minutes left, a major blow to their hopes of
swaying the voters to split No. 1 again.
The Tigers just wish they could settle things on the field, yearning for
a chance to play one more game."Bring 'em on," running back Carnell
Williams said. "The neighborhood park would be fine."
Jason Campbell threw a touchdown pass, John Vaughn kicked three short
field goals and Auburn completed its first perfect season since 1993.
Virginia Tech (10-3) could have made things even easier on the Bowl
Championship Series by upsetting Auburn. But the Hokies had a couple of
major blunders, dropping a pass in the end zone and missing a chip-shot
field goal.
When Bryan Randall threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Josh Morgan with
6:58 left in the game, ruining Auburn's shutout, one could almost sense
that USC, Oklahoma and – especially the BCS were breathing a little
easier. Randall dealt a more stunning blow to the Tigers when he threw
the long touchdown pass to Morgan, who somehow slipped behind Auburn's
prevent defense.
The Tigers recovered the onside kick and kneeled down to run out the
clock, deciding to preserve the victory rather than try to win more
impressively. The Auburn band even launched into a Bon Jovi song that
summed things up for the Southeastern Conference champions: "Living on a
Prayer."
"I just wanted to win by one," said Tuberville, who nearly lost his job
at the end of last season. "That's all that counts. If you have to win
with style points, you might as well throw out all the systems."
Campbell was named MVP after completing 11-of-16 for 189 yards with one
interception. Randall threw for 299 yards but was picked off twice.
"People just don't understand how hard it is to go 13-0," Campbell said.
"I'm not going to sit here and say we're No. 2 behind anybody."
The odd team out in a troika of 12-0 teams, Auburn settled for a spot in
the Sugar Bowl against the Hokies, while USC and Oklahoma were tapped
for the Orange Bowl, the BCS title game.
Nothing ever seems to work out smoothly in Division I-A football, the
only college sport that insists on using a mix of polls and bowls to
determine its champion rather than settling things with a playoff.
Auburn's hopes were based on this convoluted scenario: The Tigers defeat
Virginia Tech convincingly, Oklahoma knocks off USC in an ugly Orange
Bowl and enough voters in The Associated Press media poll picks Auburn
as the No. 1 team, creating another split championship.
The winner of the Orange Bowl is assured of being voted No. 1 in the
coaches' poll. But the AP rankings aren't tied to the BCS. Last season,
USC was voted No. 1 by the AP after winning the Rose Bowl, while LSU won
the BCS title by beating Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
 The overlooked Hokies hurt themselves with those two major miscues.
Jesse Allen dropped a sure touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal at the 1
midway through the second quarter. Then, Brandon Pace yanked a 23-yard
field goal just left of the upright early in the fourth.
"Well we played hard, we just didn't play well enough," Virginia Tech
coach Frank Beamer said.
Williams, half of Auburn's heralded running back duo, was held to 61
yards rushing. He also fumbled in the fourth quarter when the Tigers,
leading 16-0, were driving for the touchdown that could have made the
victory a lot more impressive.
Auburn had a chance to blow it open in the first half, too, but went
0-for-3 from inside the Virginia Tech 10. The Tigers had to settle for
three short field goals by Vaughn, who connected from 23, 19 and 24
yards for a 9-0 lead at halftime.
After taking the second-half kickoff, Auburn finally drove all the way
to the end zone. The biggest play was a third-and-16, when Campbell
scrambled near the Virginia Tech sideline and spotted Anthony Mix
breaking open, connecting with him on a 53-yard pass.
Then, on third-and-2 from the Virginia Tech 5, Campbell froze the
linebackers with play-action and hit Devin Aromashodu on a quick slant
over the middle for Auburn's first TD.
It would be their only one, hardly the sort of definitive statement the
Tigers hoped to make with the nation, and all those crucial voters,
watching.
"It was a defensive battle," Tuberville said.
That wasn't surprising. Auburn gave up fewer points per game than any
team in the country, Virginia Tech was just two spots behind in the
national rankings. Trotting onto the Superdome turf beneath a sign that
said, "Go Auburn, Biased Championship Series," the Tigers got off to a
roaring start.
Campbell threw a 35-yard pass to Cooper Wallace on Auburn's first
offensive play, then Ronnie Brown broke off a 31-yard run on the next
snap. But the Tigers bogged down at the 5, settling for Vaughn's first
field goal.
That would set the tone. Auburn drove inside the 10 on two more
possessions, but the Hokies bucked up to keep the Tigers out of the end
zone. Vaughn connected two more times from chip-shot range, tying the
Sugar Bowl record for field goals in a half.
Trailing 6-0, Virginia Tech squandered its lone chance to seize the
lead. Randall connected with Josh Hyman on a 31-yard completion, giving
the Hokies first-and-goal at the Auburn 2.
Mike Imoh was stopped for no gain and Randall threw an incompletion.
Randall got just inside the 1 on a third-down run, and the Hokies
decided to go for the TD rather than settle for a field goal.
Virginia Tech called the right play -- Randall faked a handoff to Imoh
and flipped a pass to Allen, normally a blocker who had slipped free out
of the backfield. But the ball skidded right through his hands, giving
possession back to Auburn. The Tigers then drove 92 yards to set up
Vaughn's third field goal, drawing a disgusted reaction from Virginia
Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster. He ripped off his cap in anger
after watching Auburn drive nearly the length of the field.
A voter in the coaches' poll, Beamer has already decided to anoint the
Orange Bowl winner as No. 1. Auburn will have to settle for No. 2 on his
ballot.
That sounds about right to one of his players, cornerback Eric Green
said. "People were expecting it to be a blowout. People were expecting
Auburn to show they should be in Miami," Green said. "I think they're
right where they belong."
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Attendance: 77,349
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
AU- FG Vaughn 23
AU- FG Vaughn 19
Second Quarter
AU- FG Vaughn 24
Third Quarter
AU- Aromashodu 5 yard pass from Campbell (Vaughn kick)
Fourth Quarter
VT- Morgan 29 yard pass from Randall (failed 2 pt. pass)
VT- Morgan 80 yard pass from Randall (Pace kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
VT- Randall 9-45, Mike Imoh 6-16, Cedric Humes 6-10
AU- Brown 14-68, Williams 19-61
Passing
VT- Randall 21-38-299
AU- Campbell 11-16-189
Receiving
VT- Hyman 5-71, Morgan 3-126, Royal 3-37, King 3-12, Clowney 2-23,
Mazzetta 1-20
AU- Taylor 5-87, Mix 2-68, Wallace 1-35
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