Auburn’s SEC Championship Game history
1997: No. 3 Tennessee 30, No. 11 Auburn 29
Auburn looked poised to pull the upset in its first SEC Championship Game, jumping out to a 20-7 lead in the second quarter highlighted by Dameyune Craig’s 51-yard pass to Tyrone Goodson. The problem for the Tigers was Tennessee had senior quarterback Peyton Manning, who stepped up and led the Volunteers on a wild comeback. Manning put the finishing touches on the come-from-behind win with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Nash with 11:14 to go in the fourth quarter. The Tigers trailed only by a point and had time on their side, but they were never able to retake the lead.
2000: No. 7 Florida 28, No. 18 Auburn 6
Auburn and Florida had faced off earlier in the 2000 season, with Florida taming the Tigers 38-7. With another shot at the Steve Spurrier-led Gators, the Tigers were flattened once again, going into halftime down 21-3. Rex Grossman threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns as the Tigers took one on the chin.
2004: No. 3 Auburn 38, No. 5 Tennessee 28
The third time proved to be the charm for Auburn in this matchup of Top 5 teams. It seemed like deja vu for Auburn when a 21-7 second-quarter lead disappeared in the third quarter, but Tigers quarterback Jason Campbell decided his side wasn’t done yet. Campbell connected with Devin Aromashodu for a 53-yard touchdown in the third quarter, which preceded a John Vaughn 22-yard field goal that put Auburn up 31-21. Tennessee’s Gerald Riggs Jr.’s touchdown cut Auburn’s lead to 31-28, but Campbell added a 43-yard touchdown pass to Ben Obomanu to seal the Tigers’ first SEC title since being co-champions in 1989.
2010: No. 1 Auburn 56, No. 19 South Carolina 17
It was the Cam Newton Show in the Georgia Dome when the Tigers and Gamecocks squared off. Newton was unstoppable as usual for the Tigers, putting up six touchdowns in the victory, which included a Hail Mary that ended the first half and signaled the beginning of the end for South Carolina. It was a record-setting afternoon for Auburn, as the team walked away with the championship game record for offensive yards, points in a game and margin of victory. Darvin Adams, who caught Newton’s Hail Mary, set a new individual record for receiving yards in the game with 217.
2013: No. 3 Auburn 59, No. 5 Missouri 43
Defense was optional in a conference championship showdown that featured 1,211 combined yards of offense. One week after their miraculous Kick Six victory over Alabama, Auburn found itself in a slugfest with Missouri and headed to the fourth quarter holding a narrow 45-42 lead. From there, eventual SEC Championship Game MVP Tre Mason put up two of his four rushing touchdowns to seal the Tigers’ victory in an afternoon that saw Auburn amass a game-record 536 rushing yards. The win, along with Michigan State’s upset victory over No. 2 Ohio State, sent the Tigers to the National Championship Game.
This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Auburn’s SEC Championship Game history."