TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Cam Newton ran around Bryant-Denny Stadium with a hand over his mouth, having hushed up those who might have thought his shot at the national title and Heisman Trophy were done.
He’s very much on track for both, thanks to his most audacious performance yet in this season of triumph and controversy.
No one had ever rallied a team to victory over Alabama after trailing by 24 points. That’s just what Newton did Friday, leading No. 2 Auburn to a stunning 28-27 victory that kept the Tigers in the thick of the BCS championship race and might have swayed any Heisman voters who had their doubts about voting for a guy hounded by unsavory allegations.
Newton threw for three touchdowns against the No.11 Crimson Tide. He ran for the other score. And a day that started like Auburn might be headed for a staggering blowout ended with Newton taking a victory lap around Alabama’s hallowed home field.
“Cameron Newton is physically and mentally as tough as I’ve ever seen,” Auburn Coach Gene Chizik said. “Period.”
When Auburn fell behind 24-0 in the first half, it looked as though all those turned off by the prospect of Newton hoisting the Heisman and national championship trophiesafter his father was accused of seeking a huge payout for the star player’s commitment might not have to worry about it.
Both awards, it seemed, were slipping away.
Not so fast.
Newton again rallied a team that has trailed in eight of its 12 games, leaving the crowd of 101,821 in disbelief. Well, except those orangeclad faithful crammed into one end of the stadium amid all the crimson, celebrating a victory no one could have seen coming just a couple of hours earlier: the biggest comeback in school history.
Newton had a 1-yard touchdown run and threw scoring passes of 36 yards to Emory Blake and 70 yards to Terrell Zachery before throwing a 7-yarder to Philip Lutzenkirchen with 11:55 remaining that gave Auburn its first lead of the day.
It held up, keeping the Tigers perfect heading to next week’s SEC Championship Game against South Carolina. If Auburn wins that one, the reward will certainly be a berth in the national title game.
“That’s the kind of team we have,” Zachery said. “We never give up.”
Auburn (12-0, 8-0 SEC) trailed 21-0 before it even picked up a first down, when things looked especially grim for the Tigers.
Newton’s day started with a rendition of “Take The Money And Run,” blaring over the loudspeakers during pregame warmups, and he got off to a very shaky start along with the entire team.
Rattled? No way.
Love him or deride him as a tainted star, Newton appeared to have no peer on the field. It’s unlikely anyone in the country could lead a team back from such a daunting deficit in Tuscaloosa, where Alabama had won 20 in a row.
Then again, the Tigers have come back time and time again this season, overcoming double-figure deficits three other times. This was their best one yet, their best one ever.
“That was a game that will certainly go down in history,” Chizik said. “It’s hard to come back when you’re down 24-0 against anybody.”
Newton didn’t do much on the ground, rushing for 39 yards and taking plenty of big hits, including four sacks. But he’s no slouch with hisarm, either. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 216 yards, including a gutsy fourth-down throw to Darvin Adams that kept the winning drive alive near midfield.
Newton, who hasn’t spoken to the media in 2 1/2 weeks, kept up his no-comment policy after the game. He even ran around the field with that hand over his mouth, but it was more of a gleeful gesture to show how he silenced all those Alabama fans. He clearly was hiding a big smile.
The momentous comeback wouldn’t have been possible without some help from the Tide. Last year’s Heisman winner, Mark Ingram, fumbled the ball away at the end of a long run just when it looked like Alabama was about to blow the Tigers all the way back to the Plains.
Another fumble, this one by quarterback Greg McElroy after a big hit by Nick Fairley - and recovered by Fairley - cost the Tide another scoring chance deep in Auburn territory near the end of the first half.
McElroy threw for a career-high 377 yards, but he wasn’t able to finish the game. He left with a concussion after being body-slammed to the turf on a vicious sack by T’Sharvan Bell in the closing minutes.
“We didn’t f inish the game,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. “When you play good teams, you’ve got to play for 60 minutes. Those kind of teams don’t go away. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned out there about finishing games and doing things correctly.” Auburn ..................0 7 14 7 - 28 Alabama ............. 21 3 3 0 - 27 First Quarter Ala-Ingram 9 run (Shelley kick), 11:34.
Ala-J.Jones 68 pass from McElroy (Shelley kick), 8:39.
Ala-Hanks 12 pass from McElroy (Shelley kick), 1:58.
Second Quarter Ala-FG Shelley 20, 8:01.
Aub-Blake 36 pass from Newton (Byrum kick), 5:08.
Third Quarter Aub-Zachery 70 pass from Newton (Byrum kick), 14:04.
Aub-Newton 1 run (Byrum kick), 4:25.
Ala-FG Shelley 32, 1:05.
Fourth Quarter Aub-Lutzenkirchen 7 pass from Newton (Byrum kick), 11:55.
Attendance-101,821.
Aub Ala First downs ..................................17 23 Rushes-yards ...........................41-108 30-69 Passing........................................216 377 Comp-Att-Int ........................... 13-20-0 27-41-0 Return Yards ...............................(-8) 0 Punts-Avg. ................................7-38.7 4-33.8 Fumbles-Lost ..............................2-1 2-2 Penalties-Yards ..........................2-30 7-40 Time of Possession .................. 26:59 33:01 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Auburn, McCalebb 8-50, Newton 22-39, Dyer 9-27, Team 1-(minus 3), Zachery 1-(minus 5). Alabama, Ingram 10-36, Richardson 10-24, J.Jones 1-12, Maze 1-7, McElroy 8-(minus 10).
PASSING-Auburn, Newton 13-20-0-216. Alabama, McElroy 27-37-0-377, McCarron 0-4-0-0.
RECEIVING-Auburn, Blake 3-39, Zachery 2-79, Burns 2-32, Adams 2-29, McCalebb 2-24, Lutzenkirchen 1-7, Fannin 1-6. Alabama, J.Jones 10-199, Hanks 5-39, Ingram 4-91, Dial 3-26, Richardson 3-9, Maze 2-13.
Sports, Pages 19 on 11/27/2010