“That was a very exciting game to say the least. I told our team that was a God thing,” head coach Gene Chizik said. “They kept their faith the whole game, and it was one of those games where they just kept fighting.”

Clemson got the ball to start the game and drove 76 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead. Auburn was unable to create any momentum and found itself down 17-0 when Clemson sophomore quarterback Kyle Parker found running back Jamie Harper for a 24-yard touchdown pass.

“I think our offensive and defensive coordinators did some great jobs adjusting at halftime to kind of take a little bit better advantage of what they were doing,” Chizik said.

Auburn answered and tied the game at 17 after an 8-yard pass from junior quarterback Cameron Newton to junior wide receiver Darvin Adams.

“In the first half, we shot ourselves in the foot, but we knew that we could get better,” Adams said. “After halftime we came out and executed better and worked on cutting down on penalties.”

Auburn would eventually take the lead with 1:03 left in the third quarter when Newton found wide receiver Terrell Zachery along the sideline for a 78-yard touchdown pass.

After a Clemson score, the game went to overtime, where senior kicker Wes Byrum hit a 39-yard field goal to eventually win the game.

“It is always good to put some points up on the board,” Byrum said. “We were struggling offensively in the first half. It was a very good chance, I was excited to get out there and do my part.”