Vanderbilt had more plays, more yards and nearly 15 additional minutes of possession Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
16Powers.com
Auburn had the 21-15 victory.
For Vanderbilt, this will feel like a missed opportunity. The Commodores accumulated 311 yards to Auburn’s 279 and possessed the football for 37:32. But Vanderbilt struggled to finish drives and surrendered one of the game’s decisive plays on special teams.
The Commodores struck first with a 39-yard field goal. Auburn answered when Byrum Brown found Chas Nimrod for a 33-yard touchdown. Then came the play Vanderbilt will particularly regret: Auburn blocked a Commodore punt in the second quarter and recovered it for a touchdown, creating a 14-3 halftime advantage.
Vanderbilt responded after halftime when Sedrick Alexander scored from three yards, trimming the margin to 14-9. Brown answered with a two-yard touchdown run to put Auburn ahead 21-9.
The Commodores controlled much of the fourth quarter but settled for field goals of 47 and 45 yards rather than touchdowns. That left Vanderbilt six points short.
Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis completed 22 of 33 passes for 199 yards but threw an interception. Junior Sherrill caught six passes for 95 yards. Brown threw for 140 yards and rushed for 57, while Jeremiah Cobb led Auburn with 58 rushing yards.
Cobb’s 21-yard run late in the fourth allowed Auburn to drain the remaining clock.
For Vanderbilt, the frustrating part is obvious: the Commodores did enough between the 20s to win but didn’t turn that production into enough touchdowns.
