The Auburn Tigers (8-0) continued to run the ball with success, totaling 440 yards rushing and 526 yards of total offense to propel Auburn past rival LSU 24-17 Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"Obviously, that was another great game that came down to the end, and somehow or another our football team found a way to win it," said head coach Gene Chizik. "I've said this for the last seven weeks, but my hat's off to our football team."
Junior quarterback Cameron Newton ran for 217 yards and two touchdowns while completing 10 of 16 passes for 86 yards.
Newton's two touchdowns gave him 27 scores for this season, putting him ahead of former Auburn Heisman trophy winner Pat Sullivan, who scored 26.
Newton now holds the Auburn record for most touchdowns scored in a season.
Senior kicker Wes Byrum hit a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter to put Auburn up 10-3 and break a record as well.
Byrum is now Auburn's all-time leading scorer with 313 career points, passing former kicker John Vaughn.
"It is very humbling to be on top of the list," Byrum said. "It isn't something you think about during the game because of the gravity of the game. It is something I'll be able to look back on later and appreciate."
Saturday's game marked the fourth straight time Auburn rushed for more than 300 yards against an SEC opponent.
The 400 yards rushing is the fifth-most in Auburn history and the most ever against a conference opponent.
"I think the numbers speak for themselves," Chizik said. "I don't know what I need to say about that. I just don't want to lose sight of the fact that our offensive line has become a really good offensive line."
Freshman running back Michael Dyer had his second career 100-yard performance Saturday, marking the second time this season Auburn had two players go more than 100 yards rushing in the same game.
"I was going behind my tackles, and they were able to open up a lot of holes for me tonight," Dyer said. "When they do that, it makes fit for easy reads. When you can read it, you just go with it. Any one of our running backs could have done what I did today."
The Tigers will return to the practice fields Tuesday in preparation for the Ole Miss Rebels, Auburn's fourth straight conference opponent. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.
When asked if his team had made the leap from good to great, Chizik said only time will tell.
"I don't know that you can make that claim until the end of the year to figure out exactly where you land," Chizik said. "I think we've gone from good to better. I don't think there is any question about that."
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