Sugar Bowl: Auburn's Defense Overcomes Oklahoma's Persistence, 22-16

Oklahoma, coming off an easy First Round win over Connecticut, seemed to have a defense in sync to stop Heisman winner Cam Newton early, and Auburn initially struggled against the defense of Bob Stoops. A raucous Superdome filled with Sooner booming and fired up, top seeded Auburn faithful created a lot of noise, but no scoring early, as the first frame ended with, what Harry Caray used to say, "The little boy shot at, nothing."

Three minutes into the second quarter, one of the goose eggs was removed from the scoreboard as Auburn broke through on a 35 yard Newton pass to Kodi Burns, to grab a Tiger 7-0 lead. The Sooners showed they were not here to be a second tier walkover, and tied the game on a Ryan Broyles 5 yard touchdown reception from Landry Jones.

In what seemed to be a big break for the Sooners soon appeared to be a reversal of fortune. Auburn took a chance on fourth and goal, and a dropped pass seemed to give Oklahoma momentum. But Auburn turned the opportunity in a safety, and took the ensuing kick to start a drive capped by a Newton 30 yard TD pass to Emory Blake, and suddenly Auburn led 16-7. The Sooners knew they had to stay in the game, and chipped away with a Jimmy Stevens field goal, and the game set at 16-10 and halftime.

In the second half, it was Auburn's defense seemed to begin to take the air out of the Sooners hopes of an upset. Wes Byrum's 28 yard field goal put the Tigers up 19-10. Field goals finished the scoring, but the game was not as close as the final score appeared, as Auburn won 22-16. The Tigers stay in SEC country, and move on to the St. Petersburg Semi-Finals to take on Rose Bowl winner Stanford on Saturday, January 15th.


UPDATED TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

FIRST ROUND:

In Arlington, TX:

7 Oklahoma 48
10 Connecticut 20

In Charlotte:

8 Arkansas 22
9 Virginia Tech 12

BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Sugar:

1 Auburn 22
7 Oklahoma 16

Rose:

4 Stanford 37
5 Wisconsin 20

Fiesta:

2 Oregon 19
8 Arkansas 12

Orange:

3 Texas Christian 30
6 Ohio State 31

Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL: (results posted here, exclusively(!), on January 15th)

Auburn versus Stanford
Oregon versus Ohio State

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ