2007 Auburn Tigers football team The 2007 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season . Head coach Tommy Tuberville returned for his ninth season at Auburn , the third longest tenure among SEC head coaches in 2007 . He was joined by returning offensive coordinator Al Borges and returning defensive coordinator Will Muschamp . Auburn played its eight - game home schedule at Jordan – Hare Stadium , the ninth largest on - campus stadium in the NCAA in 2007 , seating 87 , 451 . Conference foe Vanderbilt returned to the schedule while non - conference opponents South Florida and Tennessee Tech played the Tigers for the first time . The Tigers finished the season ranked # 14 in the Coaches Poll and # 15 in the AP Poll . Pre - season . Senior quarterback Brandon Cox returned for his third and final season as a starter , finally healthy after being hampered the entire 2006 season with injuries . Cox was joined in the backfield by a stable of talented backs including Brad Lester , Ben Tate and freshman Mario Fannin . Auburn returned one of the best defensive lines in the SEC , if not the country , anchored by senior nose tackle Josh Thompson ( 43 tackles ) , senior defensive end and sack - leader Quentin Groves , and sophomore ( RS ) sensation Sen ' Derrick Marks , who moved to end from defensive tackle . Prior to the season , a new $ 2 . 9 million , , high - definition ( HD ) Daktronics LED video display was installed in the south end - zone of Jordan - Hare Stadium . Auburn was the first SEC school to install an HD video display and the second in the NCAA ( after Texas ' Godzillatron ) . Rankings . Auburn was ranked # 14 in the initial USA Today Coaches Poll , a component of the Bowl Championship Series , released on August 3 , 2007 . Auburn ' s initial position in the AP poll was # 18 . Other preseason rankings for Auburn include : < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 11 – CBS SportsLine < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 12 – Rivals . com < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 12 – CollegeTOP25 . com < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 14 – College Football News < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 16 – Sports Illustrated < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 16 – ESPN < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 16 – Sporting News < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 16 – NationalChamps . net < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 17 – Congrove < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 21 – Athlon Sports < br > < nowiki > # < / nowiki > 23 – Lindy ' s Sports Schedule . The 2007 Tigers schedule was ranked the 5th hardest in the country by Sports Illustrated and 6th hardest by ESPN . The road schedule with all four opponents finishing in the Top 25 in 2006 including the defending BCS champion Florida Gators , was ranked as the 2nd toughest . Post - season , Auburn ' s schedule difficulty was ranked # 23 by the NCAA and # 35 by Jeff Sagarin . Seven teams from Auburn ' s regular season schedule qualified for post - season bowls , with four winning their respective bowl including Sugar Bowl winner Georgia and BCS National Champion LSU . Game notes . Kansas State . Brandon Cox threw a three - yard touchdown pass to tight end Gabe McKenzie with 2 : 01 remaining in the fourth quarter , then Antonio Coleman returned a recovered fumble 34 yards 50 seconds later for another touchdown and Auburn defeated Kansas State in the season opener for both teams . The Tigers trailed 13 – 9 heading into the fourth quarter , as Auburn ' s running game was held to only 62 yards . Cox completed 17 passes in 30 attempts for 229 yards and the decisive touchdown pass . Freshman place - kicker Wes Byrum kicked field goals of 20 , 39 and 31 yards in his college debut . Auburn had won the only two previous meetings with Kansas State in 1978 and 1979 , and continued that tradition with a tough win in the home opener against the Wildcats . South Florida . This was Auburn ' s first game against the Big East ' s South Florida Bulls , and it was a memorable night for the Bulls . Quarterback Matt Grothe threw a 14 - yard touchdown pass to receiver Jesse Hester in overtime to lead South Florida to a 26 – 23 upset win over Auburn . The Tigers committed five turnovers - three lost fumbles and two passes thrown for interceptions - as the Bulls won their first - ever game against a team from the Southeastern Conference . South Florida led 14 – 3 after the first quarter , but Auburn scored two touchdowns in the second quarter on a four - yard run by freshman tailback Mario Fannin and a three - yard pass reception by Gabe McKenzie to take a 17 – 14 halftime lead . South Florida place kicker Delbert Alvarado , who had missed four field goal attempts in the second half , kicked an 18 - yard field goal with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game and force overtime . Mississippi State . In a game that would see the Tigers turn the ball over five times , and their starting quarterback benched in favor of a true freshman , Auburn fell to the Bulldogs despite outgaining them by 110 yards . Mississippi State last won at Auburn in 1999 as Auburn leads the series at home 25 – 5 and 56 – 22 – 2 overall . New Mexico State . The Aggies lost to the Tigers in the teams ' only previous meeting in 1993 . Florida . Auburn made its first trip to The Swamp since 2002 . Auburn ' s defeat of Florida was the Gators ' only loss in their 2006 BCS Championship season , and the Tigers pulled an upset again in 2007 over then # 3 ranked Gators . With the win , Auburn increased their lead in the overall series ( 42 – 38 – 2 ) and Tommy Tuberville coached Auburn teams now hold a 3 – 0 record versus Florida when the Gators are ranked in the Top 5 . Wes Byrum ' s game - winning field goal as time expired was named the ESPN Game - Changing Performance of the Week . Vanderbilt . The Tigers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game and led 28 – 0 at halftime while coasting to an easy 35 – 7 victory over the visiting Commodores . Sophomore running back Ben Tate led the Tigers with 96 rushing yards , while Brad Lester , seeing his first game action since the 2006 Iron Bowl victory over Alabama , scored two touchdowns and rushed for 77 yards . Quarterback Brandon Cox completed 14 of 17 passing attempts for 165 yards for the Tigers , who improved to 2 – 1 in conference play and 4 – 2 overall . The Commodores rotated back onto Auburn ' s schedule for the first meeting since 2003 . After the victory , Auburn ' s all - time record against Vanderbilt is now 20 – 19 – 1 . While the win marked the Tigers first lead in the series in 113 years , Auburn has not lost to the Commodores since 1955 when they met in the Gator Bowl . Auburn wore all - white uniforms at home for this game and removed the traditional AU logo from their helmets to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1957 National Championship team . The win marked Tommy Tuberville ' s 100th career win . Arkansas . For the second time in three weeks , freshman kicker Wes Byrum kicked the winning field goal in the final minute of play as the 22nd - ranked Tigers defeated the Razorbacks 9 – 7 . Byrum ' s three field goals accounted for all nine of Auburn ' s points as the Tigers won their fourth consecutive game and avenged a 27 – 10 loss to the Razorbacks in 2006 at Jordan - Hare Stadium . The Tigers ' defense limited Arkansas running back Darren McFadden to 43 yards rushing . Auburn scored the first six points of the game , as Wes Byrum kicked 22 - and 38 - yard field goals in the first and fourth quarter , but the Razorbacks went ahead with 1 : 36 remaining in the fourth quarter on an 11 - yard touchdown pass from Casey Dick to Lucas Miller and a successful point after touchdown by Alex Tejada . Auburn returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 47 yard line . The go - ahead drive was highlighted by a 30 - yard pass from senior quarterback Brandon Cox to wide receiver Robert Dunn . Byrum , who had missed field goal attempts in the third and fourth quarter , kicked the winning field goal with 21 seconds left in the game . LSU . In a game that went back and forth between both teams , LSU quarterback Matt Flynn completed a touchdown pass to Demetrius Byrd at the last second to give LSU a 30 – 24 win . Auburn has scored only five wins in eighteen attempts at tough Tiger Stadium , the last coming in Tuberville ' s first year at Auburn ( 1999 ) . The stakes were high , as this game was a key matchup for a berth in the SEC Championship Game . The loss brings the series to 19 – 21 – 1 in favor of LSU . LSU went on to win the BCS National Championship game finishing # 1 in the polls . Ole Miss . Ole Miss has only beaten the Tigers in Auburn twice , in 1999 and in 2003 ; Auburn leads the series 24 – 8 after the 17 – 3 victory . Tennessee Tech . The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles traveled to Auburn to meet the home - standing Tigers for the first time . Tech was greeted by Auburn ' s own golden eagle , Nova – War Eagle VII , who circled the field prior to the game in one of college football ' s most exciting traditions . Georgia . AU traveled to Georgia for the 111th meeting of the Deep South ' s Oldest Rivalry . The Tigers suffered a 20 + loss for the second straight year but Auburn still leads the series in Athens 18 – 10 and has won 10 of the last 13 matchups in Sanford Stadium . The second consecutive loss by the Tigers continued a trend in the series where each team would win two years in a row followed by two consecutive losses – this behavior dates back to 1999 – 2001 when Auburn won three straight . Georgia finished the season ranked # 2 in the AP Poll . Alabama . Auburn won the game 17 – 10 , bringing the current winning streak to 6 ( the longest in school history ) . Though this in - state rivalry known as the Iron Bowl is considered one of the most bitter and intense in all of sports with 72 matchups over the years , this was only the ninth meeting at Auburn ' s Jordan - Hare Stadium and the first meeting at JHS on Thanksgiving weekend . Depth chart . Starters and backups . Post - season . Auburn ' s 8 - win regular season qualified a post - season bowl and the Tigers were selected by the Chick - fil - A Bowl to face the ACC ' s Clemson Tigers , with both teams ' defenses being ranked in the top 10 . Auburn changed their offense for this game , moving to new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin ' s spread offense in eight practices . Auburn won the game in overtime with a 7 - yard touchdown run by quarterback Kodi Burns . The 23 – 20 victory in 2007 was the first Peach Bowl to require overtime and Auburn now has a 3 – 1 record in the bowl . This bowl appearance marked Auburn ' s eighth consecutive appearance ; the second longest streak in school history behind the 9 - year stretch from 1982 – 1990 . Coaching changes . Following the close of the regular season , head coach Tommy Tuberville was offered a two - year contract extension that was verbally accepted on December 4 , 2007 . One week later , offensive coordinator Al Borges announced his resignation following a meeting late the previous week with Tuberville . On December 12 , Auburn announced Tony Franklin , the offensive coordinator for the Troy Trojans , as Borges ' replacement . With only 8 days of practice prior to the bowl , the new spread offense proved quite effective as Auburn posted 423 yards of offense ( 233 passing / 190 rushing ) , besting their season average in all offensive categories despite playing against the # 6 defense in the nation . Days following the Chick - fil - A Bowl , defensive coordinator Will Muschamp interviewed for and accepted the vacant defensive coordinator position with the Texas Longhorns . On January 17 , 2008 , Auburn named Pittsburgh ' s Paul Rhoads as the new defensive coordinator .