Auburn turns showdown into rout

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn appealed to the poll voters with a dominant performance that left coach Tommy Tuberville with little reason to give a stump speech.

The Tigers’ 24-6 victory Saturday over No. 8 Georgia said it all.

“One thing I’d say: I’d hate to play us,” Tuberville said. “I know the people will be fair when they vote. That’s all we can ask.”

Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown combined for 260 total yards and each scored a touchdown for the No. 3 Tigers, who may have earned a boost in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

Auburn (10-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) was third in both polls and in the BCS standings behind Southern California and Oklahoma this week.

The 108th meeting between the SEC’s oldest rivals was also the third time the Tigers and Bulldogs (8-2, 6-2) were both ranked in the top 10 when they met. But Auburn turned one of the most anticipated games at Jordan-Hare Stadium into a rout.

Auburn’s dynamic tailback tandem of Williams and Brown did it all on offense.

“Awesome,” Tuberville said. “You can’t defense them. You just can’t do it.”

Williams ran 19 times for 101 yards and caught four passes for 20 yards. He also threw a TD pass and returned a punt 40 yards to set up Brown’s 15-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter that made it 24-0.

Brown ran for 51 yards and caught seven passes for 88.

Georgia went scoreless for 57 minutes, before David Greene hit Leonard Pope with a 6-yard TD pass with 2:13 left.

Auburn’s defense held the Bulldogs to 279 yards and came up with two key takeaways deep in its territory.

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead on their first possession, completing an 80-yard march by running the option from the 1. Quarterback Jason Campbell waited until he was in the arms of a defender before pitching to Williams, who walked in for his 44th career TD, one shy of Bo Jackson’s school record.