Vanderbilt (1-1) At Auburn (1-1)
JORDAN-HARE STADIUM (86,063) * AUBURN, AL
SEPTEMBER 14, 2002 * 11:30 P.M. CT * TV: JP

Game 3 Quick Facts:

Coaches:
Tommy Tuberville (Southern Arkansas, 1976)
Overall Record 47-36 (8th year)
Auburn Record22-16 (4th year)

Bobby Johnson (Clemson, 1973)
Overall Record1-1 (1st year)
VU Record61-37 (9th year)

Series:
VU leads, 19-17-1
at AuburnAU leads, 6-0
at Nashville, TNVU leads, 10-6
at Neutral SitesVU leads, 9-5-1
Last MeetingAU 24, VU 21
 in Nashville, TN (Sept. 29, 2001)

Rankings:
Neither team is ranked.

TV:
Jefferson-Pilot (Live)
Dave Neal (Play-by-play)
Dave Rowe (Color)
Dave Baker (Sideline)

Radio:
The Auburn Network provides radio coverage to over 60-plus stations that cover the Southeast. Jim Fyffe (play-by-play), Stan White (color), Quentin Riggins (sideline), Paul Ellen (studio) and Rod Bramblett (locker room) provide gameday analysis.

Internet:
Live audio & stats www.auburntigers.com

Tiger Walk:
9:20 a.m. CT
Guests: #28 Bob Harris; #6 Win Lyle; #11 Wesley Person

AUBURN (1-1)

All times central

The Game:
Auburn opens its Southeastern Conference schedule at home against Vanderbilt.

AUBURN IN SEC OPENERS
Auburn is 36-27-5 in SEC openers winning nine straight conference openers dating back to 1993. This marks the first time since 1951 that Auburn has opened conference play with Vanderbilt.
In its last five SEC openers, Auburn has outscored its opponents, 139-64. The Tigers defeated Ole Miss, 19-9, in 1997; 17-0, in 1998; 35-27, in 2000; and 27-21 last season.  In 1999, Auburn defeated LSU, 41-7.  

TUBERVILLE IN SEC OPENERS
Tommy Tuberville is 3-4 in SEC conference openers, including a 3-0 mark at Auburn.  Tuberville has led Auburn to SEC opening wins at LSU (41-7) in 1999, at Ole Miss (35-27) in 2000, and against the Rebels (27-21) in Auburn last year.

JORDAN-HARE STADIUM
Entering its 63rd year as home to the Auburn football team, Jordan-Hare Stadium is the nation's seventh-largest on-campus stadium, holding 86,063 fans.  The Tigers are 227-55-7 (.798) at Jordan-Hare Stadium, including a 13-1 mark since the start of the 2000 season.

SUCCESSFUL SEPTEMBER
Under Tommy Tuberville, Auburn is 11-3 in the month on September, which excludes the Tigers' 35-21 victory over Wyoming on August 31, 2000.  As a head coach, Tuberville has guided his teams to a 20-8 record, including a 10-2 mark against non-conference teams during
September.

ON THIS DATE
Auburn is 4-0 all-time in games played on September 14, outscoring its opponents, 113-62.  In the Tigers last game on Sept. 14, the Tigers beat Ole Miss, 45-28, in Oxford in 1995.

TOUGH START
Auburn is facing one of its toughest scheduling challenges in school history, as it is the process of playing four games in 18 days.  Following the opener on Mon., Sept. 2 at Southern California, the Tigers arrived in Auburn on Tuesday morning, and just five days  later shut out Western Carolina, 56-0, on Sept. 7.  Auburn will play its third game in 13 days on Saturday against Vanderbilt in Jordan-Hare Stadium before having four days to prepare for a Thursday night game at Mississippi
State on Sept. 18.

SERIES NOTES
Auburn has won the last four games in the series by a combined score of 102-38 ... In the last 10 meetings since 1978 (all Auburn victories), the Tigers have held the Commodores to 10 or fewer points six times ... Vanderbilt shut out Auburn in three consecutive years: 1946, '47, and '48 ... The winner in 30 of the 37 games in the series has held the losing team to two touchdowns or less ... There have been 13 shutouts in the series ...The winning team has scored 24 or more points in 15 of the last 16 meetings ... In the last 16 meetings dating back to 1956, only three games--1991, 1993, 2001-- have been decided by seven points or less ... All three of those games were played in Nashville, with Auburn winning by a combined score of 62-53.

10 STRAIGHT VERSUS THE COMMODORES
Auburn currently owns a 10-game winning streak over Vanderbilt dating back to 1955.  It is the Tigers' second-longest active winning streak against a Southeastern Conference opponent and sixth longest overall.  Auburn's longest active winning streak versus an SEC school is Kentucky with 13. The Tigers' longest overall winning string is a 20-game winning streak over Tennessee-Chattanooga.

TUBERVILLE AGAINST VANDERBILT
Tommy Tuberville is 6-0 all-time as a head coach against Vanderbilt, defeating the Commodores twice at Auburn and in each of his four years at Ole Miss. Tuberville's squads have outscored Vanderbilt, 133-49, holding the Commodores to 10 points or less in five of the last six meetings
(Ole Miss: 1995, 10 pts.; 1996, 9 pts.; 1997, 3 pts.; 1998, 6 pts.; Auburn: 2000, 0 pts.).

AUBURN-VANDERBILT HISTORY LESSON
One of the South's oldest but rarest rivalries, the Auburn-Vanderbilt series was forged in the days when Vanderbilt, under the coaching genius of Dan McGugin, was the pride of Southern Football.
In the earliest part of the century, football games between Auburn and Vanderbilt were considered Southern epics, matching the coaching genius of McGugin and Auburn's "Iron Mike" Donahue.  Not even the great Donahue could master McGugin and Vanderbilt, losing six of the epic struggles and winning four. There was one tie, 7-7, in 1912. After Auburn's 30-10 win in the first game of the series in 1893, Donahue's four victories were the only wins Auburn could muster
in the next 24 games. Auburn did not celebrate a victory over Vanderbilt from 1925 until 1951, a 26-year period that covered eight games.  Ralph "Shug" Jordan gave Auburn fans cause to celebrate for the first time in a lifetime with a 24-14 win at Auburn in 1951.

TENNESSEE TIGERS
Seven Auburn players hail from the state of Tennessee, including redshirt freshmen OL Taylor Bourgeois, OL Steven Ross, FB Jake Slaughter, and TE Cooper Wallace that call the Nashville area home.  Ross and Wallace each attended Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, while Bourgeois and Slaughter are from nearby Brentwood and attended Brentwood Academy.  Other Tigers from the Volunteer State include: junior LB Mark Brown (Germantown), junior P/K Damon Duval (Chattanooga), and sophomore OL Mark Pera (Memphis).

DUVAL AGAINST THE COMMODORES
Damon Duval has played a vital role in Auburn's last two victories over Vanderbilt.  Last year in Nashville, Duval kicked a game-winning 49-yard field goal with 2:58 remaining and averaged 45.5
yards in six punts.  In 2000, Duval tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Lorenzo Diamond on a fake field goal attempt in the second quarter, had a 22-yard field goal, and averaged 50.5 yards in eight punts.

FAST START FOR WILLIS
After being slowed during his junior season with a sprained foot, senior WR Marcel Willis is off to a fast start in 2002, leading Auburn with six receptions for 67 yards.  Willis, who had 14 catches for
142 yards in nine games in 2001, had a career day at Vanderbilt last season catching four balls for 87 yards.  In two career games against the Commodores, Willis has five catches for 135 yards and one touchdown. The Jacksonville, Fla., native has also caught a pass in 22 of his last 23 games.

PRODUCTION FROM TIGHT ENDS
Auburn's tight end trio of Robert Johnson, Lorenzo Diamond, and Cooper Wallace have combined for nine receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns, resulting in 32 percent of the Tigers' passing yards.  In 2001, Johnson, Diamond and Jay Ratliff combined for 350 yards (29
catches, four TD's) on the year which was just 15 percent of Auburn's passing yards.  Against Western Carolina, Johnson had a team-high four catches for 44 yards, while Diamond and Wallace each had two receptions and one touchdown.

68 GET THE CALL
A total of 68 of the 85 players that dressed against Western Carolina saw action for the Tigers, including 14 that did not see time in the opener at Southern California.  The 68 that played did not
include starting LB Dontarrious Thomas, DE Reggie Torbor, DE Jay Ratliff and C Ben Nowland, who were rested by the coaching staff.

CONVERTING ON THIRD DOWN
Auburn, which converted on just 1-of-5 third down conversions in the second half of the season opener at USC, were a perfect 6-of-6 in the second half of the Tigers' 56-0 win over Western Carolina.  For the game, Auburn was 8-of-11 (72.7%) on third down, the best effort in a
game since 2000 against Northern Illinois, when the Tigers were 11-of-15 (73.3%). The Tigers' 50 percent conversion on third down is second in the SEC.

LONG SCORES FOR CADILLAC
In nine career touchdown runs, Carnell Williams has had five scores of 20 yards or longer, including all three this season.   Last season, Williams ran for a 51-yard score at Vanderbilt and a career-long 55-yard TD at Arkansas.  This season, Williams scored at USC from 23 yards out and against Western Carolina reached the goal-line with runs of 20 and 42 yards.

WESTERN CAROLINA SUPERLATIVES
Auburn's 37 first downs were the second-most in school history and tied for the fourth most in a game by an SEC school ... It was the most first downs by an SEC team since Kentucky had 37 against Louisville in 1998 ... The school record for first downs in a game is 39 against Ole Miss in 1985 ... The 56 points were the most scored under Tommy Tuberville and the most by an Auburn team since posting 62 points against Fresno State in 1996 ... The 621 yards of total offense was the sixth best total in Auburn history (74 yards shy of school record set in 1985 vs. SW Louisiana) and was the most total offense under Tommy Tuberville ... It was the most total offense by an Auburn team since 1995 when the Tigers had 617 against UT-Chattanooga ... With 345 yards
rushing and 276 yards passing, it was the first time since 1995 at Mississippi State (332 rush/320 pass) that Auburn has had more than 300 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same game.

ROOKIE ROLL CALL
A total of 24 Auburn freshmen have played seen action in the first two games of the season, including 14 that played in the season opener against Southern California.  True freshmen wide receivers Ben Obomanu and Devin Aromashodu each got the starting nod for the Tigers against USC.  The other true freshmen to play in the opener included DB Will Herring, NG T.J. Jackson,  LB Tyrone Martin, WR Anthony Mix, OL Troy Reddick,  RB Trey Smith. Against Western Carolina, true freshmen WR Motavis Pitts and OL Troy Reddick each started along with redshirt freshmen LB Antarrious Williams and RT Taylor Bourgeois.  Ten freshmen made their Auburn debuts against Western Carolina.

THE GRADUATES
The 2002 Auburn squad features six players that have received their degrees.  The six include QB Daniel Cobb, K/P Damon Duval, DS Michael Lindsey, OL Ryan Hockett, C Ben Nowland, and DB Rashaud Walker.

STARTING LIST
Among the 12 returning starters from the 2001 squad, nine have made 10 or more starts in their careers.  On the offensive side of the ball, senior TE Lorenzo Diamond leads the team with 25 career starts, while senior C Ben Nowland has 22 starts and junior T Monreko Crittenden has 12. Defensively, senior DB Rashaud Walker and junior DT DeMarco McNeil each have 23 starts under their belts.  Junior linebacker Dontarrious Thomas (13), senior CB Roderick Hood (13), junior DE Reggie Torbor (12) and junior SS Roshard Gilyard (10) all have started 10 or more games in their Auburn careers.

20+ POINTS EQUALS VICTORY
Under Tommy Tuberville, Auburn is 20-1 when scoring 20 or more points in a game, including a perfect 20-0 mark in the regular season.  Auburn's only loss in the last three years when scoring 20+ points was a 31-28 loss to Michigan in the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl. Dating back to 1995, Auburn is 43-8 when scoring 20 or more points in a game.  The Tigers last loss in the regular season when scoring 20+ points was a 24-21 loss to Arkansas on Oct. 31, 1999, in
Jordan-Hare Stadium.

DUVAL NEARS CAREER MARKS
Senior All-America kicker Damon Duval enters his senior season within reach of several Auburn kicking and scoring records.  The preseason Playboy Magazine All-American is currently fourth in
school-history with 220 career points, 54 points shy of Bo Jackson's school record of 274 points. With 214 points kicking in his career, Duval needs 23 points to pass Al Del Greco's school mark or 236.  The Chattanooga, Tenn., native is six field goals made away from breaking Win Lyle's mark of 45 and needs eight more field goal attempts and 17 PAT's to set the school record in each category.

SIXTH YEAR FOR COBB
Auburn quarterback Daniel Cobb, who was named the Tigers' starter during two-a-days, was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA in January.  Cobb's story began in 1997, when doctors suggested that he should give up football.  During a workout in his redshirt freshman
season at the University of Georgia, Cobb's right arm blew up to twice the size of his left arm. After a series of tests at a hospital, it was determined that he had a blood clot five inches from his heart.  Cobb suffered from Paget-von Schrotter Syndrome, which caused his first rib to pinch against a cluster of veins under his collarbone, restricting blood flow to his right arm and causing severe clotting.   In order to continue playing football, Cobb underwent surgery to remove his first rib which is a standard procedure to deal with the syndrome.  After several other additional problems and a trip to a vascular surgeon at UCLA, Cobb played in his first football game in two
years at Butler County Junior College.  After leading Butler County to a national championship in 1999, he transferred to Auburn.

AUBURN STREAKS
Damon Duval has attempted a field goal in 18 consecutive games dating back to the 2000 season ... Auburn has won 20 straight regular season contests when scoring 20 or more points ... Has gone 33 consecutive games without being shutout, which is currently the sixth-longest streak in school history.