The 1970 Auburn Tigers football team represented

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in the

1970 NCAA University Division football season The 1970 NCAA University Division football season was marked by tragedy, due to two airplane crashes. On October 2, one of the planes carrying the Wichita State football team crashed on the way to a game against Utah State, killing 31 people on ...

. Under the leadership of head coach

Ralph Jordan Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

, Tigers completed the regular season with a record of 8–2. Auburn won the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

against Ole Miss by a score of 35–28. They completed the season with a record of 9–2 and were ranked No. 10 in the

AP poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and No. 9 in the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

.
2011 Auburn Tigers Football Media Guide
', Auburn University Athletic Department, Auburn, Alabama, p. 184 (2011). Retrieved August 19, 2011 The Tigers broke the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) record for total yards for the regular season up to that point with 4,850, exceeding the previous record of 4,725 yards set by the 1942 Georgia Bulldogs. They had 1,965 yards rushing and 2,885 yards passing."1970 ''Auburn Tigers set new team offensive record in SEC''
Rome News–Tribune, Sunday 13, 1970, p. 8-C.

Schedule

2005 Auburn Tigers Football Media Guide
', Auburn University Athletic Department, Auburn, Alabama, pp. 142, 178–180 (2005). Retrieved August 19, 2011

Game summaries

Tennessee

The first big test of the season came against Tennessee in Birmingham, Alabama. Tennessee came in ranked #17 in the country and Auburn was not ranked. Auburn overcame a 10–0 deficit to win 36–23. It was the only loss for Tennessee and cost them the SEC championship.

Florida

In a rivalry known for frequent close games, this one wasn't. It was the worst defeat for either side since 1917, when Auburn won 68–0. Pat Sullivan completed 21 of 27 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns with three of them caught by

Terry Beasley Terry Paul Beasley (born February 5, 1950) is a former American football player. He played collegiately at Auburn where he lettered from 1969 to 1971. In his college career, Beasley amassed 141 receptions, 2,507 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was ...

in the 63–14 drubbing. It was also Florida's homecoming game. It marked Auburn's fourth victory in a row against the Gators.

Tiger Bowl (LSU)

Auburn's first loss of the season came against LSU. LSU did not lose to any SEC team that year and won the SEC championship. They did not have to play Tennessee.

Iron Bowl (Alabama)

Alabama scored first on an 80-yard touchdown drive 3:17 into the game; then drove 70 yards to add another. After a pair of turnovers, another drive of 71 yards stalled at the 9 and they added a field goal to take the lead 17–0. Auburn finally scored midway through the second half with a touchdown and added a field goal to make it 17–10 at the half. They would then tie the game at 17 midway through the third. Alabama added a field goal at the beginning of the 4th quarter and Auburn answered tying the game again. Auburn then took the lead 27–20 and the Tide answered with a two-point conversion to take the lead by one. With 3:56 left to go in the game, Wallace Clark dove in for a touchdown from the three giving Auburn the lead by 6. Pat Sullivan threw the two-pointer to

, but the play was nullified by illegal motion and the subsequent attempt was intercepted. Alabama was unable to score again and Auburn won 33–28.''With 23 Points in the Last Half, Auburn Rallies to Down Tide''
Florence Times–Tri Cities Daily, December 29, 1970, pp. 17–18. Retrieved August 22, 2011.

Johnny Musso Johnny Musso (born March 6, 1950) is an American former football player, a running back for three seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears. Early years Born and rais ...

had over 200 yards rushing for the Tide and Pat Sullivan was 22 of 38 passing with 317 yards for Auburn.

Gator Bowl

In an unusual matchup between two teams from the same conference, Auburn met Ole Miss in the Gator Bowl. (The two teams did not meet during the regular season.) It was a matchup between two top quarterbacks, Pat Sullivan for Auburn and

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...

for the University of Mississippi. Archie Manning was recovering from a broken arm suffered on November 7, yet played against LSU a month later with his arm. Auburn won 35–28. Coach Jordan was unable to attend the game.''Auburn, Alabama To Record Wins: Gator Bowl''
Florence Times–Tri Cities Daily, December 30, 1970, p. 12. Retrieved August 22, 2011.",

Roster

Awards and honors

* SEC Most Valuable Player: Pat Sullivan ( QB) * SEC Back of the Year–Birmingham QB Club: Pat Sullivan ( QB) * SEC Back of the Year–Atlanta TD Club: Pat Sullivan ( QB) * All-Americans: Pat Sullivan ( QB),

( SE),

Larry Willingham Larry Levi Willingham (born December 22, 1948) is a retired professional American football player. He played in the National Football League for the St. Louis Cardinals (1971–1972) and in the World Football League for both the Birmingham Amer ...

( DB) * All-SEC first team: Pat Sullivan ( QB),

( SE), Gardner Jett ( SP),

( DB), Bobby Strickland ( LB)

References

{{Auburn Tigers football navbox

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Auburn Tigers football seasons Gator Bowl champion seasons

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...