The 1986 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by

Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...

, the team finished the season with a 10–2 record. Auburn snapped a two-game winning streak by

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

in the

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferen ...

. Auburn went on to defeat USC in the Florida Citrus Bowl, 16–7.

Schedule

Personnel

Rankings

Game summaries

At No. 13 Mississippi State

At Florida

For most of the game, Auburn dominated coach Galen Hall's unranked Florida Gators at Florida Field. The Tigers defense was stifling, and forced Gators substitute quarterback Rodney Brewer to commit four turnovers in the first two quarters. Hall replaced Brewer with starting quarterback

Kerwin Bell Kerwin Douglas Bell (born June 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak ...

, who had missed two games with a knee injury. Tigers tailback

Brent Fullwood Brent Leanrd Fullwood (born October 10, 1963), from Saint Cloud High School, is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first ...

gained 166 yards on the ground, including a second-quarter touchdown, to give Auburn a 17–0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Bell then led the Gators on two scoring drives, with Gators placekicker Robert McGinty—a transfer from Auburn—booting a 51-yard field goal to close the Tigers' advantage to 17−10 with 1:45 to play. With thirty-six seconds remaining in the game, Bell directed one final 79-yard drive in ten plays that was capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver

Ricky Nattiel Ricky Rennard Nattiel ( ; born January 25, 1966), nicknamed "Ricky the Rocket", is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s and 19 ...

, who was playing with a separated shoulder. The limping Bell then surprised the Tigers defense by running in the two-point conversion and completing the comeback, with the Gators winning 18–17.

Vs. USC (Florida Citrus Bowl)

References

Auburn Auburn Tigers football seasons Citrus 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 ...

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