AT&T Cotton Bowl at Dallas, TX

17   1 2 3 4 T Auburn 7 7 3 0 17   Nebraska 7 7 0 0 14 14

Auburn (10-2)

Coach: Tommy Tuberville Record at AU: 70-29 (8 years) Bowl appearances: 32 Bowl record: 17-13-2 Last bowl: 2006 Capital One Wisconsin 24, Auburn 10 2006 SEC West finish: 6-2, t-2nd

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Nebraska (9-4)

Coach: Bill Callahan Record at UN: 22-14 (3 years) Bowl appearances: 43 Bowl record: 22-21 Last bowl: 2005 Alamo Nebraska 32, Michigan 28 2006 Big 12 North finish: 6-2, 1st

Auburn plays horribly, defeats Nebraska anyway 17-14 in Cotton Bowl

Recap: Once again, Auburn was giving up drive-killing sacks, struggling to run the ball and producing scant yardage.

The 10th-ranked Tigers managed a feeble 46 first-half yards and had to rely on big plays from special teams and defense for a 17-14 victory over No. 22 Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl on Monday.

It was hardly the offensive explosion they were hoping for with quarterback Brandon Cox, tailback Kenny Irons and receiver Courtney Taylor back in good health.

``It's just what you call sloppy football,'' Taylor said. ``We didn't play our best game, but at the same time we got the job done. That's what we've been doing all year long. That's the key thing, to come out with the victory.''

The Tigers (11-2) are better at racking up wins than big yardage. They had just 178 total yards against the Cornhuskers (9-5), their fourth time being held to less than 215 yards this season.

Their two touchdowns came on drives totaling 23 yards in the first half, following Nebraska's botched fourth-down attempt and an interception by Karibi Dede....more

Scoring Summary  FIRST QUARTER  NEB TD 7:37 Nate Swift 13 yard pass from Zac Taylor (Cornhuskers 6, Tigers 0)    NEB PAT 7:37 Jordan Congdon kick (Cornhuskers 7, Tigers 0)    AUB TD 0:56 Carl Stewart 9 yard pass from Brandon Cox (Cornhuskers 7, Tigers 6)    AUB PAT 0:56 John Vaughn kick (Tigers 7, Cornhuskers 7)    SECOND QUARTER  AUB TD 12:22 Carl Stewart 1 yard run (Tigers 13, Cornhuskers 7)    AUB PAT 12:22 John Vaughn kick (Tigers 14, Cornhuskers 7)    NEB TD 9:00 Brandon Jackson 20 yard run (Tigers 14, Cornhuskers 13)    NEB PAT 9:00 Jordan Congdon kick (Tigers 14, Cornhuskers 14)    THIRD QUARTER  AUB FG 6:20 John Vaughn 42 yard (Tigers 17, Cornhuskers 14)      Statistics  Auburn Passing   C/ATT YDS LG TD INT Brandon Cox 10/21 111 21 1 0   Team 10/21 111 21 1 0    Nebraska Passing   C/ATT YDS LG TD INT Zac Taylor 14/26 126 24 1 1   Nebraska Team 0/1 0 0 0 0   Team 14/27 126 24 1 1  Auburn Rushing   ATT YDS AVG TD LG Ben Tate 4 23 5.8 0 21   Kenny Irons 24 72 3.0 0 14   Brandon Cox 5 -32 -6.4 0 0   Carl Stewart 1 1 1.0 1 1   Courtney Taylor 1 3 3.0 0 3   Team 35 67 1.9 1 21    Nebraska Rushing   ATT YDS AVG TD LG Zac Taylor 4 -5 -1.3 0 4   Dane Todd 1 -15 -15.0 0 0   Terrence Nunn 1 -2 -2.0 0 0   Marlon Lucky 25 88 3.5 0 10   Brandon Jackson 7 38 5.4 1 20   Team 38 104 2.7 1 20  Auburn Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD LG Gabe McKenzie 1 12 12.0 0 12   Prechae Rodriguez 1 18 18.0 0 18   Kenny Irons 1 2 2.0 0 2   Carl Stewart 1 9 9.0 1 9   Courtney Taylor 6 70 11.7 0 21   Team 10 111 11.1 1 21    Nebraska Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD LG Dane Todd 1 4 4.0 0 4   Nate Swift 3 44 14.7 1 24   Maurice Purify 1 9 9.0 0 9   Terrence Nunn 1 8 8.0 0 8   Marlon Lucky 6 67 11.2 0 19   Brandon Jackson 2 -6 -3.0 0 0   Team 14 126 9.0 1 24  Team Stat Comparison   AUB NEB  Passing attempts - completions 21-10 27-14    Gross passing yards 111 126    Rushing attempts - yards 35-67 38-104    First downs 12 17    Punts - average 6-43.0 6-40.2    Return yards 55 23    Fumbles - lost 2-2 1-1    Penalties - yards 6-45 4-45    Time of possession 27:00 33:00

SMART CHART NEBR   TEAM   AUBRN 33.9 PTS FOR   25.4 18.2   PTS AGNST 13.9 15.7 DIFF.   11.5 250.8 PASS YDS   177.8 183.3 RUSH YDS   155.0 219.8   PASS D 171.7 126.9   RUSH D 125.8 -0.7   TO DIFF -0.4

POWER STATS YARDS PER POINT TEAM OFF DEF DIFF NEBR 12.8 19.1 -6.3 AUBRN 13.1 21.4 -8.3 YARDS PER PASS TEAM OFF DEF DIFF NEBR 9.0 6.8 2.2 AUBRN 8.2 6.6 1.6 YARDS PER RUSH TEAM OFF DEF DIFF NEBR 4.4 4.1 0.4 AUBRN 4.3 3.8 0.5