Auburn knocks off Florida; no more SEC unbeatens

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Auburn's defense was getting run over again,

this time by No. 2 Florida and it's two-headed quarterback attack.

Coach Tommy Tuberville had seen enough and challenged his

defenders at halftime.

The Tigers responded, scoring on a blocked punt and a last-play

fumble return and making a pivotal late interception to beat the

Gators 27-17 on Saturday night and leave the Southeastern

Conference without an unbeaten team.

"We couldn't slow them down in the first half, and they

couldn't move it in the second half," Tuberville crowed.

"Offensively, we didn't score a touchdown. How do you do that and

beat a team like that?"

In the end, that merciless SEC claimed another victim as Florida

became the fourth team ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 to lose this

season, joining Texas, Notre Dame and Auburn.

The 11th-ranked Tigers (6-1, 4-1) turned the tables on Chris

Leak, Tim Tebow & Co. in the second half, benefiting from the

quarterback's fumble deep in Auburn territory that killed a chance

for at least a go-ahead field goal.

Florida coach Urban Meyer challenged the call arguing that it

was an incomplete pass but replay officials let the play stand --

and it turned the game around. It also cost the Gators their final

timeout, but he didn't grouse about the call after the game.

Neither did Leak, though he said he thought his arm was going

forward.

"We will go back and watch it on TV, but obviously there wasn't

enough evidence to overturn the call on the field," Meyer said.

"We have to live with the call and we have to get better."

Eric Brock's interception of Leak's pass set up the last of John

Vaughn's four field goals, a 39-yarder with 31 seconds left after

missing a 45-yard attempt on the previous possession.

"We needed a big play at that moment," Brock said. "We played

lights-out the entire second half."

It was just another chapter in the topsy-turvy saga of SEC

front-runners this season, with Auburn beating LSU, Arkansas

beating then-No. 2 Auburn last week and Florida (6-1, 4-1) toppling

Tennessee and LSU. The internal battering has threatened to leave

the league without a strong national championship contender.

Auburn hardly looked like the same team that was physically

whipped in that 27-10 loss to the Razorbacks -- at least in the

second half.

Tuberville's halftime scolding of the defense worked.

"He just said it looked like they were playing scared," said

quarterback Brandon Cox, who passed for an efficient 182 yards.

"He told us we had just as much talent on defense as they had on

offense."

The Tigers have now won six consecutive home games against

top-10 opponents and eight of nine overall. The Gators had won five

in a row against ranked opponents, one shy of the school record.

Trailing 21-17, Florida got a final attempt from its own 20 with

31 seconds left. Three incompletions later, Leak hit Dallas Baker

across the middle and Baker lateralled to Jarred Fayson, whose own

lateral attempt turned into a fumble recovered by Patrick Lee. The

defensive back raced 20 yards into the end zone to place an

exclamation point on the Tigers' win.

Many Auburn fans lingered in their seats well after the finale,

and a number of players headed to the student section to celebrate

with fans before heading to their locker room.

An elated Tuberville wanted to join Auburn fans in the

traditional toilet papering of Toomer's Corner downtown.

"Where's my toilet paper?" he said. "I'm going to Toomer's

Corner. What a game! Good gosh!"

Auburn's other touchdown came when Tre Smith returned a blocked

punt 15 yards early in the third quarter to give Auburn an 18-17

lead.

The Gators appeared poised to retake the lead early in the

fourth. Leak hit Baker on a 32-yard pass down the right sideline

and receiver Andre Caldwell gained 27 yards on an option pitch.

On third-and-3 from the 6, Leak started to throw then decided to

hold on as Auburn's Quentin Groves applied pressure. The ball

squirted from Leak's hand and linebacker Tray Blackmon scooped it

up. Blackmon was playing in his first game of the season after a

six-game suspension.

Meyer said there was plenty of blame to go around despite Leak's

uncharacteristic mistakes.

"When you face a pass rush like that in this type of

environment, bad things can happen," Meyer said.

Florida managed only 85 yards and five first downs after

halftime. Leak completed just 9-of-17 passes for 108 yards and a

touchdown.

Leak and his back-up Tebow both accounted for TDs en route to a

17-11 halftime lead. Leak hit Baker for a 15-yard scoring pass and

Tebow ran 16 yards into the end zone on his only play of the half.

Brad Lester ran for a career-high 94 yards and Kenny Irons

gained another 67. Groves had three sacks.

Even Auburn's mistakes turned into points.

Florida's Derrick Harvey, who had 2½ sacks in the first half,

recovered a fumble by tight end Tommy Trott on the Florida 3. Left

guard Jim Tartt was called for holding in the end zone on the next

play, giving the Tigers a safety.

The Gators were left nursing wounded national title hopes, and

hoping for a rematch in the SEC title game.

"That is real bitter, but we are going to move forward and stay

focused on the SEC championship," Caldwell said.