Down goes No. 10 Cocks

Auburn junior tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen forced a fumble and recovered a fumble against South Carolina Saturday. The recovered fumble was a big reason the Tigers won.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game and the Tigers trailing by four, quarterback Barrett Trotter connected with Lutzenkirchen on a third-and-five play from the Gamecocks' 9-yard line. Lutzenkirchen caught the ball at the 4-yard line, was stripped of it at the 1-yard line, and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.

The score gave Auburn a 16-13 lead, one it would not relinquish in the final minute of the game as the Tigers beat the No.10-ranked Gamecocks in Columbia to improve to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the SEC.

Auburn sophomore Michael Dyer, who averaged 15 carries per game before Saturday, had a career-high 41 attempts for 141 yards and a touchdown. Dyer's 41 carries ties the Auburn single-game rushing attempts record with Cadillac Williams, who had 41 against Georgia in 2001.

Trotter's touchdown pass to Lutzenkirchen was one of the few bright spots on the day for the junior quarterback. Trotter completed 12-of-23 passes for 112 yards, the touchdown and two interceptions.

Auburn's defense held South Carolina sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore to 66 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia was just 9-of-22 passing for 160 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, and rushed for 62 yards on 10 attempts.

The Tigers' defense gave up just 289 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers. Auburn also held South Carolina to 2-of-10 on third-down conversions.

Auburn got on the scoreboard first with a 21-yard field goal by Cody Parkey in the opening quarter, but South Carolina answered four minutes later with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Garcia to Alshon Jeffery. The extra-point attempt was blocked giving South Carolina a 6-3 edge.

The Tigers retook the lead early in the second quarter when Dyer scored from 1 yard out, but Parkey missed the extra point keeping it a three-point game at 9-6.

Auburn held the 9-6 lead until Lattimore scored on a 15-yard run with 5:58 left in the third quarter. The score remained the same until the last-minute touchdown catch by Lutzenkirchen.

South Carolina had a final chance to get into field goal range, but time expired as the Gamecocks reached the Tigers' 35-yard line.