University of Tennessee Athletics
1997 SEC Championship Recap
December 03, 2001 | Football
Tennessee 30, Auburn
29
Dec. 6, 1997
Yet another SEC Championship Game went down to the wire in 1997, when Tennesee defeated Auburn, 30-29.
Before a Georgia Dome Sporting Event record crowd of 74,896, the Vols came from a 20-7 second quarter deficit to defeat the Tigers on Peyton Manning's 73-yard TD pass to Marcus Nash early in the fourth quarter.
A defensive struggle ensued and the Vols were off to the FedEx Orange Bowl to play for the Bowl Alliance National Championship while the Tigers returned to Atlanta to play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
The Vols got on the scoreboard first on a 40-yard TD pass from Manning to Peerless Price. However, that was all the scoring Tennessee could muster until a Jeff Hall 27-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
In the meantime, Auburn accounted for 20 unanswered points, led by a 24-yard fumble return by Brad Ware and a 51-yard TD pass from Dameyune Craig to Tyrone Goodson. AU's Jaret Holmes also hit two field goals.
After the two teams traded touchdowns midway through the third quarter, Tennessee mounted its charge. Behind 27-17, UT scored on a 46-yard pass from Manning to Price. On the PAT attempt, Auburn's Quinton Reese returned the blocked kick for a two-point conversion to pull the Vols to within six, 29-23.
That set up the heroics on Nash's 73-yard TD reception from Manning and Hall's PAT that won the game for Tennessee.
The game's MVP was UT quarterback Peyton Manning, who completed 25 of 43 passes for 373 yards with four TDs and two interceptions.
| Scoring Summary |
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| Auburn |
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| Tennessee |
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| Team Stats |
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| First Downs |
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| Rushes-Yards |
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| Passing Yards |
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| Passes (C-A-I) |
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| Total Offensive Plays |
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| Total Offense |
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| Fumbles-Lost |
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| Penalties-Yards |
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| Punts-Average |
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| Time of Possession |
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| Third Down Conversions |
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| Fourth Down Conversions |
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| Sacks By-Yards |
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RUSHING
UT - Lewis 31-127, Manning 4-2, Bryson 1-0.
AU - Williams 6-8, Carter 2-3, Beasley 5-(-9), Craig 8-(-17).
PASSING
UT - Manning 25-43-2 373.
AU - Craig 14-34-0 262.
RECEIVING
UT - Nash 9-126, Price 8-161, Copeland 4-36, Lewis 3-45, Edmonds 1-5.
AU - Poor 3-98, Beasley 3-56, Goodson 2-60, Bailey 2-16, Billard 1-13,
McLeod 1-13, Lowe 1-4, Cooper 1-2.
PUNTING
UT - Hogue 5-182 36.4.
AU - Holmes 10-438 43.8.
PUNT RETURNS
UT - Copeland 1-14, Fair 7-157.
AU - Cooper 2-15.
KICKOFF RETURNS
UT - Fair 1-17.
AU - Cooper 4-89.
INTERCEPTION RETURNS
UT - None.
AU - Bray 1-77, Casher 1-0.
FIELD GOALS
UT - Hall 1-1 (27).
AU - Holmes 2-3 (30),(48),45
