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Auburn gets chance to rebound vs. unbeaten Florida

Oct 10, 2006 - 9:58 PM No. 2 Florida (6-0) at No. 11 Auburn (5-1), 7:45 pm EDT

AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) - Second-ranked Florida quickly has to forget about an impressive victory.

The Gators look to remain the only undefeated Southeastern Conference team Saturday when they visit angry No. 11 Auburn.

Last Saturday, Florida (6-0, 4-0 SEC East) defeated then-No. 9 Louisiana State at "The Swamp," 23-10, to open a 1 1/2-game lead over Georgia in the division. The Gators have a bye after this one before taking on the Bulldogs in the annual "Cocktail Party" game in Jacksonville.

True freshman Tim Tebow threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in limited action spelling senior Chris Leak for the Gators, who rank second in the country in scoring defense at 9.5 points per game.

Auburn (5-1, 3-1 West) was ranked second in the nation before getting stunned by Arkansas here, 27-10.

Brandon Cox was sacked five times and Kenny Irons was limited to 75 rushing yards for the Tigers, who lost for just the second time in their last 22 SEC games.

"They lined up and came off the ball and beat us to the punch on both sides of the line of scrimmage," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said after the loss. "We are disappointed but this is not over. We know we have a lot of football left and this was the first half of the season. We are not that bad of a football team."

Florida has won eight of the last nine encounters with Auburn, but the teams have not met since 2002, when the Gators posted a 30-23 home triumph in overtime. In 2001, however, Damon Duval's 44-yard field goal with 10 seconds left lifted Auburn to a 23-20 triumph over No. 1 Florida here.

"They are very similar to LSU in terms of speed and the way they attack the football on defense," Leak said of the Tigers. "They are obviously a great team and very disciplined like the LSU team. Auburn has a very tough defense and they play very well at home. We know we are going into a hostile environment and we know we are going to have to go in there and play our best game."