Teams' Belt Records

Previous Belt Meetings:       None

The 22^nd ranked, 4-2 Auburn Tigers of coach Tommy Tuberville traveled to Fayetteville to meet the 3-2 Arkansas Razorbacks of coach Houston Nutt.  The Tigers played one of their best defensive games but the offense was limited to 3 field goals from freshman PK Wes Byrum including a 20-yard kick with 0:21 to play as Auburn retained The Belt with a 9-7 win.  The Razorbacks hurt their chances throughout the game as they were assessed 10 penalties for 100 yards including a personal foul that helped to sustain the Tigers' opening drive.  The 14-play, 67-yard drive resulted in Byrum's 22-yard field goal that gave Auburn a 3-0 lead.  Neither team mounted a scoring challenge until early in the 2^nd quarter when Arkansas drove to the Tigers' 24-yard line but PK Alex Tejada's 41-yard field goal attempt was wide right.  The teams went to intermission with Auburn holding the slim 3-0 lead.  In the 3^rd quarter, Auburn took their first drive 75 yards to the Razorbacks' 13-yard line aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty & a personal foul penalty.  The drive ended when Tigers' RB Brad Lester's fumble was recovered by Arkansas' S Matt Hewitt, who was the culprit on the roughing-the-passer penalty, at the Razorbacks' 6-yard line.  Auburn again drove inside the Arkansas 20-yard line but on the last play of the 3^rd quarter, Byrum missed a 36-yard field goal attempt wide right & the teams started the final quarter with Auburn still holding a 3-0 lead.  After a short punt to start the 4^th quarter that gave the Tigers' the ball at Razorbacks' 44-yard line, Auburn got a 38-yard field goal from Byrum that pushed the lead to 6-0 with 10:11 to play.  Another Arkansas punt was followed by another missed field goal from Byrum as his 46-yard attempt was wide right.  The missed attempt gave the Razorbacks the ball at their own 29-yard line & they finally put together a scoring drive.  A pass interference penalty against Tigers' S Zac Etheridge started the drive before back-up QB Robert Johnson connected with WR Peyton Hillis for a 15-yard gain that gave Arkansas the ball at Auburn's 41-yard line.  Three plays later All-SEC RB Felix Jones broke over right tackle for a 17-yard gain to Tigers' 3-yard line before it appeared the Razorbacks may have stopped themselves with a holding penalty.  Arkansas' QB Casey Dick found WR Lucas Miller in the left corner of the end zone for the go ahead score with 1:36 to play.  Trailing 7-6, Auburn got another break when the ensuing kick-off went out-of-bounds.  Tigers' RB Brad Lester returned the re-kick 22 yards to the Auburn 47-yard line.  Tigers' QB Brandon Cox drove Auburn to the Razorbacks' 3-yard line highlighted by a 30-yard completion to WR Robert Dunn.  With 0:21 to play, Byrum converted the 20-yard field goal attempt giving the Tigers a 9-7 win.  Cox finished with 101 yards passing while the Tigers defense held Arkansas' rushing attack, led by All-American RB Darren McFadden, to just 67 yards.  Dick threw for 111 yards with a touchdown as well as an interception in the loss.  Arkansas finished the season 8-5 while Auburn finished the season 9-4, ranked 15^th nationally.  Arkansas would play for The Belt again in 6 weeks.