Nearly 20 years later, former players relive Auburn's win over Penn State

AUBURN | It’s been nearly 20 years since Auburn and Penn State have faced off on the football field.

In January of 2003, an underdog Auburn team, ranked No. 19, took on No. 10 Penn State in the Capital One Bowl, in what turned out to be a classic. Auburn won the game, 13-9, in one of Joe Paterno’s few bowl losses.

And if those rankings sound familiar, they should. Nearly 20 years later, Auburn is currently ranked No. 22 as they prepare to take on No. 10 Penn State on Saturday night in Happy Valley.

The game featured a Tigers’ team entering the game 8-4, against a Penn State entering the game 9-3. The storyline that week in Orlando, Florida centered around how Auburn’s defense would stop 2,000-plus yard rusher Larry Johnson. It was a fair question, since Johnson reached the 2,000-yard mark with fewer carries than any other running back in history to that point. Johnson also added 20 touchdowns during his stellar senior season.

“They had Larry Johnson and he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. We were going in knowing he hadn’t faced defenses as good as he was going to face with us. We wanted to prove ourselves and shut Larry down. That was our number one goal,” former Auburn defensive tackle DeMarco McNeil told Auburn Live.

And McNeil and the rest of the Auburn defense had reason to be confident.

The season that could have been

Despite the Tigers’ 8-4 record, three of those losses were by a touchdown or less. Auburn opened the season falling at Southern Cal 24-17. That game saw true freshman Carnell “Cadillac” Williams nearly hit the 100-yard rushing mark in the first half. In the second half, Williams began cramping and the Tigers’ offense stalled. USC scored the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes remaining.

Auburn’s third loss of the season happened at Florida in overtime 30-23. The Tigers rallied from 23-7 down to tie the game at 23, then had a chip-shot field goal blocked at the end of regulation that would have won the game. That was Ronnie Brown’s coming out party, as he rushed for 163 yards after Williams’ broke his ankle in the first half.

The Tigers’ final loss of the season came inside Jordan-Hare Stadium to No. 7 Georgia. Auburn led 21-17 in the fourth quarter, before David Greene hit Michael Johnson on fourth-and-15 to put Georgia up 24-21 with 1:30 remaining in the game. Auburn lost the game and lost the SEC West crown in the process.

Johnson caught the pass over cornerback Horace Willis, which is something former Auburn All-American linebacker Karlos Dansby won’t soon forget.

“Get your ass back, Horace,” Dansby recalled laughing, as he relived the moment with Auburn Live.

The potential of that team was realized on other occasions, as Auburn beat No. 10 LSU 31-7, and finished the season with one of the greatest Iron Bowl upsets in history. Unranked Auburn beat No. 9 Alabama 17-7 in Tuscaloosa, without Brown or Williams, as freshman Tre Smith ran for 126 yards and into Auburn football lore. That Auburn team was a handful of plays from ending the season 11-1.

“That was one of the most talented teams I’ve been on,” Brown, a former Auburn running back and No. 2 overall draft pick, told Auburn Live. “We had a lot of talent, a lot of guys that could have played at the next level. That team was close. We got along really well, there were great leaders. When you think about that season, I felt like offensively, we weren’t carrying our own. We started to catch our stride late, but we were a very talented team.”

That talent is why Auburn started the 2003 season picked No. 1 by some publications. While the 2003 season almost got Tommy Tuberville fired, looking back, the 2002 season helped build the foundation for the undefeated season that transpired two years later.

A ferocious Tigers’ defense

All week, both teams participated in events and spent time around each other as part of bowl week festivities. Dansby remembers vividly a confident Penn State squad, maybe too confident.

“They were real cocky leading up to it,” Dansby remembers. “They were super cocky, which was cool for us to see. We knew we had the goods to shut them up and shut them down.”

Dansby was right about that Auburn defense having the goods. From that starting defense, Dansby, fellow linebackers Mark Brown and Dontarrious Thomas, defensive linemen McNeil, Reggie Torbor, Jay Ratliff and Spencer Johnson, cornerbacks Carlos Rogers and Roderick Hood, safeties Junior Rosegreen and Travaris Robinson, all later spent time in the NFL.

Dansby, Torbor, Ratliff, Johnson, Rogers and Hood especially stood out, as all played multiple years in the NFL, with Super Bowl appearances and Pro Bowl selections scattered throughout. And McNeil, Robinson and Rosegreen all earned All-SEC honors during their time at Auburn.

“That was the best defense I played on,” McNeil said. “We were a few plays away from having a special year. We played great defense. That was Gene Chizik’s first year. We played great, just couldn’t win as many games at the end, but we sure played some great defense that year.”

Dansby remembers a tough and fiesty defense that wasn’t fond of backing down to challenges.

“The talent we had, we were about to fight at practice,” Dansby said. “We knew we were good and we wanted it that bad. We were that competitive. That’s during the season, coming down the stretch, we’re having these competitive plays during practice. We had battles at practice and that carried over into the game.”

And shut them up and shut them down they did, as Auburn held Johnson to a season-low 72 yards rushing on 20 carries. In fact, Johnson was so frustrated with the swarming Auburn defense, he was complaining to his own offensive line during the game.

“He was complaining and telling his players to block somebody,” Dansby said. “We were all over those guys. We were hunting and Larry was the prey.”

McNeil remembers it the same way.

“Larry was whining and complaining that we were getting after him. I guess he thought he was going to run for 200 yards. He was shocked himself,” McNeil said. “We were tagging him. It was during the game, you could hear him complaining, slamming the ball down. He was making a lot of racket. The more we did that, the more complaining we did.”

Former Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell remembers what that defense was capable of doing. He faced that group every day in practice.

“Those guys were competitive. After that game, Dansby and D.T. were preseason All-Americans the next season. Junior Rosegreen, Carlos Rogers, Roderick Hood, Spencer Johnson, Reggie Torbor — we had some guys. The way they dominated that game, it was a sense of pride for them. Coach Chizik set the tempo, those guys were pumped after that game,” Campbell told Auburn Live.

“They still talk about it. That’s one of those football games you’ll never forget.”

Auburn’s Ronnie Brown steals the show

After Williams’ terrible ankle injury against Florida in game seven, Brown took over and took off. With just six starts that season, Brown finished the year rushing for 1,008 yards and 13 touchdowns. The vast majority of that happened in the last six games. The bowl game was Brown, and Auburn’s, opportunity to show they could do a little running of the football themselves.

“You look across and hear about their running back and what about us? What about our group?,” Brown said. “It was an opportunity, and a challenge for us. If they’re going to be focused on that running back, I’m sure they’re going to be focused on a comparison on the two running backs. It was a chance to be established and gain notoriety.”

Mission accomplished. Brown finished the game with 184 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score with two minutes remaining.

“We wanted to score, but we wanted to milk the clock,” Campbell said. “We played ball control the whole drive, short passes, running, it was just one of those things. Back then, if you can’t stop the run, you run until they stop it. That drive showed we were the more physical football team. It was all about running the football and playing great defense.”

Brown was proud to be the final nail in Penn State’s coffin, even if he prefers to be the hammer.

“I felt like I got better as the game went on,” Brown said. “As a player, I enjoyed that. I got a sense and a rhythm, then me being a bigger back, I tried to be the hammer and not the nail. The hits don’t hurt as much. If we keep the foot on the gas pedal, let’s see if they’ll keep that same energy. I knew I was going to be the one to quit. We maintained that energy the whole game.”

Brown’s day was paved by future NFL’ers Marcus McNeil and Ben Grubbs along the offensive line.

“It was all about Larry, but Ronnie stole the show,” former Auburn linebacker and coach Travis Williams told Auburn Live.

Advice for Saturday night

Now, it’s a new group of Tigers’ turn to face the legendary program from State College, Pennsylvania. And yes, the game will be inside Beaver Stadium instead of Tampa or Orlando, Florida – the sight of the only two meetings between Auburn and Penn State – but the goal remains the same.

Brown, who now works for the Auburn Tigers’ broadcasting team and provides color commentary during games, relayed a simple message to the team.

“The thing I try and tell the guys, don’t get into the mindset of what’s next,” Brown said. “Enjoy the moment, be where your feet are, and capitalize on the moment. You have to stay in the moment.”

Campbell sees a great opportunity.

“I can’t imagine what Saturday night will be like in Happy Valley. It’s going to be rocking, but this is why you come to Auburn and play in challenges like this,” Campbell said. “You get the change to lay it all out there and see how much you learned from the first two weeks.”

And McNeil, well, he may just put on a helmet before Saturday night is over.

“These are the kind of games you wish you can play in again,” he said. “There aren’t too many times I wished I could play again, but playing at night, White Out, Gameday is going to be there, this is one of the times I wouldn’t mind strapping it on one more time.”

Penn State head coach James Franklin has already made public pleas to the crowd to create a raucous environment for Auburn. But, like Florida, LSU, Georgia, Alabama and others before, a hostile road environment is an every-week occurrence in the SEC.

“Take advantage of it. Soak it up,” Dansby said. “It’ll be like Death Valley. It’s going to be packed to the roof. It’ll be the experience of a lifetime. Expect the crowd and make sure you’re communicating.

“It’s going to be loud. Anticipate that and don’t be shocked by that, and represent.”

Subscribe to Auburn Live for only $10 and get the next year of content from our team.