ad 100803909-02

MONday, DECEMBER 22, 2014

Sports

Ohio States
offense reminds
Tide of Miss. State
Football, 2B
OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS

www.oanow.com

Auburn Womens Basketball

Tigers hold off Mustangs

Special to the News

Zach Bland/Auburn University

Auburns Kiani Parker (22) drives against SMU on Sunday in New York.

Guest
Commentary

NEW YORK Auburn built

a 23-point lead early in the
second half but had to hold
off a late SMU rally for a 5643 win Sunday afternoon in
the consolation game of the
St. Johns Chartwells Holiday
Classic.
Sophomore Khady Dieng led
the Tigers (8-3) with a seasonhigh 14 points and was named

See TIGERS, Page 5B

Movin On Up

EDITORS NOTE: John Cubelic was a wide

receiver at Auburn from 2006-2009 and
was a part of the Tigers when Will Muschamp was the defensive coordinator. This
column is his opinion on what Muschamp
will bring back to the program.

Panthers beat Browns, move into first place

See CUBELIC, Page 5B

to the All-Tournament team

for her effort throughout the
weekend. Senior Kiani Parker
contributed a career-high 11
points and five rebounds in the
win.

NFL

Muschamp
right fit
for Auburn

wo Fridays ago, fans of the

Auburn football program
received an early Christmas present. Will Muschamps
return to the Plains should
give all Tigers something to be
thankful for this holiday season.
Not because he was one of the
most sought-after candidates
on the market and not because
Gus Malzahn has
brought an Auburn man home
but because
Muschamp is exactly and precisely what Auburn
needs right now:
John
coach.
Cubelic a football
Auburns issues
on defense this
season, really in the past five
seasons, extend far beyond
opponents, expectations or
statistics. The hardest pill to
swallow wasnt surrendering the
big plays or the long drives, but
rather realizing the utter lack of
fundamentals. Watch tape of Auburn this season, or last season,
or even the 2010 season and you
will see a secondary that is outmatched in nearly every game.
You will see linebackers that
over-pursue the football play
after play. You will see defensive
linemen abandon their gap responsibilities and create chasms
in an already porous defense.
While the average fan can
recognize that a defense is bad,
if not necessarily why, SEC offensive coordinators wouldnt
(and didnt) have any trouble
understanding how to gash the
Tigers. Whats worse is that the
defenders looked foolish diving hopelessly at streaking wide
receivers and bouncing harmlessly off of bruising running
backs. Missed assignments are

Auburn 56, SMU 43

Auburn led by 20 with 10:22

to play after a 3-point play by
Hasina Muhammad gave the
Tigers a 47-27 lead. From that
point, however, SMU (4-7) tightened down on defense, forcing the Tigers into six turnovers
the rest of the way and holding Auburn to just one field
goal for the remainder of the
game.

Panthers 17, Browns 13

The Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. The Carolina

Panthers never quit on the season, and
now have a chance to repeat as NFC South
champions.
Cam Newton threw for one touchdown
and ran for another, and the Panthers defeated the Cleveland Browns, 17-13, on
Sunday to take sole possession of first
place in the division.
The victory sets up a winner-take-all showdown next Sunday at Atlanta between the Panthers (6-8-1) and Falcons (6-9) for the division
title. It also guarantees a team without even a
.500 record will win the NFC South.
The winner will join the 2010 Seattle Seahawks
as the only teams to reach the postseason in a nonstrike-shortened season with a losing record.
Now it all comes down to one game and thats
all we can ask for is to be in that situation, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said.
The Panthers have now won three straight
after going more than two months without a

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Carolina Panthers Jonathan Stewart (28) and Cam

Newton celebrate Stewarts touchdown against the
Cleveland Browns in the second half on Sunday.

victory. The Browns (7-8) were eliminated from

contention when San Diego beat San Francisco on
Saturday.

See PANTHERS, Page 6B

THE

Carolina Panthers Cam Newton (1) signals after running for a first down against the Cleveland Browns in the
first half on Sunday.

ASSOCIATED
PRESS

Falcons eliminate Saints, setting up Panthers showdown

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS Julio Jones

remarkable return kept the Falcons alive in the NFC South
playoff race while Jimmy Grahams fumble at the goal line
sank the Saints.
Coming back from a hip
injury that had kept him out
of practice for two weeks,
Jones caught seven passes
for 107 yards, and Atlanta remained in playoff contention with a 30-14 victory
Sunday.

Falcons 30, Saints 14

Matt Ryan completed 30-of40 passed for 322 yards and a
touchdown, and Devonta Freeman ran for a 31-yard score for
Atlanta (6-9), which faces Carolina (6-8-1) for the NFC South
title next week in the Georgia
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dome.
Atlanta Falcons strong safety Kemal Ishmael (36) strips the football from
New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham (80) after a reception near
See SHOWDOWN, Page 6B the goal line in the second half on Sunday.

ad 100817601-01