1983 Auburn Tigers football team

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1983 Auburn Tigers football
Auburn Tigers logo.svg
National champion (Billingsley, FR, The New York Times)
Co-national champion (Rothman, Sagarin)
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 9–7 vs Michigan
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
1983 record11–1 (6–0 SEC)
Head coach
  • Pat Dye (3rd season)
Offensive coordinatorJack Crowe (2nd season)
Offensive schemeWishbone
Defensive coordinatorFrank Orgel (3rd season)
Home stadiumJordan–Hare Stadium
Seasons
← 1982
1984 →
1983 Southeastern Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Auburn $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Georgia 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 1 – 1
No. 6 Florida 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
Tennessee 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 15 Alabama 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Ole Miss 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 6 – 0
Kentucky 2 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 1
Mississippi State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
LSU 0 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Vanderbilt 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Pat Dye, the team finished the season with an 11–1 record and won their first Southeastern Conference (SEC) title since 1957. The team was named national champion by NCAA-designated major selectors of Billingsley, College Football Researchers Association, and The New York Times, while named co-national champion by both Rothman and Sagarin.[1]

Season[]

The squad featured several star players who went on to long professional careers including Bo Jackson, Randy Campbell, Tommie Agee, Lionel James, Donnie Humphrey, Steve Wallace and Al Del Greco. Prior to the season, Dye became the first coach in the SEC to require players to take blood and urine tests for drugs.[2] Also prior to the season, fullback Greg Pratt collapsed after making his required time in running tests and died a short time later.

The team capped a stellar 11–1 season, with a 9–7 victory over Michigan in the Sugar Bowl. Despite entering the bowl games ranked third in both major polls, and with both teams ranked higher losing their bowl games, the Tigers ended ranked third in the final AP and the UPI Coaches' poll as Miami jumped from 5th from the AP and 4th from the UPI Coaches' poll to claim the AP/UPI Coaches' National Championship award.[3] Auburn had played the toughest schedule in the nation, including nine bowl teams, eight of which were ranked in the top 20 (five in the top ten), and two teams Auburn faced would compete against each other in the 1983 Florida Citrus Bowl (Tennessee won the game against Maryland 30–23). Also, Auburn beat Florida by a touchdown 28–21, the same Florida team that defeated Miami in the beginning of the season by a 28–3 score.

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 10Southern Miss*No. 4
W 24–373,500[4]
September 1711:30 am CDTNo. 3 Texas*No. 5
  • Jordan–Hare Stadium
  • Auburn, Alabama
CBSL 7–2073,500
September 24at TennesseeNo. 11
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee (rivalry)
W 37–1495,185
October 1Florida State*No. 10
  • Jordan–Hare Stadium
  • Auburn, Alabama
W 27–2475,625
October 8at KentuckyNo. 7
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, Kentucky
W 49–2157,989
October 15at Georgia Tech*No. 5
  • Grant Field
  • Atlanta, Georgia (rivalry)
W 31–1355,112
October 22Mississippi StateNo. 5
  • Jordan–Hare Stadium
  • Auburn, Alabama
W 28–1371,500
October 29No. 5 FloridaNo. 4
  • Jordan–Hare Stadium
  • Auburn, Alabama (rivalry)
CBSW 28–2175,700
November 5No. 7 Maryland*No. 3
  • Jordan–Hare Stadium
  • Auburn, Alabama
W 35–2375,600
November 122:50 pm CSTat No. 4 GeorgiaNo. 3
ABCW 13–782,122
December 32:50 pm CSTvs. No. 19 AlabamaNo. 3
  • Legion Field
  • Birmingham, Alabama (Iron Bowl)
ABCW 23–2077,310
January 2, 19847:00 pm CSTvs. No. 8 Michigan*No. 3
  • Louisiana Superdome
  • New Orleans, Louisiana (Sugar Bowl)
ABCW 9–777,893
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[]

1983 Auburn Tigers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 30 Tommie Agee So
OL 76 Pat Arrington Sr
WR 11 Clayton Beauford Jr
QB 14 Randy Campbell Sr
RB 21 Ed Graham Jr
RB 34 Bo Jackson So
RB 6 Lionel James Sr
OL 74 David Jordan Sr
OL 66 Jeff Lott So
QB 17 Mike Mann Jr
C 55 Ben Tamburello Fr
OL 78 Steve Wallace So
TE 85 Ed West Sr
WR 1 Chris Woods Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
NT 61 Dowe Aughtman Sr
FS 31 Vic Beasley Jr
LB 54 Gregg Carr Jr
DE 96 John Dailey Jr
DE 90 Kevin Greene Jr
DT 79 Donnie Humphrey Sr
DT 88 John Prudhomme Sr
LB 42 Jeff Jackson Sr
CB 27 David King Jr
SS 9 Tommy Powell Fr
DE 95 Gerald Robinson So
DL 99 Doug Smith Sr
CB 45 Jimmie Warren So
DL 93 Quency Williams Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 5 Lewis Colbert So
K 3 Al Del Greco Sr
Head coach
  • Pat Dye
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Rankings[]

Further information: 1983 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP 5 (2) 4 (1) 5 11 10 7 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 (7) 
Coaches 3 (3) 3 (1) 4 14 10 10 8 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 (4)

Season summary[]

Southern Miss[]

See also: Southern Miss Golden Eagles football


Texas[]

See also: 1983 Texas Longhorns football


Florida State[]

See also: 1983 Florida State Seminoles football team


Florida[]

See also: 1983 Florida Gators football team

[5]

at Georgia[]

1 234Total
• No. 3 Auburn 7 600 13
No. 4 Georgia 0 007 7
  • Date: November 12
  • Location: Sanford Stadium
  • Game attendance: 82,122
  • TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles
See also: 1983 Georgia Bulldogs football team and Deep South's Oldest Rivalry


[6]

vs. Alabama[]

1 234Total
No. 19 Alabama 0 1460 20
• No. 3 Auburn 0 10130 23
  • Date: December 3
  • Location: Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama
  • Game attendance: 77,310
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), Cloudy with rain, Wind SE 10 mph (16 km/h)
  • Referee: Johnny Cook
  • TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles
See also: 1983 Alabama Crimson Tide football and Iron Bowl


Sophomore Bo Jackson ran for 256 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Tigers won the SEC title outright. His long touchdown runs – 69 yards and 71 yards, respectively – bookended the day's scoring.[7]

vs. Michigan (Sugar Bowl)[]

1 234Total
Michigan 7 000 7
• Auburn 0 036 9
  • Date: January 1
  • Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
  • Game attendance: 77,893
  • Game weather: Indoors
  • TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles
Main article: 1984 Sugar Bowl
See also: 1983 Michigan Wolverines football team


[8]

References[]

  1. ^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. p. 114. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "Auburn Testing Players for Drugs". New York Times. 1983-08-22. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  3. ^ Barnhart, Tony. "Auburn Wins 1984 Sugar Bowl, but National Championship Still Eludes Tigers". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/CBS. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  4. ^ "Auburn rips Southern Miss". The Selma Times-Journal. September 11, 1983. Retrieved March 26, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "FLORIDA IS BEATEN BY AUBURN, 28-21". The New York Times. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  6. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1983 Nov 13. Retrieved 2018-Nov-12.
  7. ^ "AUBURN SETS BACK ALABAMA BY 23-20". The New York Times. December 4, 1983. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  8. ^ "TIGERS SET BACK MICHIGAN BY 9-7". The New York Times. January 2, 1984. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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