1986 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1986 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Pat Dye, the team finished the season with a 10–2 record. Auburn snapped a two-game winning streak by Alabama in the Iron Bowl. Auburn went on to defeat USC in the Florida Citrus Bowl, 16–7.^[1]

1986 Auburn Tigers football
Florida Citrus Bowl champion
Florida Citrus Bowl, W 16–7 vs. USC
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 6
Record	10–2 (4–2 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Dye (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Blakeney / Pat Sullivan
Offensive scheme	I formation
Defensive coordinator	Wayne Hall
Home stadium	Jordan-Hare Stadium
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 LSU $	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Alabama	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Mississippi State	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	1
Florida	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Chattanooga*	No. 14	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 42–14	58,000	^[2]
September 20	East Carolina*	No. 6	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 45–0	62,000	^[3]
September 27	Tennessee	No. 8	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ABC	W 34–8	72,500	^[4]
October 4	Western Carolina*	No. 7	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 55–6	63,000	^[5]
October 11	at Vanderbilt	No. 7	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TS	TBS	W 31–9	40,378	^[6]
October 18	Georgia Tech*	No. 7	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)		W 31–10	72,500	^[7]
October 25	at No. 13 Mississippi State	No. 7	Scott Field Starkville, MS	ESPN	W 35–6	42,700	^[8]
November 1	at Florida	No. 5	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 17–18	74,521	^[9]
November 8	Cincinnati*	No. 9	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		W 52–7	63,500	^[10]
November 15	No. 17 Georgia	No. 9	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 16–20	73,000	^[11]
November 29	vs. No. 7 Alabama	No. 14	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	ABC	W 21–17	75,808	^[12]
January 1	vs. USC*	No. 10	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL (Florida Citrus Bowl)	ABC	W 16–7	51,113	^[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1986 Auburn Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Tommie Agee WR Scott Bolton QB Jeff Burger RB Collis Campbell OL Yann Cowart WR Duke Donaldson WR Robert Elia RB Brent Fullwood WR Trey Gainous RB Vincent Harris OL John Hudson RB Tim Jessie OL Vincent Jones RB James Joseph RB Pound Lamb TE Walter Reeves TE Mark Rose OL Stacy Searels QB Reggie Slack OL Ben Tamburello TE Frank Thomas OL Jim Thompson WR Lawyer Tillman RB Reggie Ware WR Alexander Wright	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Aundray Bruce LB Kurt Crain DL Nate Hill DB Arthur Johnson DB 39 Charles Kelly LB Gary Kelley DB Shan Morris LB Edward Phillips DB Kevin Porter DB Chip Powell DB Tommy Powell DL Tracy Rocker DL Benji Roland LB Brian Smith DL Ron Stallworth	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Chris Knapp P Brian Shulman	Head coach Pat Dye Coordinators/assistant coaches Steve Patterson Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

^[14]

Rankings

Further information: 1986 NCAA Division I-A football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
AP	14	9	10	8	7	7	7	7	5	9	8	15	14	10	6
Coaches	13	11	11	8	7	7	7	7	5	10	8	14	14	9	8

References

1. "1986 Auburn Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
2. "Auburn passes year's 1st test". The Montgomery Advertiser. September 7, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Tiger test? ECU wasn't the answer". The Anniston Star. September 21, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tigers put the squeeze on". The Anniston Star. September 28, 1986. Retrieved October 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Auburn crushes Western". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 5, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Auburn stymies Vandy". The Commercial Appeal. October 12, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "No. 7 Auburn rips Georgia Tech". The Charlotte Observer. October 19, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Auburn passes another test". The Anniston Star. October 26, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Bell stages comeback to upset Auburn 18–17". The Selma Times-Journal. November 2, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "9th-ranked Auburn rips Cincinnati 52–7". The Tennessean. November 9, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Inspired Georgia upsets long-time rival Auburn". St. Petersburg Times. November 16, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Tillman's mistake helps Auburn over Bama". The Montgomery Advertiser. November 30, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Auburn stops USC cold". The Orlando Sentinel. January 2, 1987. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Charles Kelly - Football". Auburn University Athletics. Retrieved October 8, 2020.