Auburn field goal beats Kentucky at the wire

The Kentucky defense underwent a metamorphosis Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium. After collaborating with Auburn quarterback Cam Newton on a Heisman Trophy promo in the first half, the defense tightened up in the second, helping UK erase a 14-point deficit and tie the game at 34 with 7:31 remaining.

But the Wildcats couldn't get that one last stop.

Newton led the Tigers on a 19-play, 86-yard drive that ate up the final 7:25, and Wes Byrum kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Tigers to a 37-34 win in front of a dejected crowd of 70,776 at Commonwealth Stadium.

"My heart aches for these guys," UK Coach Joker Phillips said. "They played their hearts out. We asked them to come in and prepare like champions on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and we got that. We prepared like a big-time football team's supposed to prepare. Our guys were into it, played hard, played inspired, played with emotions. We made plays when we needed to have them made. We just came up a little short. My heart aches for those guys because I asked those guys to play and leave everything on the field, play with heart, play with emotions, and they did it.

"It's hard," said UK quarterback Mike Hartline, who was brilliant in defeat going 23-for-28 for 220 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. "You can't really say much about it. We just ran out of time. We came up one drive short. It's tough."

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