AUBURN, Ala. -- Freshman Tommie Agee showed Saturday why Auburn Coach Pat Dye calls him a 'team man' in the third-ranked Tigers' 35-23 win over No. 7 Maryland.
All Agee did was gain more yards -- 219 -- on the ground by himself than any team the Terrapins had faced in five years.
Agee also scored two touchdowns on runs of 61 and 44 yards and teammates Bo Jackson and Lionel James added more than 100 yards rushing each as Auburn erased a 17-14 fourth-quarter deficit to raise its record to 8-1. Jackson ran for 105 yards and a score on 18 carries and James added 115 yards on 14 tries.
Maryland Coach Bobby Ross said the Terrapins, 7-2, expected Auburn to run the ball and were not surprised by Agee's powerful bursts up the middle. But despite being prepared, his team was unable to stop Auburn.
'At times, we thought we had him (Agee) stopped and he would end up in the secondary,' Ross said. 'Bo Jackson and Agee are great backs and they are All-America type players.'
Agee said he was pleased with his running performance, but blocking is just as important to the fullback.
'Running isn't everyting to me, I still have to block and I made a few good blocks out there,' he said.
Dye called his freshman a 'tremendous young man and a team man,' but also praised his defense for the victory.
'Maryland was averaging over 200 yards rushing and 200 passing and we shut down their running game (allowing only 59 yards),' Dye said. 'Anytime you can do that it gives you an advantage. I give a lot of credit to the defense.'
Maryland trailed 14-3 at the half, but took the lead with two third-quarter touchdown passes by quarterback Boomer Esiason, who connected on 23 of 37 for 355 yards and three touchdowns.
'In the first half we had everything go wrong with us that could, but we still went in the second half feeling we could win,' Ross said.
Esiason hit Sean Sullivan on a 10-yard TD strike and rifled a 14-yard scoring pass to Greg Hill to put the Terrapins in front.
Jackson ran five yards for a touchdown to put the Tigers back on top early in the fourth quarter and Agee then dashed 44 yards up the middle to pad the margin to 28-17.
Maryland quickly cut the lead to 28-23 as Esiason led his team 80 yards in just three plays, hitting Russell Davis for a 40-yard touchdown strike with less than four minutes left. A two-point conversion try failed.
Auburn took the kickoff and drove for two first downs, converting a daring 4th-and-1 at its own 32. The Terrapins then stopped Auburn, but a Tiger punt was downed at the Maryland 2-yard line.
Esiason was hit trying to pass and tackle Donnie Humphrey recovered in the end zone with just five seconds left to give Auburn its final score.
Auburn, which ground out 450 yards against the Terrapin defense, broke in front in the second quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Randy Campbell to Chris Woods.
The Tigers increased the lead to 14-0 when Agee burst up the middle for 61 yards midway through the quarter.
The Terrapins' only first-half score came on a 30-yard field goal by Jess Atkinson. Atkinson missed a 43-yard attempt on the final play of the half.
