By KALA BOLTON / Staff Writer

AUBURN — While the Auburn Tigers relied heavily on starting quarterback Barrett Trotter, a former Briarwood Christian School standout, during the first half of its 17-6 win over Florida Oct. 15 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a uncomfortable 7-6 lead over the Gators at half-time left something to be desired for the Auburn faithful.

“We made a change at halftime and put Clint (Moseley) in there,” Auburn head coach Gene Chizik said, “and Barrett (Trotter) has done a real nice job for us, and so we are not in any way shape or form saying Barrett can’t play anymore. That’s not the message. The message is that we needed a spark, and we needed to see if we could get something going offensively.”

And they did. With Moseley leading the offense, Auburn (5-2, 3-1) crept to 17-6 lead while a stingy Auburn defense shut the Gators out in the second half to give the Tigers their third SEC win of the season, holding Florida (4-2, 2-3) to just 194 total yards, the fewest an Auburn defense has allowed since Sept. 27, 2008 when it stopped Tennessee with just 191.

Former Pelham High School linebacker Jake Holland, in his sophomore year with the Tigers, assisted with three solo tackles on the night as he rotated in at middle linebacker with senior Eltoro Freeman.

Offensively, Trotter got the ball moving with a 25-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Benton with 2:11 remaining in the first quarter, but Trotter and the offense were unable to find a rhythm as they were shut out the remainder of the first half.

Florida’s lone scores of the night came off of 47-yard and 25-yard field goals in the second quarter. Despite the small lead heading into half-time for the Tigers, Trotter had completed only 2-of-8 pass attempts for 33 yards and one touchdown and rushed once for a loss of six yards.

In came the second-string sophomore. On Auburn’s third offenseive drive of the second half, Moseley started to find a rhythm, finding Quindarius Carr for  42-yard gain. On the next Auburn drive, Moseley hit Philip Lutzenkirchen three times for a combined 48-yarsd, setting up an Onterio McCalebb touchdown run from 12 yards out two plays later, extending the Auburn lead to 14-6 with 12:53 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I think that is a good word. Dominant,” Chizik said about the Tigers defense. “I think that is the only word you could use.”

While the defense lead a second-half shutout, a 42-yard field goal by Cody Parkey sealed the win the for Tigers with 35 seconds remaining in play.

“I’ve waited for this moment,” Moseley said. “I have dreamed about this moment. I put my faith in God and it really paid off. There were some plays I wish I had back, but I’m going to get in film tomorrow and try to fix my mistakes.”

Moseley completed 4-of-7 passing attempts, leading the Tigers with 90 yards. Freshman Kiehl Frazier took some snaps behind center, rushing for 41 yards on eight carries.

Dyer had a team-high 73 yards on 23 carries while McCalebb added 43 yards on 10 carries.

As the Tigers look ahead to a road match at No. 1 LSU next weekend, the main question remains to whether Auburn will choose a new starting quarterback or keep the quarterback carousel in full rotation.

“Quarterback-wise, we are going to evaluate the game like we always do, and we will proceed from there,” Chizik said. “I am not going to stand up here and say that all of a sudden there are all these changes and all of those different things. I don’t know the answer to that right now. I have to go see the film. Again, it was the right people making plays at the right time. I think that is what won the ball game.”