In one year, Cam Newton went from an unknown at the college level to the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. A dominant season at Auburn made it possible.
After getting himself into trouble at Florida and lingering behind Tim Tebow on the Gators' depth chart, Newton spent one year at a junior college before he wound up at Auburn. Newton was named the Tigers' starter ahead of the 2010 season.
Newton rewarded coach Gene Chizik's confidence and didn't lose a single game in an Auburn uniform, ultimately leading the Tigers to national championship glory they have yet to match.
Here's a look back at Auburn's 2010 title-winning season with Newton leading the way.
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Auburn football rankings 2010
Auburn did not enter the 2010 season as anything close to a title favorite, but the Tigers rocketed up the rankings throughout the fall:
| Date | AP Poll ranking |
| Preseason | 22 |
| Sept. 5 | 21 |
| Sept. 12 | 16 |
| Sept. 19 | 17 |
| Sept. 26 | 10 |
| Oct. 3 | 8 |
| Oct. 10 | 7 |
| Oct. 17 | 5 |
| Oct. 24 | 3 |
| Oct. 31 | 3 |
| Nov. 7 | 2 |
| Nov. 14 | 2 |
| Nov. 21 | 2 |
| Nov. 28 | 2 |
| Dec. 5 | 1 |
| Final | 1 |
Auburn earned a top-5 ranking in the AP Poll by the middle of the season and jumped to No. 3 on Halloween. The Tigers never lost and therefore never fell out of the top three the rest of the way, jumping to No. 1 after dismantling South Carolina in the SEC championship and remaining there after winning the BCS title game.
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Auburn vs. Oregon BCS title game
Auburn enjoyed an electrifying season in 2010, but Oregon was no pushover for the Tigers in the national championship game.
Coached by an up-and-coming Chip Kelly, the Ducks entered the title game averaging more than 50 points per game and had been held under 35 points only once in a win over Stanford.
For all Newton did for Auburn throughout the season, the Tigers' defense was pivotal in the championship game, limiting Oregon to just 19 points. Both offenses started slowly, to say the least. The first quarter saw three interceptions and three punts as both units struggled to shake off the tension.
Auburn and Oregon finally broke through by combining for 17 points in the first five minutes of the second quarter, with a touchdown for each side following a Ducks field goal.
A safety shifted momentum toward Auburn. Oregon got the Tigers off the field on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but that field position allowed Auburn's defense to swoop in for a safety. The Tigers scored a go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing drive, setting the tone for the rest of the night.
Auburn didn't score a touchdown in the second half, but it didn't need one. Oregon's offense was silenced until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, when QB Darron Thomas led a game-tying touchdown drive. After LaMichael James punched it in for six, Thomas found Jeff Maehl for the two-point conversion that evened the score with 2:33 remaining.
Needing only a field goal to win, Auburn went right down the field on RB Michael Dyer's back. Dyer believed he scored the game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds, only to be ruled down at the 1-yard line. After a failed attempt to punch it in from the one, Auburn handed the keys to kicker Wes Byrum, who won a championship for Auburn with a 19-yard field goal.
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Cam Newton Auburn highlights
Here's a look at Newton's best moments from his lone season at Auburn:
Newton wouldn't tell you he had his best performance in the national championship game, but he did enough to win it all for Auburn:
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Auburn football roster 2010
Unlike many SEC programs, Auburn wasn't loaded with NFL talent when it won a national championship, but it did have a few key contributors who carved out careers at the next level.
Here are some of the biggest names and contributors from Auburn's 2010 roster:
Cam Newton
- 2010 stats: 66.1 completion rate; 2,854 pass yards; 30 pass TD; 7 INT; 1,473 rush yards; 20 rush TD
Newton won the Heisman Trophy in 2010, accounting for 50 total touchdowns and rushing for a whopping 1,473 yards in addition to 2,854 passing yards. Newton had six games of at least 150 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, with five of those games coming against SEC opponents. Newton's 729 first-place Heisman votes rank eighth in the award's history.
The Carolina Panthers selected Newton with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft, and he would go on to win an MVP in 2015 as part of a nine-season first stint with the franchise.
Nick Fairley
- 2010 stats: 11.5 sacks; 24 tackles for loss; 60 tackles; 2 forced fumbles; 1 interception
DT Nick Fairley was the leader of Auburn's defense and one of the best defensive players in the country in 2010, recording 11.5 sacks and 24 tackles for loss as an interior defensive lineman. Fairley recorded one sack and three tackles for loss in the national championship game.
Fairley was selected No. 13 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2011 NFL Draft and spent six seasons in the NFL with 20.5 sacks.
Michael Dyer
- 2010 stats: 14 games; 1,093 rushing yards; 5 TD; 6.0 yards per carry
Auburn's rushing attack was a three-headed monster between Newton, Michael Dyer and Onterio McCalebb, who ran for more than 3,000 total yards as a trio. Dyer, who rumbled down the field on the drive that would win Auburn the national championship, was a standout true freshman with 1,093 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Dyer's career would take a turn after 2011, with off-field trouble contributing to his decision to leave for Arkansas State. Dyer would finish his career at Louisville but went undrafted and never played in an NFL game.
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Josh Bynes
- 2010 stats: 73 tackles; 5.5 tackles for loss; 1 sack; 3 interceptions; 1 forced fumble
The quarterback of Auburn's defense in 2010 was senior LB Josh Bynes, who did a little bit of everything for the Tigers. Bynes recorded 5.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions in his final collegiate season, managing a two-interception game in a regular season shootout with Arkansas. Bynes went undrafted in 2011 but would spend more than a decade in the NFL, including three stints with the Baltimore Ravens. He's now part of coach Mike Macdonald's Seattle Seahawks staff.
Darvin Adams
- 2010 stats: 52 catches; 963 yards; 7 touchdowns; 18.5 yards per catch
Auburn's running game was its greatest strength in 2010, but Darvin Adams was Newton's top target in the passing game. Adams posted 963 yards and seven touchdowns on 52 receptions, exploding for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' SEC championship win. Adams appeared in two games with the Panthers but never recorded an NFL reception.
Corey Lemonier
- 2010 stats: 5.5 tackles for loss; 2 sacks; 17 tackles; 1 forced fumble
One contributor who did get some run in the NFL is DE Corey Lemonier, who became a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2013. Lemonier recorded five tackles for loss and two sacks as a freshman in 2010, though his breakthrough season would come a year later when he posted 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. Lemonier spent four seasons in the NFL, making only three starts.
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Who coached Auburn football in 2010?
Auburn was coached by Gene Chizik during its national championship run.
While it would be offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn who took the Tigers back to the title game as a head coach three years later, Chizik finished the job. It didn't earn him as much job security as one would imagine.
Chizik, who joined Auburn ahead of the 2009 season after two years as Iowa State's head coach, only lasted two more seasons after winning a national championship. The Tigers slipped to 8-5 in 2011 and finished a dismal 3-9 in 2012.
Many started to credit the offensive-minded Malzahn with Auburn's success, as he left to coach Arkansas State after the 2011 season, and Malzahn would return to Auburn to replace Chizik ahead of the 2013 season.
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Auburn 2010 results
| Date | Matchup | Result |
| Sept. 4 | vs. Arkansas State | W, 52-26 |
| Sept. 9 | at Mississippi State | W, 17-14 |
| Sept. 18 | vs. Clemson | W, 27-24 |
| Sept. 25 | vs. South Carolina | W, 35-27 |
| Oct. 2 | vs. Louisiana-Monroe | W, 52-3 |
| Oct. 9 | at Kentucky | W, 37-34 |
| Oct. 16 | vs. Arkansas | W, 65-43 |
| Oct. 23 | vs. LSU | W, 24-17 |
| Oct. 30 | at Ole Miss | W, 51-31 |
| Nov. 6 | vs. Chattanooga | W, 62-24 |
| Nov. 13 | vs. Georgia | W, 49-3 |
| Nov. 26 | at Alabama | W, 28-27 |
| Dec. 4 | vs. South Carolina (neutral site) | W, 56-17 |
| Jan. 10 | vs. Oregon (neutral site) | W, 22-19 |
Auburn played seven one-possession games in 2010 and won all of them, from a narrow win against Mississippi State in Week 2 to a last-second victory in the national championship game. The most thrilling came in the Iron Bowl, where the Tigers rallied from a 24-0 deficit at Alabama. Newton accounted for three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in one of the most storied games in the heated rivalry.
The Tigers averaged 41.2 points per game, reaching 50 five times. Auburn topped out at 65 points in a thrilling win over Arkansas on Oct. 16, with Newton rushing for 188 yards and three touchdowns.
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Auburn jersey retirement
Auburn is retiring Newton's No. 2 on Oct. 11, making him the fourth player in program history to see his jersey retired.
Newton joins Bo Jackson, Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley, with Jackson (1992) being the most recent player to have his jersey retired before Newton.
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