By Shane from Centerpoint
I’ve got to give the Auburn “family†a great deal of credit. The coaches, the players, and the fans invested every ounce of their hearts trying to upset their ultimate rival Alabama. I have no doubt that Pat Dye – Auburn’s former head coach and current top spokesman – is proud of his boys.
For roughly three and a half quarters Auburn hung with one of the very best football teams in America – had them on the ropes. However, the last half of the final stanza (when it really counted) was a disaster of titanic proportions for all that wear the orange and blue.
Chizik and his staff opened the game pulling a “Franchione†by scripting the first fifteen plays and even used Fran’s “on-side kick†maneuver on the Crimson Tide. Both plans worked well, allowing Auburn to jump out by fourteen on Bama.
This is the point where most good football teams (in their house) put the opponent away. It didn’t happen.
The Alabama team, in my opinion, was playing like it had overlooked Auburn. Anyway, it returned to form in the second quarter and tied the game before the half.
Auburn magic struck again early in the third act. The Tiger offense lit up the scoreboard with a long touchdown pass. The Auburn nation was on fire. Pandemonium reigned! Big brother Bama was just burned by the Malzahn machine and there would definitely be more to come.
No so fast my friends! After that play Alabama remembered that it does have the best defense in the nation. I don’t think Auburn came close to scoring for the last twenty-six minutes of the game.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide answered the Tiger touchdown with a couple of decent field–goal drives and time ticked away into the fourth quarter.
Amazingly, with ten minutes left, Auburn found itself with the advantage of having a one-point lead and possession of the ball in Alabama territory.
But by now, the Malzahn machine had lost its pilot. Senior quarterback Chris Todd had already pulled a “John Parker Wilson†by fumbling while taking a sack. He also lofted a pass directly to Tide safety Mark Barron. The results of Todd’s two turnovers were catastrophic.
With the ball sitting on Alabama’s forty-five yard line, Chizik had the world in front of his eyes. If only the offense could’ve pulled off another trick play, or maybe gotten close enough to kick a three-pointer, it would have forced the Tide to score six to win (which, by the way, Bama did).
That’s about when the Tigers’â€storybook†got slammed shut by Saban and his Crimson elephants. The defense was in championship form, driving Auburn back sixteen yards in three plays. Auburn punted and the rest is history.
Then, it was gut-check time on the Plains. Auburn had the mighty Crimson Tide trapped, with seventy-nine yards of turf to protect. The collective roar of eighty-five thousand fans was pumping-up the Tiger defense for the kill.
In comes Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy. There wasn’t much pressure on him – just his team’s hopes for a national title and state bragging-rights. He also knew the game was on his back because the Tide’s running game had been shut down all day.
Would McElroy, who has never lost a game, finally taste defeat? Fifteen plays, seven minutes, and seventy-nine yards later, everybody had their answer.
McElroy completed seven-of-eight (four to a single-covered Julio) passes in route to firing a game-winning touchdown toss to Roy Upchurch with about one minute left in the game – a play that Upchurch called himself.
Auburn had one more shot at glory, but was ineffective — seemingly shell-shocked by Alabama’s last drive.
I’m not sure which was worse – Chizik’s clock-management before Alabama scored or after his offense got the ball back for the last time. Does Chizik own a watch? Bad clock-management by Chizik cheated the Auburn players and fans out of a fair shot. The entire episode reminded me of watching Les Miles coach.
In the end, most of the Auburn faithful seemed proud of the fact that their team “showed up†for the fight this time around. Normally, moral victories aren’t worth writing about. But, outsiders need to understand that the Auburn program measures its success largely on beating their obsession – the legendary Crimson Tide.
Regrettably, for Auburn fans at least, the Crimson Tide has a higher mission ahead. I don’t think the “Iron Bowl†had nearly as much impact on the Tide players this year. Truthfully, the Alabama program has been focused on Florida since the end of the fourth quarter in last year’s SEC championship.
Yes, beating Auburn helped Alabama complete its second undefeated (12-0) regular season in a row, but Tim Tebow and his Gators now dominate the Bama players’ minds. Last week’s contest with the Tigers isn’t even on their radar. “It is what it is.â€
Where does Auburn go now, capping-off a late season collapse by losing to Alabama? I can’t see Tiger fans being happy with Chizik when they come down from their “Iron Bowl†high and realize that Chizik lost five of his last six SEC games. He went down to Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Georgia, and Alabama down the stretch, while only beating Ole Miss.
I can’t compare Chizik to Saban or Meyer, but I do know that he’d better thank the scheduler at Auburn for Louisiana Tech, Ball St., and Furman. Without those cupcakes on his dish, he might’ve finished his first (transition) year with a four-and-eight record.
—Shane writes a weekly column for the Call News and the Capstone Report.
8==D~~~ (.)(.) roll tide roll! Boobies rule. Cknballz!
Hey Elephant Nut-You are a delusional, google seacrching, stat munching, WJOX wannabe. You talk about winning something that actually means something. Give me a break. Are you gonna actually take up our valuable time and make us believe that a 12-0 regular season in the SEC isn’t something to be proud of. I find it amusing that Aubies think there undefeated season while on probation was the greatest season in history. Get real, technically, as you like to put it. It really meant nothing.
Hey 12 Nights of Christmas and Counting-
What did 12-0 in the regular season in the SEC get you last year? No SEC championships, No national championship and no BCS bowl victory! It didn’t even get you ranked in the top 5 in the final rankings. I never said it wasn’t a nice season and someting to be proud of, but I was disagreeing with one of your dellusional fans statements that said Alabama was back “on top” in their “rightfull” place. 12-0 turned into 12-2 and which didn’t put Alabama on top of anything. Not the college football rankings, not the SEC not even on top of the Mountain West Champions Utes. Say whatever you want about the Aubies, I don’t care. I’m not an Auburn fan. What I do know that the Aubies and their 5-19 coach that you Bamers made fun of pushed your CNS coached 12-0 Alabama team to the very end last week!
Hey 12 nc( actually 5 nc’s and quit counting the 2 men and a truck championship along with the Dunkin doughnut’s one)I thought this a bama site, so why are you talking about auburn. your Hypocracy knows no bounds
Carl, you really have a serious issue, what a short memory you have in that tiny little brain of yours, you were s sorry program just 3-4 years ago and now you act like your team has actually won a BCS game let alone any kind of championship in the last 7 yrs. Get a does of reality, you have yet to accomplish anything since your 4 million $$$ coach got there, you ended his 1st season with the same record as Shula and last yr you ended on a 2 game losing streak. SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU THUMPING YOUR CHEST????? DO SOMETHING FIRST, THEN TALK ABOUT HOW GREAT YOU ARE. At least then you won’t look like a jackass on every post
All I see is a bunch of haters with penis envy. You come on our site and try to bash us, as if anything you have to say will change our thoughts. Get over yourselves. It’s our site, our team, and our right to feel about our program how we want. We are one of the greatest programs of all time. When you are one if the big dogs, you just get picked on by everyone. We have our eyes on something bigger though, we can sit here and talk shit about each other all day if you want, but at the end of the day, unless your team is Florida, and you are not just jumping on thier bandwagon because you hate Alabama, your team is in the rearview mirror.
The ALABAMA Crimson Tide is the most real thing you will ever see in college football.
We own all of you haters period. History is history.
I guess college football did not exist until 1998. Who won the 1996 Championship?
Did Florida have a football team prior to Steve Spurrier?
If history doesn’t matter, you would be a door mat. I am not sure when Florida hired Spurrier, but before he arrived you were nothing.
You act like what you are. Someone who has not be here enough to know how to act.
Keep the hate coming. You are only proving your jealousy of our heritage.
We understand your immaturity to being champions. It has only happened three times, and your elders could not have taught you how to respond to success.
We also know you see the writing on the wall. No Tebow and Saban at BAMA. This is your last chance in this era at a championship. Fear the SABAN.
You live in Florida. Does the Tide not always rise?
It sux to be an aubarn tiger and anything that resembles one.
Trunk hunter I wasn’t the one who started the sexual crap, it was the guy that inspects toilets for a living, you dip shit. I was simply responding to him, the imfamious sux vol, at least imfamious in his toilet infected brain.
You say Bama hasn’t accomplished anything, well what have your kitty cats done. NOTHING! Thats what, and while you are adding wins and loses to your chezze dip coach, don’t forget to chalk one up for last Friday, because the university of awebeen, or has always wanted to be, LOST!
Put the L in the column. As of this moment Bama is 12-0, what is your team?
Y’all don’t know how to be winners, have zero respect, see the 2004 season, and now that things are back to normal, you never will be. Count or discount all the NC’s you like, the fact is that everyone in the sports world accepts the fact that Bama has twelve, and the awebeens have ONE, that by the way was won while they were on probabtion.
You’re always blowing off about the NCAA sanctions that Bama has, when in FACT, awebeen is the most penilized school in NCAA history.
You and sux vol should try to ply your reasoning with someone that don’t know any difference, but on the site my little man you are dealing with fans that know their Bama history. Until you have some history to talk about why don’t you just STFU!
ROLLLLLLLLL TIDE ROLLLLLLLL!!!!
BAMA-31
Florida-27
While 12-0 didn’t amount to any real hardware last year, it did put an L on the sux vols and the tegirs, and again this year. But unlike u wanna bes that don’t satisfy Bama fans. One thing I am fairly certain of is that Bama will have another NC before y’all. Bama averages one about every 10 years, the university of awebeen averages 1, one, about every 100 years. Now that is something to be really proud of, if you throw toilet paper in trees. Now who really needs a reality check?
Y’all spokeperson from reeltown is the perfect example of awebeen folks. One you all should be real proud of.
Lets resume this dialogue bout 7 p.m. tomorrow. I can’t wait to see how you idiots will down play the win against the gators.
ROLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE ROLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
You played a good game and you won. You can’t take that and be happy. You have to run down your opponent. Here is something for you:
Yes AU runs some ‘trick’ plays, but is it a trick if it is run every game? UA is the only team that allowed the ‘trick’ play score.
When Ingram ran the wildcat and passed to Junes, was that not a ‘trick’ play? UA had not done that all year.
The pass play to Upchurch was run twice this year, bith times in that game. Was that a trick play?
You won the game. Shut your pie hole and move on. Don’t you have another game to worry about. AU will be fine. No need for you to worry about them, which many of you do.
wtc, very typical barn response. Yeah we run your team down. You guys are the ones that come on an Alabama blog and talk your crap about Bama, knowing that you haven’t, can’t and never will be Bama’s equal. Why don’t you losers stay on your own blog and we wouldn’t have anything to come back at you with. I for one have never and will never visit and awebeen site or a sux vol site. It is y’all stirring the pot, we are simply replying. Or do y’all not have a site? That is something you could enlighten us own, not something about our own team. I don’t expect you to understand this either, so I believe in the future I will just refer to you all as Charles’.
And as far as worrying about a game, I never worry about a game, I simply expect to win them all and in the last 22 out of 24 those expections were correct. Enjoy tomorrow.
YO! WHERE ARE THE NAYSAYERS NOW? PASADENA, HERE WE COME! RTR!RTR!RTR!
Ezekiel 20:29: Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?’ ” (It is called Bamah [a] to this day.)
“More determined than ever the elephants they came and they clapped and they shouted and called them by name! Now Cody, now Mark, now GMac and Ro. On Tiffin, on Javy, on Trent and Julio! To the top of the conference, to the top of the poll ! Rammer Jammer Alabama and Roll Tide Roll!
Bama was dominating. In every phase of the game. As usual, the SEC Champion should win it all in Pasadena. Nothing compares to the SEC!!
FYI…..I still believe Arenas is y’alls best player. He seems to always be where something good happens on the field. He should be the Heisman candidate.
Aurox, thanks for being a football fan and not just a hater. Everybody else, just let us enjoy this. It’s been a long time. I agree with you about Arenas, he is awesome and I hate we’re losing him. Even when teams don’tkick to him, he finds other ways to make his presence known. Later yall and ROLL TIDE
Well Look at this!!!!
All you BAMA haters seem to have disappeared in sniff of Tebow’s jockstrap.
Oh Well, Good luck to you punks playing for the scraps!!
By the way, if you are going to use the cliche, use it correctly: It is “I couldn’t care less” not “I could care less.”
Using the later is the same as saying, ‘That’s about as funny as a screen door on a battleship.’
AuRox those were some kind words. I have known all along that you, omni, and bp all are class guys, and all of you know and love your football. The stones, (words) thrown on this site is all in fun, AND to be a part of helping your team win one is special. It’s part of what makes the series sooooo special. You have heard the same thing I have that some of the out of state players don’t really appreciate the importance until they were on the the team for 2 years. You have to either have grown up in it or participatied in it to know. That is why it is NO WAY that a fan from another state, any state, can understand the
“Iron Bowl.” Regardless of what any of us say in the heat of bebate, it is best for everyone in The Great State of Alabama that both Alabama and Auburn play at their very best.
It has been agreat year for SEC football and especially Alabama. To win a National Championship a lot of things have to happen, with luck being a big part, along with health, playing at your personal best, and hoping everyone else is doing the same, keeping all your players nose clean, win a couple you lost on the field, any many, many more things. I like what I heard Saban say today on ESPN that you play yourself into a position that allows you to play in these games, thats when special things happen, in special games.
Now, as in every year, is the time to pull for the SEC. We have talked about this before. The only team I will never wish to win is………’the SUX vols.” I will admit that even at this time of year it is still hard for me to pull for Auburn, I try, sometimes I can, sometimes not. But that is how it has been as far back as I can remember, again its part of being in this Great State, that only Alabama and Auburn people understand.
You know I don’t know what happened to the “sux vol”, did he really grow up in Alabama, is he really a toilet inspector, does he live in Indiana, did he or did he not gadgeuate from slUT. He has said he is all this and all that and I’m not sure. This I do know he is a SUX VOL and nutin else needs said.
In summing up the season, I’d say, Auburn had a better year than I would have thought, vols as well, but I believe Auburn is further along than the vols. Auburn is going to be a force to be dealt with if they continue, but it is a process. As far as the suxs vols they have just what they deserve, after 3-5 years of kidding themselves, they will have to start again, and I LOVE IT!!! cause not only do they SUX VOLS, they swallow as well!
So my hat is tipped to Auburn, it is TAKEN off to Alabama. This is already a special year, and it can be a very special year.
ROLLLLLLLLLL TIDE ROLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Hey Shane…… I have been thinking about Tim Tebow coming back to Florida to work on his pro game. I really don’t know if he he intended to go pro in the first place but their were a few rumors, I wonder if Meyer talked him into coming back another year. I know that coach Meyer was worried about loosing players and how the team would perform. During the first part of the season he took a few snaps under center. The Gators struggled and he fell back into the shot gun. I haven’t seen a lot of checking off and changing the play at the line of scrimmage. At the line of scrimmage he might change a play but it will be to the same ole stuff. Are you wondering if Meyer has prepared Tebow to play at the next level, because his tech,. hasn’t changed at all and it’s not very good. I wonder how soon Tebow will realized that he hasn’t been prepared to play at the next level,,,,basically he’s screwed,,,,and it’s by his head coach….
uat finally won a big game. the lil
leprechaun was walking tall saturday nite
about 5ft 2 inches.the long horns will
beat uat 2 touchdowns.uat fans get ready
for a horrible title game. between now and the game uat will lose 3 star players
you can count on that. the heisman trophy winner colt mccoy will destroy the uat’s defense.