By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

December 2, 1989. Auburn has played many big games over the course of its 100+ years in existence, but none have been more important than the contest that took place on that cool December day.

Alabama said it would never happen. Pat Dye was determined that it would. It did. The stakes could not have been higher. Alabama was ranked second nationally and playing for a shot at the national championship. An Auburn win meant a share of the SEC Championship; it's fourth of the decade.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a junior at Auburn and doing a live radio broadcast for WEGL on top of an RV. Tiger Walk was unlike anything I'd even seen before or since. The look on the players and fans eyes as the team made its way to the stadium, you just new Auburn was going to win. I honestly don't believe the Soviet Union could have kept Auburn out of the end zone on that day.

Auburn prevailed and a permanent shift of football power took place in the state that still stands today.  This footage should be required viewing for every Auburn fan not old enough to remember. Enjoy...

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Today’s Nostalgia Friday salutes the 1957 National Championship team. In Shug Jordan’s seventh season, he led Auburn to a perfect 10-0 season. How dominant was this team? They gave up only 28 points all year.

Stop and think about that for a second. It’s simply amazing. In victories over Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and Alabama, the Tigers beat their SEC opponents by a combined score of 66-0.

Auburn quarterback Lloyd Nix threw for 542 yards – all season. Wide receiver Jimmy Phillips accounted for 357 of those yards. Tommy Lorino carried much of the load on the ground running for nearly 500 yards.

As most know, Auburn was on probation in 1957 and ineligible for a bowl game appearance.

This clip looks at Auburn's win over Alabama in the season finale. I'm having YouTube problems today, so I'm including the link instead of posting here...

Click here to watch...

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

A few weeks back we took a look at the epic 1994 Auburn-Florida game. It’s probably still the biggest win over the Gators in series history – although some of you may argue that point.

Today we look at another great Florida game – the one that occurred a year earlier. Auburn came into the contest on October 16, 2003, as a big underdog at home. The fourth-ranked Gators were expected to trounce over the upstart 19th ranked Tigers.

Few around the country believed that Auburn’s 6-0 record was for real. The victory marked a turning point in the season – others around the country started taking notice of this team and its young coach, Terry Bowden.

Before a capacity crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn would prevail in a back and fourth contest that ended with the Tigers pulling out a 38-35 win on the way to a perfect 11-0 season.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Today we look at the career of former Auburn quarterback Dameyune Craig. In my lifetime, I’d have to say he’s the best quarterback I’ve ever seen wear the orange and blue.

I was too young to remember Pat Sullivan. And no, I’m not suggesting he comes close to the Heisman winner. But you’d be hard pressed to pick a better one that’s played on the Plains since.

During the 1997 season, he passed for 3,277 yards – still the most in Auburn history (by a mile). He was not only a gifted passer, but one of the best running quarterbacks in the country. Today it’s common place to see a quarterback run – in 1997 it was something new.

Craig was given serious Heisman consideration until a late season loss to Miss State. He came within a point of leading Auburn to an SEC Championship, falling to Peyton Manning and Tennessee 30-29 in the conference championship game.

Auburn receiver Karsten Bailey single handily blew the game for the Tigers by dropping a series of Craig passes that halted Auburn drives deep in Tennessee territory.

Auburn and Craig would finish the season with a win over Clemson in the Peach Bowl. A year later the wheels fell off the Auburn program and Terry Bowden was run out of town.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

The 1984 Florida State game in Tallahassee is without question the best game that was never seen by most Auburn fans. It’s my all time favorite. Despite pairing two top twenty teams, no networks picked up the game – what a shame.

No, it didn’t have the importance of an Alabama or Georgia match-up, but for sheer excitement, it’s the best I’ve ever witnessed.

It was a seesaw battle that went back and fourth for four quarters. Auburn came into the game ranked 16th after starting the season number one in both polls. FSU was ranked ninth. The Tigers were a sizable underdog. Brent Fullwood scored the winning touchdown with seconds to go. Enjoy...

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Today’s look back focuses on the 1985 Auburn-Georgia game and the play of All-American Bo Jackson. Like Pat Sullivan 14 years earlier, Jackson used the Dawgs to solidify his hold on the Heisman Trophy.

Jackson wrapped up the award on an 84 yard touchdown run that became one of his most famous while on the Plains. The game marked Jackson’s final victory as a Tiger. Auburn defeated Georgia 24-10 on the way to a Cotton Bowl berth against Texas A&M.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

This week’s Nostalgia Friday looks at perhaps the greatest tandem in college football history – Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley.  From 1969 to 1971, these two rewrote the Auburn history books, leading to Pat Sullivan winning the Heisman Trophy in 1971.

Today’s YouTube clip is a tribute to Pat Sullivan with lots of catches by Beasley. This is footage that is rarely seen these days.  I hope all of you have a great Good Friday and a Happy Easter.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Today’s Nostalgia Friday looks at the 1987 Auburn-Georgia Tech game which produced one of the most famous Auburn calls of all time. Jim Fyffe’s "Tillman! Tillman! Tillman! at the baseline of the end zone...." can still be heard around Auburn tailgates today.

Auburn was trailing Tech with about 24 ticks on the clock when quarterback Jeff Burger found Lawyer Tillman in the back of the end zone. Future NFL number one overall pick Aundray Bruce picked off two passes that day in leading fifth-ranked Auburn to a 20-10 win at Grant Field.