Auburn’s Win Over Clemson Was More Than Just A Bowl Victory
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By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com
I was having lunch a few weeks back with a good friend of mine who happens to be a huge Alabama fan. We typically have polite discussions about both schools and always manage to get in some subtle jabs at each other.
He made a comment that has stuck with me since that day. He said that Auburn’s problem is they are too fixated on beating Alabama. He was referring to both the team and the Tiger fans.
"Auburn people have to move beyond beating Alabama," said my friend. "You all consider a season a success when you beat us. If Auburn’s ever going to become a perennial top 10 team, they are going to have to start viewing success as winning the SEC and not just beating Alabama every year."
My friend has a point.
And I believe it’s something that Tommy Tuberville has also recognized.
Auburn’s 23-20 win over Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl showed Auburn fans that he’s not going to rest on his laurels. The move to bring Troy’s Tony Franklin onboard was a bold one.
I’ve been watching college football for the better part of 39 years. I believe it’s safe to say that no team has ever junked an offense after 12 games and implemented such a radically different system and achieved such results.
Monday night’s win was remarkable. It wasn’t perfect. But it was pretty darn impressive. Say what you will about athletes being dumb. Auburn’s offensive unit did a masterful cram job getting ready for Clemson.
The numbers on offense were downright Playstation like. 90 plays. 423 yards of total offense. 24 first downs. 190 rushing yards. 233 passing yards.
"I can't remember the last time we had 90 snaps in a game," Tuberville said. "I got tired of watching it. I know they got tired of playing."
Speak for yourself coach. For most of us fans, we couldn’t get enough.
Clemson came into the game ranked sixth nationally in total defense. Installing a new offense in three weeks and using it to beat one of the top defenses in the country is akin to the United States beating the Soviets in hockey. It just doesn't happen often.
And let’s not forget about the defense. Just as big as the hiring of Franklin was the retaining of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp for another year.
Take away the long touchdown run by Clemson’s C.J. Spiller and the Tiger defense was nearly perfect. Pat Sims dominated the Clemson offensive line on the way to winning MVP honors.
In the end, the credit goes to this special senior class. This group wasn’t Auburn’s best or one of the more highly recruited classes in Tiger history. They came to the Plains at a time when the coaching situation was tenuous.
And to make matters worse, the school was being threatened with accreditation issues that made signing players even tougher. Despite it all, they’ll go down as the winningest group in Auburn history. They compiled 50 wins over the past five seasons. The seniors never lost to Alabama. They finish with a 4-1 bowl record.
Not bad at all.
As amazing as this is, the future looks even brighter. Auburn will be loaded next year. The Tigers return virtually every key starter. Kodi Burns took a big step forward in solidifying his hold on the starting quarterback job next season.
The home schedule will be favorable, but brutal at the same time. Auburn drops Florida from the schedule, but picks up Tennessee. It’s never easy in the SEC. And let’s not forget about the trip to Morgantown, West Virginia.
The bad news for my Alabama friend is that Auburn is moving forward. They are setting their sights higher. And something tells me they’ll get there.
It is indeed great to be an Auburn Tiger.
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6 comments
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Yes, it is
,,,,great to be an Auburn Tiger, and with our new offense, the future is looking good.
WAR EAGLE
by James on Jan 1, 2008 8:44 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Way to go Boys!!!
Great season, great senior class and a future so bright – "I gotta wear shades". Not totally sold on the offense yet, but I'm sure we just got a glimpse of it. Probably only about 30% of it, I'm guessing. It's funny to watch the whole team get set and then stand up and look at four coaches going into seizures on the sideline. Why not just teach the QB to read the defense and let him make the audible??? I’m sure there is more to it than that but it's not going to be popular with the "O" line but at least they will get a good back and ab workout. Felt a bit sorry for Cox being his last game and playing second fiddle to the new coaching strategy and watching Burns take a lot of snaps. But watching him jump on the pile at the end puts him into perspective as a leader for me. He wasn't the best (certainly not the fastest) but he seemed to always bring calm to the offense throughout his career. My astrologist/yoga instructor/advisor says I need to forgive him for the UGA games. So I will. All is forgiven BC and thanks for the heart, leadership and wins over bama. Best wishes King, Brandon, Eric, Tez, Quentin, Cole, Zach, Leon, Brandon, Pat, Josh, Matthew, Prechae, Danny, Carl and especially "Stump".
Things to do before spring:
- Start looking for Muschamp replacement
- Organize all of the QB’s into weekly lawn service for Tubberville – see who really wants the job
- Cancel all internet music classes for the team
Please add if I missed anything...
by tigerstripe on Jan 2, 2008 12:11 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
I think your friend's point misses the mark...
That statement always irritates me because it plays along with the "we" mentality that a lot of Bama fans have (not all of them).
"We hired a great coach in Saban. We are having a good recruiting year. We just beat the hell out of you. etc..."
Your friend's statement, which every Auburn fan has to hear from time to time, implies that Auburn's players, coaches and administration only care about beating Bama. This is 100% BS.
I don't know how many times Tuberville has said that winning the SEC was top priority. But no, "Auburn only cares about beating Alabama," only because a portion of fans may feel this way.
Yes, there are some Auburn fans who would be content with just beating Alabama, but there are also Bama fans out there who would be content with just beating Auburn. It works both way. But those are just fans.
I could rant on and on about this, but I'll stop here.
by Joe Blow on Jan 2, 2008 1:51 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Misc. Ramblings
One of the things that irritates me about our coaches is that they get way too conservative right before the half. We had the ball in very good field position with almost 2 minutes left, but we didn't really seem to be trying to score--just run out the clock. When we were forced to punt, Clemson got the ball with a minute left, on their own 20, and threw long 3 straight times. What gives?
Okay, maybe it's just me, but doesn't the whole offense look really confused when they all look over to the sidelines in concert to find out the play? And what's with four guys on the sideline all signaling the play? Why so many? They look like the Village People dancing to YMCA. Hopefully they can work on their presentation a bit in the spring.
Total yards kinda snuck up on you. I really didn't realize we had so many. We had quite a few drives that stalled out after a few plays, so maybe that's why we piled on the yards without scoring as much. Glad to see that this spread offense still involved the run quite a bit.
Mario Fannin was on fire in the first half, but we hardly saw anything of him in the second? Was he injured? Why do we always seem to never keep feeding the guy with the hot hand?
That kickoff return scheme that we call The Globe. The one where five return men put their backs to the coverage and then scatter every which way: I just love that play. Seems to be effective, too.
by War Eagle Atlanta on Jan 2, 2008 2:33 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
The Globe of Death.
.....I like it too, but you can't run it exclusively. There's the risk that the coverage team will load up heavily in the middle, and just fly down the field and bust it up before the handoff happens. You can outnumber the blockers easily, with only six left in the pattern. Also, there's a lot more vulnerability to an onsides kick, too.
.....Fannin did catch that crossing route for the score in the 2nd half. He was wide, wide open. Caught an absolute bullet throw, too! I think Fannin was lining up wrong more than the other backs, and his pass blocking isn't what Tate's or Fannin's is.
.....I enjoyed all of the sideline dancing around. I'd say it's going to be tough for spies on the other side to decrypt. There might well be "call your own" stuff in this offense, but you'd better still be signaling. Confuse the heck out of the enemy!
.....I'm one of those fans, for whom beating Bama IS not just the top priority, but probably the top 5 priories, and 8 out of the top 10. Those guys abused us SO badly in the 1960s and 1970s (fans, not the players), the debt of revenge will NEVER be paid back in full! However, the ability to beat Bama goes hand in hand with doing well in the SEC.
.....My Bammer uncle was over at my parent's Christmas afternoon bash, this year. My brother's overenthusiastic dog, was there, and my uncle had to pipe up: "You Auburn folks just can't handle your dogs!" I didn't say a word. All I had to was hold up six fingers. It made him SO mad! "Next year," yadda, yadda, yadda... Sure. JP Wilson and the baby receiving corps. Yeah, sure. Good luck, Unc.
.....War Eagle!
by Acid Reign on Jan 2, 2008 2:58 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
The Alabama Priority
Yea, like every Auburn fan makes a list at the beginning of each season prioritizing what they want to accomplish. Hell, every fan of every team wants it all. Each wants to beat it's rivals, win their conference crown, and win a MNC. What else is new.
Acid, interesting comments about the sleights to Auburn going back a few decades. I remember when my family moved back from Germany to Ft. Rucker in 1977. Alabama was halfway through their 9-game streak with us and getting ready to win back-to-back titles. I remember the Auburn jokes back then, although I didn't know who or what Auburn was.
I just remember thinking "why do they not like this Auburn so much"? Nevertheless, I got a crimson 'Alabama' shirt that Christmas, being the naive 9-year old bandwagon fan that I was. Okay, I can't believe that I just admitted that...
by War Eagle Atlanta on Jan 3, 2008 11:39 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

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