Auburn 2012 Preview: Time To Get Mean

"When things look bad and you don't think you're going to make it, thats when you got to get MEAN.  I mean plumb mad dog MEAN.  Because if you lose your head or give up then you neither live nor win and thats just the way it is..."

Clint Eastwood in "The Outlaw Josey Wales"

That would be my advice to the 2012 Auburn Tigers.  Clint gave out that advice before a fight with a stronger enemy force.  I think, contrary to many Auburn bloggers, that Auburn will find themselves in that same situation many times this football season as well.  So the 2012 Auburn Tigers need to take their stand and get MEAN as well like Clint and his group in that movie. 

Let's take a closer look at Auburn's 2012 units.  I have waited for Auburn to release their official depth chart before starting this to have a more accurate view of things.  First lets look at the defense.  I have stated previously that I thought hiring coach Brian Van Gorder was a home run.  His work at Georgia earlier this decade was outstanding and his time with the Falcons was not bad either.  I am not sure Auburn could do much better at defensive coordinator.  Add to that the hiring of his right hand man at Georgia, Willie Martinez, and I expect the defense to be much improved.  I cannot emphasize enough how much better off Auburn should be with these two men replacing Ted Roof and Phillip Lolley.

It has been tough watching Auburn on defense the last three years outside of Nick Fairley.  The 2009 and 2011 defensive units are statistically the worst ever at Auburn.  The 2010 team even with a dominant player like Nick Fairley and several other good ones was still just mediocre overall.  Also as I have discussed the last two seasons, the hurry-up-no-huddle spread offense made things much worse.  I am glad it was in place for Cam Newton but now I am very glad it is gone but more on that later.  The point is hopefully our change in offensive philosophy will also help improve our defense.

With all that said, I think it is a little unrealistic to expect the Auburn defense to go from the pathetic unit it was last year to juggernaut.  According to most Auburn bloggers, the fact that our front seven is a year older makes them All-SEC.  I look for them to be much improved but not dominant.  Let's remember that ALL of these guys got pushed all over their own field by Utah State and then got absolutely dominated by every good team we played last year.  The first game will be a good indicator of how far this defense has come as they pretty much quit in the fourth quarter against Clemson last year as Clemson went on about a nine minute drive to close the game out.  Absolutely utterly embarrassing.  I hope our coaches made our players watch it over several times.

Let's start with the defensive tackles...  Juniors Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter return for their third tour of duty.  Whitaker is said to be much improved and has become one of the team leaders.  They will be teamed again with Angelo Blackson and Gabe Wright who are hopefully much more ready after a year with Kevin Yoxall.  Rounding out the three-deep are freshman Tyler Nero and sophomore Devaunte Sigler.  It is simple, the first four have the experience, now it is time to show something.  All of these guys were vaunted recruits who were thrown in the fire early as freshmen.  They should have enough experience now.  It all starts right there in the middle.  How much have these guys improved?  The answer will go a long way toward determining what kind of defense we have.

At the ends Auburn looks very strong with returning first team All-SEC end Corey Lemonier plus Dee Ford, Nosa Egaue and "Mr. Hustle" himself #13 Craig Sanders.  Lemonier and Ford are proven pass rushers.  I think the key for this group is how well they play against the run.  They did not fare well last season.  Even Lemonier who had almost 10 sacks last season got mauled by the big teams running the ball.  These guys have to step up and stop the run and put the other team in 3rd and long situations. 

Behind them is once again a thin undersized group of linebackers in Darren Bates, Jake Holland and Jonathan Evans.  There are two legitimate backups in Kris Frost and Justin Garrett and pretty much nothing after that.  I was extremely disappointed not to see Kris Frost grab a starting spot.  He is about the biggest linebacker recruit Auburn has snagged since Takeo Spikes.  It is too early to call him a bust but I hope he gets some playing time and will be ready to step in for Bates next year.  Bates is a gamer who makes some big plays but is undersized.  Holland and Evans were both injured last year but certainly did not do a whole lot before then.  Hopefully moving Coach Tommy Thigpen to linebackers will help them and him as it was the position he played and coached previously.  Also Coach Van Gorder is a linebackers coach as well.  I don't expect big things from these guys but just nominal play behind an improved line would be huge.

The strength and deepest part of the Auburn defense is in the secondary.  The coaches have recruited well and stockpiled a lot of good players.  The thing that hurt the secondary the most was the front seven getting consistently oblierated last year and bad coaching.  Hopefully with both those areas improved we can see big things out of this unit.  A few of the brightest stars have fallen down the depth chart due to injuries in Enrique Florence and Robenson Threrezie but hopefully they will rebound. 

So where does that leave us?  I am hoping this defense can finish in the top half of the SEC in scoring and total defense.  I am hoping that will put it in the top 25 in the country and that it will be much improved over the abomination we saw last year.  Hopefully that will help Auburn secure some big wins.  To the offense...

Coach Scott Loeffler comes into to change Auburn's offense from the defense-killing hurry-up-no-huddle spread to a defense-friendlier pro-style type offense.  Now what the heck does "pro-style" mean?  I mean talk about a vague reference.  Well I watched highlights from several of Temple's games last year and his offense up there resembled Al Borges' west coast offense at Auburn with a good bit of read option thrown in.  I am definitely predicting we will still see a LOT of shotgun read-option plays from Auburn this year.  Loeffler help run it at Florida with Tebow, he ran it at Temple and the Auburn players especially Kiehl Frazier are familar with it. 

Where will Loeffler go other than that?  I would expect us to continue to stretch the field with McCalebb from many different formations.  I would expect many short passes to Lutzenkirchen and Emory Blake.  The big question is if Auburn will commit to having a decent down-the-field vertical passing game.  All we have heard in the off-season is "run the ball blah blah blah run the ball...".  Like last year and 2009 and Brandon Cox's last two years, we will not be able to run the ball against the big boys without a legitimate down-the-field threat.  You have to back those safeties up.  Auburn did not even have that last year against the little guys.  You have to practice your passing game in the lesser games to have it ready in the big games and Chizik and Co. did not last year.

Our passing game was a complete embarrassment as LSU, Georgia and Bama relentlessly jammed the line of scrimmage not even worrying about a passing threat.  Also teams would pay some extra attention to Blake and Lutzenkirchen but barely cover any other wide receivers.  They knew we would not throw to them and we did not.  You can talk about "running the ball" all you want but without a competent passing game it is not going to happen.

Can Kiehl Frazier deliver?  He did not do much passing last year but the guy was one of the best quarterbacks in the country out of high school and appears to be a great kid.  I am hoping he has a big year.  It will be tough though with two freshmen tackles.  Even Chizik says it:  "We have a starting quarterback who is new. We have two tackles who have never played a game. We're curious to see how the offense molds and gels, even during the game."

While Greg Robinson and Avery Young are highly touted prospects it is tough being a young tackle in the SEC.  However they should be more talented than their senior counterparts last year who did not fare well even in the little games.  Hopefully Reese Dismukes will not be suspended too long because we need all hands on deck.  We have a little more experience at the guards in John Sullen and Chad Slade and more big-time prospects behind them in Christian Westermen and Alex Kozan.

I am not sure how much we can realistically expect from this line.  For Auburn to beat any of the big-time teams on their schedule this unit must be able to hold their own against some pretty good defensive lines.  I guess at this point you coach them up and hope for the best, you hope these young guys grow up fast.  I think IF they can stay together that these guys could be great down the line but unfortunately I think they will take their lumps this year.  That effects everything especially when you don't have that one guy at running back.

Ontario McCalebb is back and hopefully will have another big game in the Georgia Dome as he did in the Chick-fil-a bowl just nine months ago.  However as everyone knows, he is not an every-down back.  It will be up to Tre Mason and Mike Blakely to step and do the tough running.  Mason showed some flashes and Blakely has gotten good reviews.  Unfortunately young guys behind a young line with a young quarterback...  I keep adding it up in my head and I just do not see a happy ending against the big boys on our schedule.

As stated before, we do have veteran playmakers Emory Blake and Phillip Lutzenkirchen but Frazier has to have time to get them the ball and the other team has to not collapse on them.  The question is will we throw to someone else and if we actually do will someone else step up?  As I said before it was embarrassing how little attention teams payed to our second and third wide receivers last year.  You have to make them respect at least a little anyone you send out there at wide receiver.  You also have to throw the ball enough to get everyone involved and get the main guys enough touches. 

I guess that is what I am hoping from this young inexperienced unit.  I am hoping that the coaching staff will try to stay somewhat balanced and that we can at least have a decent somewhat effective passing game.  IF we can do that then I think we can "run the ball" and maybe have a chance at an upset.  I think this offense has a lot of future potential but is the future now? 

One big positive is the special teams.  They look very strong with Cody Parkey and Steven Clark.  Both are All-SEC caliber kickers that you cannot take for granted.  Both had good seasons last year along with good kick coverage and decent returners.  I think the special teams will be a solid asset to this team.  Now to the schedule...

This season looks fairly easy to predict.  I have done fairly well in my preseason predictions for the Chizik era, I predicted 6-6 in both 2009 and 2010 and we went 7-5.  I predicted the national championship team to go 9-3.  This year I think Auburn has five games that they should win in La Monroe, New Mexico St, Alabama A&M, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and four games they will most likely lose in Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Bama.  Arkansas, Georgia and Bama all have very good experienced quarterbacks who ate Auburn up last year.  I look for Auburn to give them a better game but do not see the upset.  LSU does not have the quarterback but is loaded everyone else.  The season, in my opinion, hinges on three games: Clemson, Miss St and Texas A&M.  These are games that could go either way and will decide whether Auburn has a decent, medocre or bad season. 

Two of these games are right off the bat starting the season away from Jordan Hare so we should know a lot about this Auburn team before the home opener.  I think we will get two of them and am going with historical precedent and predicting this Auburn team will go... 7-5.  That will not make us happy but seems to be the reality of the moment.

However I think most Auburn fans are looking for improvement that sometimes is not seen in the win and loss record.  I think they are looking for Auburn to play much better in the big games and  "get mean" as I started this post saying.  We may be outmanned and inexperienced but we can show these teams that we are back and here to stay by making sure they remember the next day they played the Auburn Tigers.  It is "time to get mean, I mean plumb mad dog mean".  I just can't say it any better than that.

Saturdays to Remember... 1989

 

Alabama finally comes to Auburn.  They said it would never happen.  When Bear Bryant was ruling the state it sure looked like it would never happen.  However on December 2, 1989 it happened.  Younger Auburn people who did not grow up under the Bear Bryant regime or did not have parents that did just do not understand what it was like.  Take the current reign of Nick $aban and multiply it by ten and that might be scratching the surface.  Imagine Nick $aban basically able to sign as many players as he wants for most of his career.  My parents grew up under the Bear Bryant regime (1958-1982) and except for 1958, 1963, 1969 through 1972 and 1982 it was a dark period.  Auburn was always treated like a second class citizen.  Birmingham was a Bama power base and Auburn had to play them in Legion Field ever year.  Even as Auburn slowly started moving all their other games to Jordan Hare Stadium they had to continue to play Bama in Legion Field.

As I have stated in previous posts, whenever you hear someone wax nostalgic about how great the Iron Bowl was at Legion Field and the "50/50 split", remember that it was never like that.  It was always more like a "65/35" split to Bama.  Basically Auburn and Bama would get a third of the tickets and the city of Birmingham would get the other third and Birmingham has been and always will be more Bama.  Also, Bama still played several games at Legion Field while Auburn did not.  Legion Field was also turf and while Bryant-Denny was turf for a long time, Jordan-Hare Stadium has always been grass.  Finally the stadium and the neighborhood around it deteriorated every year. 

It was completely ridiculous to continue playing our home games in Legion Field (as Bama would even have to admit as it would move their Iron Bowl home games a decade later).  However someone had to step up and fight the fight and take the hits.  That someone was Coach Pat Dye.  Though it would cost him, Coach Dye got it done.  It is one of his biggest accomplishments and one most Auburn people now take for granted.  Dye was able to get it done and get Bama there in 1989 though Auburn would have to throw the city of Birmingham a bone and return to that hell hole one more time for a home game in 1991 (yes that will be a Saturday to Forget, one of the biggest for me).

What made this game even more special was its intersection with a very special team, the 1989 Auburn Tigers.  Auburn people tend to have special places in their hearts for certain teams.  These teams are usually ones that were always the underdog or had to fight through some adversity or as Pat Dye would say it... "wrestle with them angels".  The 1989 Auburn Tigers like the 1963, 1972 and 1982 Auburn football teams were one of those special teams.  While still very talented Auburn had lost a ton of great football players and more importantly team leaders from the dominant 1988 squad.  The 1989 Auburn Tigers seemed to be missing some of that leadership and that chemistry that had been there the last three seasons.  Wrestling with them angels...  That is why for this team you have to start with a...

A Saturday to Forget
Auburn opened the season eviscerating poor Pacific 55-0.  Alexander "Ace" Wright set the Auburn record that still stands today for receiving yards in a game with 263 yards that day.  After working though what used to be the annual tough game with Southern Miss 24-3, Auburn headed to Knoxville to find out where this team really was.  They were not where anybody thought they were.  Auburn was physically manhandled by the Vols and they lost 21-14.  The game was certainly not as close as the score indicated.  Coach Johnny Majors had the Vols ready to play after being whipped two out of the previous three games.  I believe this game was also played in the rain.  I definitely remember it was a rainy day in Auburn where I watched it in my apartment. 

Tennesse running back Reggie Cobb gained revenge for the hit he took the year before.  Along side his battery mate Chuck Webb they pounded the Auburn defense into submission.  Cobb rushed for over 200 yards, the most ever against a Pat Dye defense.  The play from this game that I have never forgotten is Cobb or Webb running up the middle and literally running over Auburn linebacker Darrell Crawford.  I mean literally stepping on Crawford's helmet as he was running over him.  That pretty much summed up the game.  The loss put Auburn's hopes for a third SEC title in jeopardy and left everyone wondering about this team.  The defense was younger and not as big and strong and the offense outside of playing Pacific just was not right.  Auburn would then slog through Kentucky before returning home to play their nemisis from the year before, the LSU Tigers.

The game was eerily similar to the year before except Auburn got that one touchdown and won 10-6.  While the game was similar, after losing to Tennessee it lacked drama.  I remember it being one the most boring big games I have ever sat through.  On a personal note, I have never been one to drink at football games.  They have always been serious stuff to me and never a party.  However this was the one game in college that I might have had a little too much to drink before the game.  It taught me a lesson though as I was ready to lay down and take a nap in the third quarter.  Drinking and Auburn football games usually don't mix for me but drinking and a REALLY boring game definitely do not mix for me (-:

Auburn was back on a winning streak but there was still something just not right with this team.  That fact was proven the next week when Auburn went to Tallahassee and lost 22-14 to the Seminoles.  It would be Florida State's third win in a row in as many years over the Auburn Tigers.  I will say it again, I have accused a lot of teams and programs of being overrated but I can never say that about Bobby Bowden and Florida State.  They beat three SEC Champion Auburn teams in a row.  This latest loss like the one to Tennessee was probably not as close as the score indicated.  Wrestling with them angels...

Auburn returned home with their second loss in their first six games.  That had not happened since 1984.  The team had a young improving defense but no personality on offense.  At this point the season looked like it would end in disappointment and the 1989 Auburn Tigers would just be another mediocre team that would not be remembered.  Coach Dye though was not going to go down without a fight and embarked on one of the finest coaching jobs of his storied career that would end in maybe Auburn's greatest...

Saturday to Remember
Auburn's next game was at home against Mississippi State.  In the days prior to the game Coach Dye declared that Auburn was going to run the football, no matter what.  He was going to give this team a personality.  He really didn't care if Mississippi State knew it or not.  Coach Dye was as good as his word and Auburn threw less than ten passes  for only 37 yards and pounded the ball at State over and over again.  In the end it was Auburn winning 14-0 and rushing for 241 yards.  James Joseph, one of Auburn's most underrated running backs and who coach Dye called "a man in every sense of the word" has 172 of those rushing yards.   All of Auburn's problems were not solved but Coach Dye had started something and this team was changing.  They just needed that one moment to bring it all together...

While the Iron Bowl this year was one of Auburn's greatest games ever, the Florida game produced one of the greatest plays ever.  I was in the student section for it and I do not think I will ever forget it.  The Florida Gators came to Auburn with a mad on after getting whipped by the Tigers the last two years.  The Gators were led by future NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith in his final college season.  Smith had never beaten Auburn and had in fact missed the game the year before due to injury. 

Auburn came right back like it did against State pounding the Gators with the run.  Florida came right back pounding with Smith.  It was an old fashioned slobber knocker but Florida scored late to make it 7-3 and Auburn who had showed little on offense against the bigger teams this season.  It came down to the final seconds, it was Auburn near midfield with fouth and eleven and no timeouts.  It looked over.  Everyone thought it was over.  Not just the game but the hunt for a third SEC title and the hope this season could be turned around...  wrestling with them angels...  Reggie Slack drops back...  and finds Shayne Wasden somehow someway open in the end zone for the touchdown...  Absolute utter pandemonium. 

I have been fortunate enough to be a part of many great Auburn celebrations but I have never seen a crowd explode quite like this one did after Slack hit Wasden.  I was in the student section and people were literally falling down the stands all around me going absolutely crazy.  It was a sight to behold.  The end of the 1997 Iron Bowl was close but this one stands apart.  I have also never seen one play, just one play, completely change a team.  The 1989 Auburn Tigers were never the same after this play and would go on to beat Georgia, Bama and Ohio State. 

Auburn would warm up before the Bama game beating Georgia in one of the few years that the Georgia game was completely eclipsed by the Iron Bowl.  Darrell "Lectron" Williams would lead the way and have maybe his best game as an Auburn Tiger rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown in the win.  The stage was set and the build up began.  It would last for two weeks and I can tell you it was unbelievable living in Auburn, Alabama for those two weeks.  Classes were insignificant even with finals coming up.  The feeling in the air was just unbelievable.  The RVs and everyone else started pouring in about a week before the game started.  Still today, there are big games and then there is the 1989 Iron Bowl, "The First Time Ever".  The students including all of my friends and I started lining up at the gate 8 hours before game time.  I remember when the gates finally opened.  It was a mad dash for the best seats as the students poured in.  After another two and a half hours in the stadium it was finally mercifully game time...

Auburn came out firing.  Slack hit Ace Wright with a "Sullivan-to-Beasley" type bomb.  James Joseph would then be immortalized going over the top for Auburn's first touchdown against Bama at Jordan Hare Stadium.  WAR DAMN EAGLE.  Auburn 7-0.  Auburn actually bogged down after that and Bama would hold a slim lead at 10-7 at the half.  Pat Dye would say he knew we were the stronger team and that we would win at halftime.  I think all of us felt the same way.  Auburn would score on their first series of the second half and would never trail again.  Darrell "Lectron" Williams would score a TD and Win Lyle would add two more field goals.  Auburn 30 Bama 20.

"Sure I would like to be 11-0 but I would not swap this team for any I have coached at Auburn... I have watched you struggle...  I watched you wrestle with them angels...  but I watched you grow up and become men...  I watched you become men."  That is what Pat Dye and Auburn football is all about.

The Players
Award Winners...
We had six players make All-SEC this season. They were: Ed King OG, John Hudson C, Craig Ogletree OLB, Quentin Riggins ILB, David Rocker DT and John Wiley DB.

Ed King and Craig Ogletree would also be All-Americans.  Ogletree surpassed his more famous predecessor Aundray Bruce and become a better outside linebacker in my opinion.

Departures...Dominko Anderson S, Eltin Billingslea LB,  Fernando Horn DT, John Hudson C, Brad Johnson OG,  Win Lyle K, Craig Ogletree LB, Quentin Riggins LB, Mark Rose DE, Reggie Slack QB, Alex Strong FB and Alexander Wright WR.

The thing that strikes me about this group is all of them are unsung heroes.  They always seemed to be in the shadows of the more famous group that departed in 1988.  It is sort of like the 1972 team after the Sullivan and Beasley class left.  They played important roles in earlier years but saved their best for last.  They are defined by the team leaders on offense and defense, quarterback Reggie Slack and middle linebacker Quentin Riggins.  Slack and Riggins replaced two fiery leaders in Jeff Burger and Kurt Crain and surpassed them leading two football teams to championships.  They will always be two of my favorites.   

Arrivals...
Herbert Casey WR, Pedro Cherry WR, Tim Cromartie DT, Chris Gray OT,  Victor Hall TE, Chuckie Johnson DT, Corey Lewis QB, Clarence Morton S, Richie Nell P, Alex Smith RB, Ricky Sutton DE, Walter Tate DT, Jim Von Wyl K and Darrell "Lectron" Williams RB.

Saturdays to Remember... 1988

The greatest defense in Auburn history.  Despite losing great defensive players like Kurt Crain and Aundray Bruce the 1988 Auburn Tigers stand above the rest.  This defense was led by the greatest defensive line in Auburn history and one of the best of all time in my opinion.  This line included the greatest defensive lineman in Auburn history, Tracy Rocker, who won the Lombardi AND Outland trophies this year.  He was joined by noseguard and fellow All-American Benji Roland and All-SEC tackle Ron Stallworth.  They were flanked by linebackers Craig Ogletree, Quentin Riggins, Smokey Hodge and Alvin Mitchell and behind them were head hunters Carlo Cheatum and Greg Staples plus Corey Barlow and John Wiley at the corners.  There were also a ton of good players behind these guys in Fernando Horn, David Rocker, Brian Smith, Reggie Barlow, Eltin Billingslea, Dominko Anderson, Shan Morris, Frankie Stankunas, etc... 

It was a dominating unit finishing first in rushing defense, total defense, scoring defense (seven points a game!), etc...  The offense was not bad either with Reggie Slack stepping in for Jeff Burger still throwing to senior Lawyer Tillman, steady Freddy Weygand and speedster Alexander "Ace" Wright plus war horses Stacy Danley and James Joseph running the ball behind All-SEC linemen Rodney Garner at guard (who would become probably the best all-time recruiter in SEC history) and Jim Thompson at tackle plus Rob Selby, Ed King and John Hudson at center.  Also as with most all-time champion units this team had outstanding specials teams play with two All-SEC kickers in Win Lyle and punter Brian Shulman.

This was a great team from top-to-bottom.  Again, I feel extremely fortunate to have been a student down at Auburn during this time.  This would be my sophomore season on the plains.  Students would line up hours before the big games for the good seats.  Auburn would not lose or really even come close to losing a home game this year.  Those are always extra special years.  They make it easy to find...

A Saturday to Remember...
Auburn started strong destroying Tennessee at Jordan Hare 38-6 after warming up against Kentucky and Kansas to open the season.  It was another one of those days when Auburn was clicking on all cylinders and it included one of the greatest hits in Auburn history where Auburn safety Carlo Cheatum laid out Tennessee running back Reggie Cobb (I was so happy to find the linked video to see that play again).  Everyone who saw it remembers it and the fact you heard it all over the stadium.  The hit set the tone and epitomized the entire game.  The Tennessee game was always the third game of the year and always signaled whether Auburn was a contender or pretender.  They established in this game that they were definitely a contender.  Auburn would give up their highest point total of the season the next week while blowing out North Carolina 47-21.  If my memory is correct this was because Auburn had the benches cleared early in the second half as they jumped all over the Tar Heels.

Auburn would then travel to Baton Rouge and endure what I consider the worst loss in Auburn history and is covered below.  I gave the 1987 team a lot of credit for getting off the mat after a tough loss but I have to give the 1988 team even more credit.  They did not just get off the mat, the somehow some way got better after the loss and absolutely destroyed their next four opponents (Akron, Mississippi State, Florida and Southern Miss).  They did not just beat the first three but SHUT THEM OUT.  Three shutouts in a row.  The most impressive was the last one where Auburn went to Gainesville and shut the Gators out at home in a dominating defensive performance.  It was just Pat Dye football at it's finest.

Auburn would continue playing great defense in the Iron Bowl and win again against Bama 15-10.  Bama scored a late meaningless touchdown to make it look close.  Auburn dominated the day.  However it would be Ron Stallworth stealing the show from his more famous teammate on the defensive line this day.  Stallworth would sack Bama quarterback David Smith four times including a safety. 

For the second year, in a strange tragic coincidence, the only touchdown of the game was scored by a first year Auburn running back that would have to give up football after the season due to a neck injury.  The year before it had been Harry Mose and this year it would be Henry Love.  It would also be a long completion to Lawyer Tillman toward the end of the first half for the second year in a row that would get the touchdown drive started.

However the best Saturday of the year for me though was the second part of the old "Amen Corner" triangle, the Georgia game.  "The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" is always a big game but a few things turned this one into an even bigger one.  First, this would be the final game Vince Dooley would coach against his alma mater.  Vince Dooley was one of the people that made this rivalry one of the best there is.  Pat Dye was another one of those people.  Both men coaching against their alma maters in one of college football's biggest rivalries.  The games they played from 1981 through 1988 were incredible.  An SEC title was on the line for one or both of the schools just about every time they played.  Two Heisman trophies were clinched in this game by, in my opinion, the two greatest running backs to ever play college football in Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson.  There were so many other great players on both sides as well during this time.

I remember the weather being perfect as well.  It was just one of those perfect days for a great football game.  For me personally, the Georgia game has always been my favorite.  This one was extra special because a large group of friends I had graduated high school with had also come down for the weekend.  I believe we got most of them in for the game and then we had a large cookout after.  It was just one of those great college memories.  It certainly made it better that Auburn played another magnificent game and won 20-10 over the Bulldogs.  The play I remember most was Auburn linebacker Smokey Hodge laying out Georgia running back Tim Worley in a hit similar to Cheatum's hit in the Tennessee game.  This defense was just downright nasty.  The Bulldog running game was held to just 70 yards, 238 yards in total offense and only 10 points.  All-American Tim Worley, who averaged over 6 yards per carry, was held to 63 yards on 15 carries against Auburn.  It was definitely a Saturday to remember and a fitting end to the Dye vs. Dooley rivalry.

A Saturday to Forget...
This is a hard one to write.  This is the worst one for me and for Auburn in my opinion.  First to set it up, as I have titled my two intro posts for this decade, Coach Dye had laid a foundation of winning and was in the middle of building a dynasty.  Auburn now expected to win and win big.  On top of that, we knew this was a very special team.  This senior class at that time was the winningest in Auburn history.  We knew this team was as good or better than anybody else in the country and that this defense was something very special. 

This game was played on October 8, 1988.  Auburn was 4-0 coming into the game while LSU had lost two tough ones on the road at Ohio State and Florida.  The loss to Florida would be their only one in conference this season.  The two teams had not played since Dye's first season in 1981.  It was of course a Saturday night game in Baton Rouge as it always seems to be when we go to LSU.

I had come home from Auburn that weekend and had planned to watch the game with my family.  Unfortunately my dad had to go out of town on a business trip and my mom and I started out watching the game.  She cleared out shortly after halftime if I remember correctly.  By the third quarter I was pacing and fuming like well.. an agitated tiger in his cage.  Auburn controlled the game but just could not get points on the board.  As it got later and later, I got more and more worried.  Auburn kicked a field goal in the second quarter and then in the fourth quarter.  I remember having a very bad feeling in the fourth quarter when we did not punch it in but just got another field goal.  We just needed one touchdown.

It was excruciating to watch.  There was just so much on the line for Auburn and they were so close to escaping with the win.  Everyone knows how it turned out though, LSU drove the ball down the field in the last two minutes.  Auburn got it to fourth down around the 13 yard line and then LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson completed the touchdown pass to running back Eddie Fuller and LSU would win 7-6.  No I will not be providing the link for that play...

The legend of the game would grow in coming years as it was claimed that the eruption in the stadium after Fuller caught the pass actually registered as seismic activity.  Thus the nickname "The Earthquake Game" was born.  It certainly was a real earthquake for Auburn as they would have definitely played Notre Dame (and Lou Holtz) in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship with a win.  Auburn would have won that game because the Irish was a running team and nobody ran the ball on this Auburn team.  But... since Auburn lost to LSU Notre Dame would get their national title against West Virginia.  West Virginia, a team who would probably have been lucky to be in the top 15 in the country but was given their shot by doing it the "Miami Way", i.e. going undefeated with a few big wins but a much easier schedule than everyone else like say Auburn.

Auburn would go to the Sugar Bowl and lost a close one, 13-7, to a good Florida State team who had only one loss as well but lost big to Miami early in the season.  I remember it being an uninspired performance as I believe this is when the LSU loss finally hit home for the players.  It was certainly still with all of the fans.  I think the team peaked and played their best game in the Georgia game and that is why it is my favorite of the season.
 
Auburn would finish 10-2 but were really one play, just one play, from being 12-0 and national champions.  Even with the two losses, the 1988 Auburn Tigers are in my top five Auburn teams ever. You can guarantee there is not one team in Auburn's history that this team could not beat.  This defense would keep this team in any game against anybody.  "Defense Auburn DEFENSE!!!"

The Players
Award Winners...
We had a DOZEN players make All-SEC this season. They were: Carlo Cheattom S, Stacy Danley TB, Rodney Garner OG, Walter Reeves TE, Quentin Riggins LB, Tracy Rocker DT, Benji Roland NG, Brian Shulman P, Reggie Slack QB, Greg Staples S; Ron Stallworth DT, Jim Thompson OT

Tracy Rocker, Walter Reeves and Benji Roland  were also All-Americans.  The Rock as I stated above also became one of the few players in the history of college football to win both the Lombardi and Outland tropies.

Departures...
Carlo Cheattom S, Duke Donaldson WR, Rodney Garner OG, Vincent Harris FB, Smokey Hodge LB,  Henry Love RB, Alvin Mitchell LB, Shan Morris S, Walter Reeves TE, Tracy Rocker DT, Benji Roland NG, Brian Shulman P, Brian Smith LB, Ron Stallworth DT, Greg Staples S, Jim Thompson OT, Lawyer Tillman WR and Freddy Weygand WR,.

Wow, where do I start?  I think I have hit most of these guys already but there are a few I need to say a little bit more about it.  Duke Donaldson was a solid steady backup at wide receiver for his entire career.  Rodney Garner as I stated above would go from good player to great coach and recruiter.  First at Auburn, then at Tennessee and now at Georgia.  I believe Garner is the one of the biggest reasons Georgia coach Mark Richt has stayed at Georgia for so long and one of the biggest reasons Auburn's recruiting take from the state of Georgia has gone down since the days of Pat Dye.  Vincent Harris would go on to infamy as he slandered Auburn with Eric Ramsey.  Walter Reeves would go on to play eight seasons in the NFL.  Freddy Weygand was a huge contributor at wide receiver for four seasons. 

That brings me to...  Lawyer Tillman.  "Vintage Lawyer", one of the greatest Auburn posters ever and one I owned for a long time before losing it in a move...

Outside of Terry Beasley, Lawyer Tillman was probably the most exciting wide receiver to ever play at Auburn.  He was a "tweener", i.e. he could have been a tight end or a receiver.  He would be a receiver at Auburn and a tight end in the NFL.  He was a big tall rangy guy.  He was never the fastest and never had the most receptions but he definitely made the most big plays including the unbelievable one handed catch he made that is captured in the poster above.  There are so many others...  The game winning catch at Tech in 1986, "The Reverse" against Bama and huge catches in the next two Iron Bowls plus many more.  Lawyer Tillman will always be one of my all-time favorite Auburn players.

Finally, one more ode to "The Rock".  It is only fitting that after such a great career but coming one play short of a national championship that Tracy Rocker would come back to Auburn and help lead Auburn to the promised land as a coach in 2010.  Tracy Rocker would definitely join Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson and Cam Newton on the "Mount Rushmore" of Auburn players.

Arrivals...
Corey Barlow CB, Reggie Barlow DT, Teapot Brown FB, Darrel Crawford LB, Anthony Judge LB, Ed King OG, Frank McIntosh QB, Bob Meeks C, Dale Overton WR, Richard Shea DT, Frankie Stankunas S, Alex Strong FB and Shayne Wasden WR.