Game 11 Review: A Nice Time Before The Ship Goes Down

It was a nice day down on the plains, one of the few this year.  Auburn beat the Alabama A&M Bulldogs who are from my hometown and current residence of Huntsville, Alabama 51-7 on Senior Day.  It was good for these seniors to get one more win on the day they are honored.  I also think it is cool for Auburn to play their easier out-of-conference games against schools in the state.  I think we should rotate in Troy and UAB and if we are going to play an FCS school we should pick from: Samford, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, South Alabama, etc...  Let's keep that money in the state and help these schools out.  It would not be the end of the world if we got upset by Troy one year.  It would not hurt our recruiting.  Want proof?  Nick $aban has lost to both UAB (at LSU) and Louisiana Monroe and I think he is doing OK. 

Outside of helping our fellow schools in the state it also makes the match-up a little more interesting.  I think it is really cool Auburn played Alabama A&M.  I know from living here in Huntsville a ton of A&M alumni and fans went to Auburn and hopefully had a great time.  It is just good for everyone.  Why should we play these stupid Louisiana schools every single year and not in-state schools?  Since 1985 we have played one of the lesser Louisiana schools almost 20 times.  Nowadays that is a half million dollars going out of state every game.  Another good reason to do it is that Bama will not.  I believe I saw a stat that they had not played another in-state school outside of Auburn since the 1940s and I believe it took a resolution from the Alabama legislature to get them to start playing Auburn again.  The snobby attitude down in Tuscaloosa has been around for a long time it appears.

Back to this season, I am not sure you will see another rant here before "The Decision" is made.  I believe I have said my piece more than once and got my biggest rant out last week.  I purposely got it all out last week because I will not give Bama fans the satisfaction of one next week.  Last year I spent most of the my post flashing back to the year before and I will have to also find something fun to do this year.  As for this post I will follow Rob Pate's lead at "Eyes on Auburn" and post a few memories of our departing seniors...

First up...  Lutzenkirchen!!!  It has been awesome yelling this guy's name for four years.  Lutzenkirchen!  I mean that will probably go down as the most unique name in Auburn history.  Lutz made a lot of big catches but obviously the biggest and most memorable was the game winner down in Tuscaloosa and the dance afterward.  Next up... Emory Blake.  We found out pretty quick that Lutz, Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachary were the real deal under Gus Malzahn with Cam but Blake breaking out and adding to the mix helped us have a truly elite passing game.  My biggest memories of Blake was his first touchdown where he made a great stop-and-go move and scored against Mississippi State in 2010 and then his touchdowns against Bama and in the national championship game.

Ontario McCalebb.  What a playmaker.  One of the greatest playmakers in Auburn history I dare say.  He could hurt you so many ways (he is only the second player in SEC history to have 2000 yards rushing, 1000 yards returning and 500 yards receiving).  He was the perfect complement in Malzahn's offense to Cam and Dyer running up the gut.  He was always dangerous on the swing pass out of the backfield.  He was a threat (till they shut him down this season) to take it to the house on every kickoff return.  McCalebb has scored a lot of touchdowns but it is no contest what my favorite memory of him is.  In 2010 though we had dominated the whole game we were tied with LSU 17-17.  The dream season hung in the balance and McCalebb goes 70 yards for the winning touchdown.  It was the last time I have gone absolutely falling down nuts at a game.  It was my first game to watch Cam in person and it was not Cam's Heisman-clinching run I remember the most but that run by McCalebb.

T'Sharvan Bell.  This guy probably made two of the most memorable plays by a cornerback in Auburn history.  First, his slam sack of Bama quarterback Greg McElroy was one of the most memorable plays from a season full of memorable plays.  It was also sweet justice as McElroy was the one throwing deep on us after the game was over to make it 36-0 in 2008.  As for Bell, the next week he would make an even bigger play pick-sixing South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia to effectively end the SEC Championship game.

Darren Bates.  The guy was an freshmen All-SEC safety with a bright future till for some inexplicable reason our coaches decided he would be better as a linebacker.  Therefore he has spent three years as an undersized linebacker.  He has always been a gamer but he has just not had the size and strength to get the job done.  I think he would still be All-SEC at safety. 

As for the rest of the seniors, there are a few busts and a few overachievers who have hung on.  I guess that is the bottom line, they hung on.  Despite all the arduous hard work and the monumental ups and downs of playing football at the highest level they hung on and that says something.  There are so many big-time recruits who never even come close to making it all the way through college.  It is a huge accomplishment to play for an SEC team or any college team for that matter and make it all the way through.  Congrats to the 2012 Auburn football seniors.