How does all this effect Auburn? Well first like I said last week, barring an utter collapse, it pretty much saves Gus Malzahn's job if he can at least go 8-4 again. Texas A&M definitely proved they were beatable. Now they have beaten Auburn before when they looked much worse and can certainly beat Auburn again but the Tigers should win. That should save Malzahn regardless of the last two big games assuming Auburn is not blown out. Again I think Auburn has a good chance against Georgia even with Malzahn's awful playcalling because Auburn is a good team and will be a big underdog at home to a Georgia team that is very good but not a juggernaut. First though Auburn has got to take of business in College Station.
That is where we are at. I, of course, cannot stand Gus Malzahn's offensive coaching but if he is going to stay I sure wish he would have taken care of business against LSU. The feeling right now would just be better, like Auburn really had a chance at winning the conference. It just does not feel like that. It feels like Auburn is basically playing for one more big win and a decent bowl. That is OK some years but not this year. This team is better than that and it is just bad coaching that has put Auburn in this spot. Of course it was once again LSU that delivered another wilting loss to a good Auburn season. It seems like it is always those guys through the years. During last season's bye week I posted the greatest Auburn wins for me I have seen in person. This season after another painful loss to LSU I guess I will write my list of Auburn's worst losses...
Now don't go rolling your eyes about how negative I am. You could not have bad losses without winning the majority of the time. The only reason they are tough losses is because most of the time we had a good team. It also helps to just get it out. Also, there is a lot of Auburn history here. Actually here at the last minute I have decided to do this a different way and to do it by team (kudos to the mcubed website for easy access to all the series history)...
13. MISSOURI. There is not much history here and it still just burns me up that these guys were added to the SEC. It was just pure greed. The conference does not need them or even want them but it is all about more money. These teams have only played three times and one was this season. Auburn stomped Missouri earlier this season 51-14 and beat them in the SEC championship game in 2013. Auburn's only loss to Missouri was in 1973 at the Sun Bowl 34-17. Since Auburn had just lost to Georgia and Bama I do not think it mattered a whole lot.
WORST STR LOSS: 1973 Sun Bowl.
12. SOUTH CAROLINA. I was OK with the additions of South Carolina and Arkansas to the SEC to give us twelve teams and the SEC championship game. It worked because they were very similar programs and geographically fit into their divisions. It has certainly worked for Auburn who has played some great games against the Gamecocks but has not lost to them since they joined the SEC. Auburn is 10-1-1 against South Carolina with that lone loss coming in 1933.
WORST STR LOSS: 1933
11. KENTUCKY. Again there is not much history here because the teams have not played that many times and Auburn DOMINATES KENTUCKY IN FOOTBALL (26-6-1). Yes I will rub it in because of basketball. I tell people over and over again to never ever feel sorry for Kentucky in football because they are so arrogant about basketball. Auburn's only loss to Kentucky in football in the modern era was in 2009 at Jordan Hare Stadium. I will say that one hurt the pride and one that is always forgotten by some of these people who think 2009 was a good season for Auburn football. It was not.
WORST STR LOSS: 2009
10. VANDERBILT. Shockingly Vandy is one of the few teams in the conference Auburn does not have a winning record against. Auburn is 21-21-1 against the Commodores. However most of that is obviously ancient history. Vandy owned Auburn in the early 1900s through the 1950s. In fact the first big win David Housel chronicles in his book "Saturdays To Remember" that this blog is named after is Shug Jordan's first game and win in 1951 over Vanderbilt. The only time Vandy has beaten Auburn in the modern era was in 2008 and 2012 and those seasons were so bad it was just another bad loss.
WORST STR LOSS: 2008 and 2012
9. OLE MISS. Auburn really has little history with the University of Mississippi even though they are both founding members of the SEC. Auburn has dominated the series 31-11. The greatest game in the series is the 1971 Gator Bowl where Auburn and quarterback Pat Sullivan beat Ole Miss and quarterback Archie Manning 35-28. The worst loss in the series for Auburn was probably in 1999 when Tommy Tuberville had just come to Auburn from Ole Miss and there was some bad blood. Ole Miss lucked out with a 24-17 win in overtime because Auburn stupidly ran starting quarterback Ben Leard on the option and got him hurt. Otherwise Auburn wins that game easy.
The worst loss to Ole Miss for me was 2003. I was in the stands and it was the first game for my oldest son. The Rebels were very good with Eli Manning but Auburn was better and this was the game Ben Obomanu dropped the winning touchdown pass that hit him in the numbers. I definitely wanted Tommy Tuberville's head that day. The Rebels like Vandy piled on in 2008 and 2012 but again it was just another bad loss in a season filled with them. The last loss to Ole Miss was in 2015 but there were worse ones that season. Neither Ole Miss nor any of these teams I have already mentioned dealt a death blow to an Auburn season.
WORST STR LOSS: 2003
8. TEXAS A&M. Again like Missouri, I hated adding the Aggies to the SEC. Again, neither team fits geographically and 14 teams just does not work. I hated this expansion and I really do not consider Missouri or Texas A&M true parts of the SEC. I wish Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would join the SEC, Missouri move to the West and Auburn and Bama can move to the East. That way we would have the real SEC back together again minus the Mississippi schools and LSU. With that said, Texas A&M has already delivered a couple of excruciating losses to the Auburn Tigers since joining the SEC. In fact Auburn is 2-5 against the Aggies all time.
The first loss in 2012 was maybe the worst as Texas A&M and Johnny Manziel laid the worst beat down on Auburn ever at Jordan Hare 63-21 (and it could have been much worse). Two years later in 2014, after losing to Bama 59-0 and having a terrible season the Aggies held on to ruin Auburn's season 41-38. Auburn would not win another conference game at home till 2016. Of course the Aggies were also the last team Bo Jackson would play against at Auburn in the 2016 Cotton Bowl. He had a good game but Texas A&M destroyed Auburn 36-16. However that loss may have been one of the best things to happen to Auburn because after it Pat Dye changed his philosophy to be more balanced and pass more (do you hear that Gus???). Auburn then went on to win three SEC championships in a row.
WORST STR LOSS: 2012 and 2014
7. MISSISSIPPI STATE. State has been a much more regular part of Auburn's schedule but even with that it has just not been that exciting of a series. Neither team has wrecked the other one's season many times. The team that is up usually beats the team that is down. That has usually been Auburn since they lead the series 60-28-3 but in the last decade or so it has been State several times as well. In fact State has only dealt Auburn one absolutely devastating loss and that was in 1963 and it was Auburn's only loss in the regular season and kept them from competing for the conference and mythical national championship. Auburn and quarterback Jimmy Sidle were driving and going for the win instead of the tie and an interception gave State a 13-10 win.
State almost dealt another Auburn season a killing blow when they shutout Auburn and quarterback Dameyune Craig 20-0 in 1997. However Auburn recovered to beat Georgia and Bama and make it to Atlanta as the Tigers did in 2000 after a tough loss to State 17-10. State upset a good Auburn team in 2007 due to turnovers and bad coaching and that really hurt Auburn's chances of making it to Atlanta but there were other tough losses as well. The last bad loss to State was in 2014 when they beat Auburn to ascend to #1 in college football after the game. I still think Auburn could have won that game passing more but Gus of course kept running into a State defense that was good against the run.
WORST STR LOSS: 1963
6. ARKANSAS. The series with the Razorbacks actually started in the 1984 Liberty Bowl where Bo led Auburn to a win. Other than that Auburn had no history with Arkansas till they joined the SEC in 1992. Auburn currently leads the series 15-11-1. However it feels like the Razorbacks have been a constant thorn in Auburn' side since they entered the league especially during the reign of Houston Nutt. It started with the 1992 game and this is a good time for the Top 3 worse TIES I have ever seen. I want to nominate the 1992 AU/Arkansas game for the worst tie ever...
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Auburn was retiring Bo's number, he was there, it was a beautiful day. I was in the student section and it was a great day to be an Auburn Tiger in the midst of a bad football season. Auburn should have won. Pat Dye would have gone out with a winning record with a win (we ended 5-5-1). Auburn ended up tied because of one of the dumbest plays in football history that a coach was not involved in. Stan White threw back across the field and was intercepted for a TOUCHDOWN on the last play of the first half when he was supposed to have thrown a "Hail Mary". I think I would have benched him for the season.
Now there have been some other bad ties. I guess #2 for me would be the 1978 Georgia game at Jordan Hare. My first football game EVER. That was very exciting. However Auburn came out in those awful orange jerseys (they looked like Tennessee), I missed a Joe Cribbs touchdown run going to get concessions and the game ended in a tie (I learned to always get concessions when we are on defense after that). The bronze medal would have to be the stupid Sugar Bowl tie with Syracuse. Auburn was a much better team and I guess they did too much partying on Bourbon Street. The Tigers should have beaten them and then we would not have had to hear all the criticism of Dye for going for the tie. Syracuse acted like such big babies I am glad he did.
The 1987 20-20 tie with Tennessee was the only blemish on the SEC record that year but it wasn't too bad as Auburn won the SEC outright. The 1990 tie with Tennessee felt like a win because Auburn was down 26-9 at the start of the 4th quarter. Tennessee really choked that day. Finally, the last tie in Auburn history, the 1994 23-23 tie with Georgia. Now this one stunk because Auburn was beating Georgia 23-9 and driving for another TD when Bowden got too greedy and Nix was intercepted throwing deep. The Tigers definitely should have won that game but it doesn't feel half as bad because it took a lot of the luster off Bama ending our 20 game winning streak.
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Back to the Razorbacks... Auburn would beat Arkansas in 1993 and 1994 while on probation. The Tigers would then head to Arkansas in 1995. I remember this game very well as I missed watching it because I had to go to a wedding (along with missing the Braves win the World Series that night). The Tigers were gunning for an SEC West title... and then Arkansas went up 27-0... 27-0!!! Auburn stormed back but still lost 30-28. That one hurt because Arkansas would go to Atlanta not Auburn even though the Tigers beat Georgia and Bama that year. There have been other losses to the Razorbacks after that but a few stand above the others... Arkansas unexpectedly blew Auburn out in 2001 and 2002. Those beat downs helped cost Auburn trips to Atlanta. The worst though came in 2006 when Auburn came into the game ranked #2 and Arkansas and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn destroyed Auburn and a great season 27-10. I just hate Arkansas.
STR WORST LOSS: 1995 and 2006
TO BE CONTINUED AT A LATER DATE...
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