GAME 12 REVIEW: FINAL EXAM

Bama 49  Auburn 27.   Commentators, journalists, and people in general who talk about the "Iron Bowl" crack me up with the old overused cliché that "you never know what is going to happen!".  When Auburn has a losing record you know what is going to happen... every time.  Auburn has beaten Alabama with a losing record in 1901, 1902, and 1949.  It has never happened in the modern history of football and well before.  In fact it has rarely even been close when Auburn has a losing record.  Now Bama teams with losing records have beaten Auburn but that is pretty rare as well.  The better team usually wins in this series.  The only exceptions are a really good Auburn team beating a really good Bama team that is slightly favored.  Those are for the most part the only "upsets" in this series.

This year was no exception.  A much better Bama team handily beat an inferior Auburn team.  There really was never any doubt.  As Sun Tzu says "every battle is won or lost before it is fought".  This battle was won by Bama in the previous four years of recruiting.  Auburn had no chance.  Except for Derrick Hall and maybe Tank Bigsby or Jarquez Hunter there is not one player on Auburn's roster that would come close to starting for Bama.  Some Auburn fans might argue for a few more players but I disagree.  Bama is superior to Auburn at just about every position.  The build up to the game was just depressing for me and the game went exactly the way I thought it would go.  This is Auburn's final exam each season on it's recruiting the previous four years and as it has more times than not, Auburn FAILED.

There was only one surprise in this game and that was again the relentless spirit of Carnell Williams.  I have seen Auburn pretty much quit many times after Bama took a commanding lead.  That did NOT happen this time and that is a FACT.  How can I say that for sure?  Easy, even being completely dominated Auburn rushed for the most yards ever against a Nick $aban coached team, 318 YARDS (!!!).  It is just unbelievable Auburn could do this when the Tigers had NO passing game.  I know football has changed but a solid Bama defense could not stop Auburn from running when they had NO passing attack.  They not only did not have a passing attack but had one of if not the lowest rated offensive line in the history of the program.  Auburn just kept pounding the Tide even facing certain defeat.

As time ran out though it was just another disappointing end to another disappointing season.  They just keep adding up since Auburn's last conference title...  2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and now 2022.  You can add the unbelievably bad condition of Auburn's roster right now and the future looks bleak.  Even if you add a good coach and even considering it is easier to rebuild a roster now, it is still going to take some time to build this program back.  Any mistakes made will only increase the time needed...  It is just a tough time to be an Auburn Tiger.  There is really not much else to say about another season to forget outside Carnell William's inspiration.  It now all comes down to who Auburn selects to be the next head coach of the Tigers. 

Auburn will face this final exam next season and it already looks decided as well.  The only question right now appears to be how much progress will this program have made before then?

GAME 11 REVIEW: Top Of The Hill

Auburn 41  Western Kentucky 17.  Auburn led by interim head coach Carnell Williams played well for the third week in a row and finally ground down the Hilltoppers in the second half of this game.  Again in this game there was a definite difference in how Auburn played as compared to the first two non-conference games against Mercer and San Jose State.  The difference on offense was commitment to the run game and putting the ball in the hands of the best playmakers.  The difference on defense appears to be continuing to let them play a lot more aggressive.  The Tigers started slow and Western Kentucky is no slouch but you just did not see any lack of fight.  Carnell Williams regardless of what happens next week in Tuscaloosa has done literally the best job possible with this team and the program as a whole since he took it over.  I sure hope he is able to stay at Auburn in some capacity.

Carnell addressed the coaching search looming over him while he pours himself into this team after the game.  He said one of the most profound things I have heard in a long time.   He said "my seat does not dictate my service."  Please read that again: "MY SEAT DOES NOT DICTATE MY SERVICE."  How many times have all of us been in situations where we could serve or serve more but decide not to because we are in an undeserved bad situation or dealing with a person we do not deem worth our time?  We, shoot I, need to remember "my seat does not dictate my service."  I have learned more from Carnell Williams in the last month than I would have ever believed.  He is simply an amazing person with real maturity.  He is someone I would want coaching my kids.  He is a light in an increasingly dark world.  I cannot remember anyone whether in church or anywhere else focusing on serving others like Carnell has the last month.

I agree that Carnell does not have hardly any coaching experience much less head coaching experience at this level but Auburn could sure do a lot worse than this man.  In one way I really want him there but as I wrote last week I do not want to see him eventually become the villian.  I do not want to watch him get fired like pretty much every other head coach does at big time football schools.  I want him to stay at Auburn as an assistant but he has proven he can make a huge impact as a head coach.  I hope he gets a chance to go and change lives and help kids like he has done the last month at Auburn.  I also hope that some way and some how Auburn is able to navigate this whole process and treat Carnell right.  He loves Auburn and it has shown for the last month.  I do not want anything to happen to sour what he has done for Auburn over his entire career.  I do not think you can underestimate how important it has been.

Unfortunately as I said in an earlier post, sports are unforgiving.  They are not movie scripts.  You just do not get the storybook ending and I do not think Carnell is going to get one this next week.  This Auburn football team has some very good players but it is just not very good overall as you can still see each week.  David Ashford appears to be a great person and fights his butt off however he is an abysmal quarterback.  He just cannot even hit easy passes consistently.  He is really bad.  The same is still true of his offensive line.  Bama is good enough to shut down the Auburn run game especially with no passing game.  I fear that even with Auburn's rekindled spirit that this is going to be a bad one.  This game is a lot more important to Bama this season and Auburn has been beaten badly every time in Tuscaloosa for over a decade now.  Auburn's poor recruiting is about to be highlighted again in their annual final exam.

The bright spot I guess is that Auburn coaching search should end shortly after this game.  Of course depending on the choice it might not be a bright sport but the last straw in a decade of bad choices by Auburn University.  I was going to give some opinions on various candidates but that seems like a waste of time.  I want to wait and just post my opinion on the actual choice as it could be one of the most important decisions ever made in the history of the Auburn football program.  This new coach will inherit the worst Auburn roster since Shug Jordan took over in 1951.  He will have to rebuild it in the toughest recruiting environment any Auburn head coach has ever seen.  He will have to do this with Auburn's two biggest rivals currently considered the two best programs in the country.  He will have to do this now with paying players legal and every football school desperate to get those players.

I guess this whole dark climate that seems to pervade everything is what has made this last month with Cadillac so special.  As a school you have to establish core values, ethics you are committed to living by even when somebody else does not.  For example, sportsmanship matters at all levels.  That was proven again this week when two schools learned that "what goes around comes around".  Last week both Tennessee and Florida punched in late touchdowns when they were far ahead.  I understand continuing to run your offense with subs in and all that but when you have a huge lead and less than two minutes remain you shut it down.  You do not beat a man when he is down, you do not needlessly rub it in.  You live by what we teach our kids about right and wrong.  These two great up-and-coming coaches decided to ignore that advice...

These two coaches got their late touchdowns rubbing it in on their beaten opponents.  They were the toast of the highlights last week.  However as I mentioned earlier that kind of garbage usually comes back to bite you and man did it ever this week.  You usually do not see it come around quite this soon and this clear but this time you did.  South Carolina (who Florida rubbed it in on) also got that 60 points Tennessee was so desperate to get last week and stomped the Vols 63-38 eliminating them from the playoffs.  Florida and their know-it-all new coach Billy Napier went down to Vanderbilt which is always considered a disaster by any SEC team.  These two guys were sure patting themselves on the back last week as they both ran it up on other teams but not so much this week.

Thank you Cadillac for all that you have done for Auburn and taught all of us this past month.

GAME 10 REVIEW: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

Auburn 13  Texas A&M 10.  After the tumultuous 2003 season for Auburn that included big losses and the "Jetgate" scandal it was widely believed that many of the best players would leave for the NFL draft.  That group of players included Auburn's best running back and their biggest star in Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.   Carnell did not end up leaving and neither did many others following his lead.  Carnell had a lot of good reasons to leave.  He got hurt in 2001 and 2002 while the team's 2003 season was ruined by bad coaching.  In fact looking back there sure seems like there were a lot more reasons to leave than to stay.  However Carnell and so many others did come back and played a big role saving the Auburn program then as 2004 became one of the greatest seasons in Auburn football history.  Carnell returned to Auburn in 2019 as the Tiger's running back coach and last night maybe helped save the program again as he led his alma mater to a special win as the head coach.

I said it last week and I will say it again this week, what Carnell Williams has done in just two weeks as coach is simply amazing.  As I said last week I have seen the worst teams in Auburn's modern history in 1980, 1998, 2008, and 2012.  This team looked exactly the same after a mediocre at best Arkansas team destroyed Auburn at home just three weeks ago.  This team was DEAD and the entire climate around the program was TOXIC.  Carnell turned all that around in less than two weeks.  He got this team off the mat and while they are not that good and mistake prone they have fought their butts off.  They should have won last week and got the win this week.  And the climate around the program?  Watch the videos of Jordan Hare Stadium last night.  It is simply unbelievable, Auburn students and alumni and fans came out and rocked that stadium like the SEC title was on the line for an Auburn team that was was 3-6 and 1-5 in conference!!!

I will repeat something else I wrote last week, and that is the power of the "Auburn family" mentality that Carnell has talked about non-stop in every interview he has done.  Auburn screws it up a LOT but nobody comes together like Auburn.  A night last night just does not happen anywhere else but Auburn.  However any resurgence needs a catalyst and I do not think anyone else could have done other than Carnell.  He has displayed his faith in a true and authentic way.  He  has done things that coaches do not do especially since the $aban model was established.  He has talked about his vulnerability, he has talked about serving, he has talked about him and his coaching staff pouring themselves into these players.  Is he crazy?  Does he not understand that the only thing that matters about college football is getting these players ready for the pros?  No one can get anything out of a losing season!

Carnell and this coaching staff have refused to give up on this team and it resulted in a special win last night.  Yes this team is definitely not very good and Texas A&M is even worse but it still mattered.  It mattered to everyone that is a part of this Auburn football team.  It mattered to get a win at home with a great crowd.  This was one of those times when you just enjoy winning the game even if the season has been a disappointment.  On a cold and windy night the Auburn collective team and family led by Carnell showed what Carnell joyously uttered after it was over...  "Auburn ain't dead yet".  Hopefully the large number of recruits at the game and the others that were watching understand that and also understand Carnell's initial recruiting slogan and that is that Auburn is "where dreams come true".  Auburn truly needs "a few good men" and hopefully Carnell is not only saving Auburn's present but its future as well.

The job Carnell has done obviously begs the question of whether he should be considered for the job going forward?  I would love to say yes but have just been around for too long.  I know the truth of that famous statement uttered in one of my favorite movies and it is "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian."  It is true and I do not want to see Carnell go through it because no matter how good a person he is things will get ugly for any big time college football coach that does not win.  Almost no coaches go out on good terms anymore and it would be no different here. Also Carnell has only been involved in college football coaching since 2019.  He has the leadership to do what he has done this season but I do not think he has the experience to lead the program out of this dark place in the long term.  I could certainly be wrong but I just do not want to find out.

There is a lot to talk about regarding Auburn football like the new athletic director and the coaching search but I just do not feel like this post is the right time to talk about it.  I think this weekend it is just time to enjoy this win and the atmosphere that surrounded it.  Hopefully it will continue next week against Western Kentucky and hopefully there will not be that dreaded let down after a big win that really hurt a lot of other teams around the country this week.  This coming week and next week the coaching search talk will heat up as this hire needs to made as quickly as possible after the end of the season.  The road ahead for Auburn still looks dark and there is a lot of uncertainty but for one night we got to enjoy a big win and remember again why it is great to be an Auburn Tiger. 

GAME 9 REVIEW: NEAR MISS

Mississippi State 39  Auburn 33.  First I apologize for the late post, I have been juggling a lot this past week and I dropped the ball on a game review I was actually excited to write.  I am going to handle the previous coach like the villian in the Harry P... books and refer to him as "he who must not be named".  I am glad that he is finally gone but still upset it was not done a LOT sooner.  There was absolutely no reason to wait this long and firing him had nothing to do with hiring a new AD.  I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled to see Auburn legend and current assistant coach Carnell "Cadillac" Williams named the interim coach.  However the Auburn administration absolutely screwed him over by not firing you know who at the bye week to give Carnell at least two weeks to prepare and a home game to start.  It is just sheer Auburn stupidity and even though it is water under the bridge I am still mad about it.

I will give a modicum of credit for the administration at least being smart enough to name Carnell the interim head coach and the job he did in just a few days for this game was evidence of that fact.  His hard work, maturity, and unswerving positive attitude gave Auburn a chance to win a game they would have lost by two touchdowns at least under the previous head coach.  Carnell started in a place long forgotten in our current society and certainly in big time sports.  He started by immediately showing love for these players who we had all written off.  He told them and showed his support for them all week and encouraged them to "serve and believe" in each other.  I have seen and done a lot of coaching in my life but the work Carnell did leading this team into this past game is nothing short of amazing.

Of course it did not seem amazing when shortly before half Auburn went down 24-3.  It sure looked like Carnell did not make any difference.  It looked like the pit of misery Auburn has been in was even deeper than I thought.  I had just felt since I listened to Carnell's press conference after being named interim head coach that something special was going to happen.  That just seemed like wishful thinking in the first half.  Like most comebacks though, something small but key happened right before halftime and in this game it was Auburn driving 50 yards and Anders Carlson actually making a field goal.  That in and of itself has become amazing.  It is obvious that Carlson has not recovered well from his knee injury last season because he is just not very good right now.  His kickoffs were pretty much the biggest factor in Auburn losing this game.  I am not sure why we cannot use somebody else for kickoffs?

However Carlson did make the one before halftime and started the most unlikely of comebacks and Auburn went into halftime 24-6.  Carnell went into halftime and once again reiterated how much he believed in these players and continued to ask them to "serve and believe".  He also reiterated that Auburn would not be quitting and the players responded.  Carnell stated after the game the players told him: "Coach we got you.  Nobody's quitting.  We're going to continue to serve.  We're going to continue to bleed.  We're going to continue to fight."  The difference one man can make is amazing to me.  The difference one great leader can make.  One week earlier these same Auburn players had completely lost their heart and their belief as Arkansas mauled them on their home field.  One week later against a better team (State beat Arky 40-17) these same players came back from a 24-3 deficit on the road.

I do not think I have ever seen a team with a bad record and a season like this EVER come back like this.  Auburn had not come back from a deficit like this since the "Camback" in Tuscaloosa in 2010 but that was a great team.  This team was being rightfully compared to the worst modern Auburn teams.  Those teams never came back in a game like this.  The power of one man who stood in the gap.  Auburn actually punted after getting the ball first in the third quarter but the defense rose up and stopped State.  Auburn then took it in for a touchdown but missed the conversion, 24-12.  Auburn then intercepted State but had to punt.  It was not following the perfect script but they kept fighting.  The defense playing their best game of the season forced another punt from State.  Auburn then took it in for another touchdown.  It was now 24-19 and Auburn fans across this region knew they were seeing something special.

The defense stopped State AGAIN.  I cannot say enough about the effort of this defense after so many bad games.  However Auburn punted AGAIN but the defense stopped State AGAIN and then Auburn had to punt AGAIN but then...  the defense stopped State for the third possession in a row.  The offense then finally broke through to give Auburn the lead, 25-24.  It did not matter what Auburn's record was, this team had just done something absolutely incredible.  It was not going to come easily as State stormed back down the field and immediately got the lead back 30-25.  The fire had been lit though and Auburn would not be denied as they answered immediately with a touchdown and a two point conversion to make it 33-30 with under three minutes left in the game.  This is how the game and the story should have ended on this night.  I believed it would happen but it did not.

I have learned one thing playing, coaching, and watching sports over my 53 years on this earth and that is that sports are unforgiving.  They are not a scripted movie and most of the time they do not turn out like you think or hope.  This was one of those nights.  Auburn messed up the kickoff and got a facemask penalty which was the only thing I really got mad at on this night.  State got the ball at midfield and easily got the ball in close enough to tie the game on a field goal.  Auburn would then lose in overtime.  It did not seem fair or right but again sports are unforgiving.  I could not believe Auburn had lost this game, a game they seemed literally destined to win.  It seemed like these guys deserved it, that Carnell and this staff deserved it, that all these suffering fans deserved it...  I guess all of us did not but these players proved something to themselves and everyone else this night.  It hurt though, man it hurt.

It is doubly painful when you come down from the high of the comeback to the reality everyone Auburn has faced all season.  That reality is Auburn's offensive line is about the worst in the conference and even worse than that they literally do not even have the players at this time to field an offensive line next season.  It is painfully obvious that you cannot transfer a whole team in and 2023 will be worse than this season.  Auburn does not have many good players but the few they have are pretty much all gone after this season.  Many that are coming back are just not good enough.  Quarterback Robby Ashford is a tremendous athlete and playmaker but he is about the worst passer I have ever seen.  He simply cannot drop back, make a read, and deliver the ball.  He is not the answer at quarterback for Auburn.  He looks like a great person and you have seen all season how much it means to him but he cannot pass.

Auburn faces a long dark road back to championship competition but at least for the first time in a long time we have the right man as head coach to start this process.  It starts with serving and believing in each other and while the road maybe long and dark there will be a few bright moments like the comeback this past weekend.  I hope there will be one this coming weekend as Carnell "Cadillac" Williams leads Auburn against Texas A&M in his first game as Auburn's head coach in Jordan Hare Stadium, the place he used to go "crazy" in.  It is already a dead sellout.  There has been a buzz in the air ever since the State game ended in a game Auburn comes into 3-6 and 1-5 in conference.  THAT is the power of the "Auburn family" mentality that Carnell has talked about non-stop in every interview he has done.  Auburn screws it up a LOT but nobody comes together like Auburn.  GO CRAZY CADILLAC GO CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!