Author’s E-mail: aaron.calhoun451@gmail.com
PREGAME
11:40 – In 1989, an undefeated Alabama team—ranked 2nd in the nation—went to Auburn and fell victim to a 30-20 upset. Can history repeat itself twenty years later?
FIRST QUARTER
11:46 – The opening kickoff goes out of bounds; Auburn can’t give the Alabama offense any additional help today.
11:48 – The Tiger defense needs to continue to get a lot of stops like that; Auburn can’t win a shootout—the Crimson Tide defense is just too good.
11:51 – Wow! Wide receiver Terrell Zachery takes an end around to the left side and runs 67 yards for an Auburn touchdown! It’s a rivalry game, folks.
7-0 Auburn
11:56 – Wow, again! The Tigers try an onside kick and recover! Gene Chizik is pulling out all the stops today.
11:57 – Auburn hasn’t thrown the ball yet; Alabama needs to find a way to slow down the Tiger rushing attack.
12:00 – Now the Tigers hit a deep pass downfield out of the Wildcat! Did Coach Chizik have a meeting with Chris Pederson earlier this week?
12:03 – If that play isn’t called dead, then Justin Woodall takes that pick all the way back for a Tide touchdown—instead, a Tiger linemen jumped and Woodall was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Such is life.
12:06 – Auburn needs to stop getting cute so close to the goal line; all their trickery has been effective in the open field, but there’s less room for it here.
12:07 – Play action and a throw to running back Eric Smith; sometimes it’s best to keep it simple.
14-0 Auburn
12:09 – Best wishes for a full recovery to Tiger Woods.
12:10 – Another Auburn kickoff goes out of bounds; maybe they should stick with onsides for the rest of the game.
12:11 – The ‘Bama offense has had a long layoff and they’ve only run three plays so far; they need to find a rhythm—fast.
12:13 – Another three and out for the Tide offense; this can’t continue—they’re not a team who is used to playing from behind.
12:18 – The ‘Bama defense finally gets a stop, but it can be mostly attributed to quarterback Chris Todd—who overthrew a couple of his Tiger receivers.
12:23 – The Tide finally get a first down and also move into Tiger territory; obviously, this would be a good time to take advantage of field position and get back in the game.
END FIRST QUARTER. AUBURN LEADS 14-0.
SECOND QUARTER
12:32 – Alabama went to running back Trent Richardson for the majority of that drive and got into the end zone as a result.
14-7 Auburn
12:44 – The official should have had that pass from McElroy.
12:50 – After giving up those two touchdown, it appears that the Tide defense has settled down in forcing three straight three and outs.
12:56 – Mark Ingram’s Heisman hopes are falling fast; the star running back for ‘Bama only has eight yards and it’s clear that the Tiger defense has zeroed in on him.
12:57 – On third and long, quarterback Greg McElroy hits tight end Colin Peek for a touchdown. It’s a whole new Iron Bowl now.
Tied 14-14
1:05 – There’s the first turnover of the game and it came during Auburn’s first promising drive in some time; ‘Bama can seize the momentum with another touchdown here.
1:09 – Big time hold by the Tigers in dodging the turnover bullet; Auburn would surely take being tied at the half, but there’s still plenty of time.
1:12 – Ouch. Auburn running back Mario Fannin looked out on his feet after that hit—it was only after the play was over that he fell to his hands and knees.
1:16 – Three straight incompletions—as a result of poor playcalling and lack of protection—kill the drive for the Tigers. Nonetheless, they should be able to get to the locker room tied with the number two team in the nation.
HALFTIME. TIED 14-14.
1:23 – Auburn got the fast start that it needed, but they could not sustain the momentum and Alabama got themselves back in the game. The trouble for the Tigers is that the Tide have taken their best shots and are now finding a rhythm of their own that isn’t relying on a heavy amount of trickery. Auburn can’t run trick plays forever, so they either have to play better straight up or force some turnovers in the second half. As for ‘Bama, if they keep playing the way they did after falling behind earlier, then they should be able to eventually pull away.
THIRD QUARTER
1:51 – No trickery there! Todd hits Darvin Adams down the right sideline for a 72 yard touchdown.
21-14 Auburn
1:55 – Javier Arenas comes back with a 46 yard kickoff return to put ‘Bama in good position; this game keeps getting better and better.
1:57 – Ingram gets stuffed on 3rd and 4th down; play action might have been a better way to go there on one of those plays.
2:01 – Todd seems incapable of throwing on the run; he threw one pass behind his receiver and had a good portion of the ‘Bama defense in his face on another. His offensive line needs to protect him better so he can throw out of the pocket.
2:02 – Arenas breaks off another big return to put the Tide in even better position (a facemask penalty on the Tigers was also helpful).
2:04 – ‘Bama tried some trickery of their own, but Ingram’s halfback pass was thrown a bit too wide for an open Julio Jones to grab it.
21-17 Auburn
2:08 – Another kickoff out of bounds? It’s contagious today.
2:10 – Strong safety Mark Barron picks off an offering from Todd to turn the tide (yes, pun intended); that was a critical takeaway for ‘Bama as Auburn was the more confident team thus far in the third quarter.
2:15 – Due to a Richardson fumble, the Tiger defense held the Tide out of the end zone and kept their team ahead. Auburn’s offense needs to get back on track though; they can’t expect their ‘D’ to keep bailing them out.
END THIRD QUARTER. AUBURN LEADS 21-20.
FOURTH QUARTER
2:24 – How in the world did Todd get away from that pressure? It’s perfectly obvious that he wants this game.
2:26 – Another near interception for ‘Bama; Todd has played admirably, but some of his decisions have been nearly disastrous.
2:29 – After all the big offensive plays, that punt by Clinton Durst may end up being the play of the game if Auburn holds on.
2:33 – The Tigers get the three and out they wanted; now they can use this field position to try and extend their lead.
2:38 – The Tide defense comes up big themselves; Todd had no chance on third down against that blitz.
2:43 – How do you leave Julio Jones that wide open on 3rd down?
2:44 – You know that Sandra Bullock movie that’s out now—The Blind Side? That did not apply to ‘Bama’s offensive line on that play—McElroy took a big shot to the back on that sack.
2:46 – With five minutes left, lightning could very well strike twice no matter what. Either Auburn upsets a 2nd ranked Alabama team as they did in ’89—as previously mentioned—or a kicker with the surname Tiffin hits a game-winning field goal for a two-point Tide victory as Van did in ’85.
2:49 – Auburn needs to use its timeouts to leave themselves some time because now it’s almost inevitable that ‘Bama is going to score.
2:50 – Julio Jones has been huge on this drive in catching four passes for 33 yards; he had been relatively quiet until this series, but great players step up in critical times.
2:55 – Great play call with the play action; the Tiger defense was likely looking run, so running back Roy Upchurch was able to break free in the end zone to catch the go-ahead touchdown.
2:56 – ‘Bama fails on the 2-pt conversion; Auburn has 1:24 to shock the college football world (and cause even more chaos in the BCS standings).
26-21 Alabama
3:00 – Short passes to the middle of the field before the first down sticks aren’t going to do you any good Auburn!
3:01 – This is terrible clock management.
3:02 – And now a false start; this is ridiculous.
3:03 – Are you serious? Another running play?! What are the Tigers thinking?!
3:03 – You have to spike it quick here.
3:04 – Auburn has one tick on the clock from the 37 yard line to upset Alabama.
3:04 – The Tide survive.
GAME OVER. ALABAMA WINS 26-21.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As long as Mark Ingram isn’t seriously injured, this game was a blessing in disguise for Alabama. Other than a nail-biter against Tennessee, the Crimson Tide have coasted to victory all season long; come next weekend, that is definitely not going to be the case, so being able to play in a close game beforehand—and win it—will do more to get them ready for Florida than hours and hours in the film room.
Auburn almost did enough to win, but poor clock management on their final drive cost them a major upset. As fun as trickery can be, it can only do so much before a great defense shuts it down; unfortunately for the Tigers, besides the touchdown to Adams, their offense couldn’t move the ball with the basics. Nonetheless, they gave this Iron Bowl rivalry game and even though they went down, they went down in entertaining fashion.
Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, Cincinnati, and Boise, you can probably hear the sound of tears of disappointment hitting the ground.
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