The trip north begins
Hey everyone. I'm sitting in the Montgomery Airport, commonly referred to as Dannelly Field, on a swell Wednesday morning. This is what I'm seeing:
I'll be meeting with master author of The Gold Mine, Charles Goldberg, in Atlanta. He'll also have some henchmen in tow. I wish I had henchmen. I did before the newspaper business went south. So it goes.
THE REAL TEAM: Auburn is flying into PIT later today. They're chartering a big ol' jet airliner out of Columbus, Ga.
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
I'll be meeting with master author of The Gold Mine, Charles Goldberg, in Atlanta. He'll also have some henchmen in tow. I wish I had henchmen. I did before the newspaper business went south. So it goes.
THE REAL TEAM: Auburn is flying into PIT later today. They're chartering a big ol' jet airliner out of Columbus, Ga.
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
8:21 AM
117 Comments:
Have a good trip. It should be a pretty short flight. I can't believe that I am so nervous about us playing a team with two losses. The game needs to hurry up and start.
Growing up in Montgomery and flying out of there I am so jelous of you being able fly out of there. The Atlanta Airport SUCKS!!!! Well I guess you do always connect your other flights in atlanta, unless your flying Northworst.
Have a good trip.
Hotties, are we going to be posting here at random during the game or what?
Have a good trip. When did Auburn start flying out of Columbus? I say Jay puts us a game blog tomorrow to post randomly at. I will definitely be posting during breaks of the game if everyone is up to it.
Have a good trip...Be safe. wde
My goal is to keep this rollin' during the game. I'll do my best to keep up.
This airport, MGM, has taken several steps forward during the past five years. Everything is new ... and nice.
That's why nobody flies out of here -- they charge exorbitant fees to pay for all this renovation.
Anybody sure that they will have internet in Morgantown??? I'm just going to sit back and wait for Monica to chew me out.
Thanks JG.
The Hottie Nation will be in force Thursday night.
Mr. Sensible...you got mail.
enjoyed the audio yesterday JG. i caught the last 5 minutes or so. happy travels.
my internet at home is still all jacked up. for some reason half of the page links i clik on work, and half don't thus blocking me from the HABOTN at home the past 2 days. very sad. i need to get that fixed for tomorrow or i'm really going to be out of the loop. gggrrrr...
Mail sent to you Eddie.
eddie, do you remember me from the '97 team? i was a trainer (aka, water boy). i know you were a manager for a few years.
I am not certain how much I can post during a game. It really depends upon how much the team needs me. If we are way ahead or way behind, I could end up posting a lot. If it is close, I will be busy employing my psychic powers to will us to a win.
I am not sure when it happened, but this feels like the biggest game of the year. Win this one and beating Ole Miss seems doable. A lose would mean that we are likely no better than 6-6.
Argh!!! Someone call ESPN and see if the game can be moved to today. I am sick of waiting.
Managers are very under appreciated in my opinion.
Those guys do some mondo work.
You definitely look familar. I was the manager for Trickett. Do you remember Jason Miller?? I was his roommate for a few years and we are still good friends.
yeah, i remember Jason. he was cool. i only spent fall quarter with the football team, then i moved on to swimming/baseball/etc. i was the water boy for Pete Jenkins in 97 but didn't get in until September when school started. good times.
Thanks for the love Mr. Sensible. Mangers spend a lot of time at the complex. Some spend just about as much time as the players. I pretty much lived there. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.
Scottie..at least you were there during the SEC Championship game run. By half time of the SEC Championship game, I could just picture the big ring I was about to get. Damn Peyton Manning!!!!
yup. i've got my litte golden ring to prove it. man, it would look so much nicer with a little 'bling' in it.
i still remember Peerless Price running towards me in the endzone. punk. ;)
oh, i saw 'Cowboy' in Nashville for the Vandy game. we had several classes together.
Scottie...I forgot that you did that. I was busy organizing the Cliff Dwellers in those days.
Jay - hope you packed your long johns
eddie - we had that game won, was it Peerless Price that broke the long one late in the 4th?
Cowboy...what a trip. He was crazy. He about took a ref out one game. That was his last game anywhere near the sidelines to say the least. Yeah, I've got my second place ring at home collecting dust. I wear it every once and a while.
Jay,
Be careful ok... there are a lot of destractions in Megantown.... Oh wait a minute you are going to Morgantown....nevermind...
Have the safe trip... the HOTTIES will rep adn hold it down while you are gone....
Why do i feel like Jay is the parent going out of town leaving the kids at home alone for the weekend and telling us no wild party's?
Hornet- It was inded Pierless Price that took that long side line pass to the house. Of course, Bailey had some key drops in that game.
Too bad Jay hid the banhammer.We could really have some fun then.
Wasn't that back when our whole Offensive Game Plan was D. Craig?
AUN, you're so bad. funny...but bad. ha.
ah, the CLIFF DWELLERS....remember when Dickie V said they/we were the 'best student section' in the land? man, that seems sooooooooooooo long ago, doesn't it?
a little nostalgia in the HABOTN this morning. love it. i'm about ready to screw work, go home, put open my tailgating chair, and sip on a few cold beverages for the rest of the day. oh, wait. that's tomorrow.
i wish i had snagged me one of those DAMEYUNE CRAIG FOR HEISMAN tees. darn.
yes, Mr. Sens, he was the man.
D. Craig was the man. He is still my favorite QB of all time. He literally carried a team. You ad D. Craig to this team, and we would be way much better. I do remember the Cliff Dwellers. What a great time to be at Auburn for basketball during the late 90's...not so much football those years.
Damayune did everything that whole year. It really showed in '98 when we were awful without him.
I'm with you scottie b. A half-day is in order tomorrow. My excuse? I....cannot....concentrate.
I remember Craig smacking a lineman on the butt after the guy had a false start for the second play in a row. Craig was intense. It was the SEC championship. He nearly carried us through that game.
I agree. Everyone only works 1/2 day tomororw. Hell, i'm not much on working much today as well.
I am sidelined today with a flare-up of the cold that won't die.
Anybody got a home-spun cure for this crud in my nose and chest that causes congestion and lots of coughing?
I believe we had 2 false starts in a row before Dameyune went off. I don't blame him. He was always firey on the sidelines. A definite leader. I believe that is what is missing most in the offense. A leader that the team can rally behind.
Dameyune Craig
Now coach at the U.of South Alabama
I do believe he was previously at Tuskegee.
How about that? Both he and P. Nix have turned out to be good, well-respected coaches.
You said it, Eddie. And Jay G. even talked about it to begin the year.
The team just doesn't have one of "those guys" on the offensive side of the ball this year.
Plenty of candidates, someone needs to step up and be the Matt Saracen from this bunch.
I agree eddie. Neither Todd nor Burns have shown that type of intensity. I am hoping Burns will step up an lead.
Offensively people seem to feel we will be running out of the I-formation. I am concerned that our offense will be as easy to figure out as a Jumbo package.
I can remember about 3 or 4 years ago CTT saying that we needed to be able to run even when they know we are going to run it. I think this is going to be the case against WV.
Supposedly they have a small quick defense that isn't like anything we have faced. Hopefully the counter to that is running straight at and over them.
We went from D Craig as our best Offensive player in 97....to Clifton Robinson in 98. yikes
Your right Mr. Sensible..I would say James Willis fits the mold of former player now good Coach.
Nice Mr. Sensible..the Matt Saracen Reference. Love Friday Night Lights. One of the best shows. Glad I have Directv.
The hard part about the 1997 SEC title game was we had that game won.
There were two long TD plays by UT, one where Antwoin Nolan got beaten and another where Brad Ware missed a tackle.
I remember going out to the car after that game and some UT fan had taken the Auburn flags off my car, broke them and left them laying on the ground by my car.
1997 was a year where if we could have just averaged around 100 yards rushing per game, we probably would have had a shot at a National title. However the RB tandem of Beasley, Williams, Cooper, Carter & Pennington wasn't getting the job done. I think we averaged around 65 yards rushing per game that year. All Craig needed was a little support.
I still have no idea how Miss State shut us out that year.
WVU runs a lot of nickel - 3/3/5 - on defense. They give up a lot more through the air than they do on the ground. Though they haven't given up a ton of points - most was 24 to ECU - so they aren't terrible.
I love me some FNL. I'm having to catch it online but I'll watch again when NBC runs it later.
Is this the end for that show?
Rusty Williams...I remember him.
i remember the crazy defensive alignments we ran in the '97 champ. game. sometimes all 11 players were on the line.
Was Bro. Bill Oliver running the D back in '97?
Jay! You'll be flying into Monica Air Space. I hope you're as excited as I am. I'm sure you'll feel the vibe as you go over.
Eddie! Lil ole me? I would nevah chew anyone out, shugah! :)
Are we talking BLOG or Chatroll during the game?
And of course I had to put my two cents in on the coldest game ever for me: 1997 MAC Championship, Marshall vs Toledo, the Chad Pennington/Randy Moss days. Upper 20's and snow.
MAC Championship 1997
Rusty Williams actually led Auburn in rushing for 2 straight years. Out of curiosity I looked up our leading rushers in the mid to late 90's.
Here's how bad it was running the ball then.
1996 Rusty Williams 439 yards
1997 Rusty Williams 377 yards
1998 Michael Burks 483 yards
1999 Heath Evans 357 yards
So for the couple of people who thought Terry Bowden would be a good hire for OC, if you want no running game I guess so.
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I think Jay G. Was going to post the quarter by quarter posts for us to roll with. Not sure about chatroll...
Monica, is it true that Randy Moss says the best QB he ever played with was Pennington?
Bill Oliver was the DC in 1997.
I didn't get to see much of the Defense, but I went back and watch the 97 on film and it was crazy what we were doing on defense that game. We definitely had Peytone guessing.
whatever happened to Brother Bill?
To put in perspective the 1996-1999 leading rushers. Rudi Johnson in 2000 was less than 100 yards short of beating that combined 4 year total of the team leaders.
2008...Ben Tate
A whopping 121 carries for 533 yds and 2 TDs.
That's 76 yds a game for those keeping score
4.4 per carry for Tate and 76 yards per game is pretty impressive considering half of his runs have been east to west in the Franklin system.
I heard him say that a couple of times, but it's been a while back. Not sure where along the Vikings, Raiders, Patriots path he said that.
Doesn't Bill Oliver have a regular call in spot to Finebaum?
I believe FNL will survive in this format. I belive it is doing well for Directv and that should keep it going.
Brother Oliver is living off of his Auburn settlement at the lake. He does have a regular segment with Finebaum. That guy still knows football.
He would have been an awful choice for the head coach, so I'm glad we didn't give it to him.
He was the HC at UT Chattanooga and really didn't do much.
Brother I believe is enjoying the retired life on Lake Martin. I believe he plays a lot of golf. Him and Spurrier are good friends, and he tried to get him out of retirement, but Brother would not budge. I got to spend some time away from the complex with Brother, and he is genuinely great guy and boy does he have some stories to tell.
Agreed RK. He's not built to run from the Shotgun the way the play-calling has been this year.
Bill Oliver actually doesn't do F-Baum anymore. His sponsor moved him to another show. Not sure which one.
Glad to hear it about FNL. I really like that show. Peter Berg did a good job with that film and the show is very well cast and acted.
RK..I agree that Brother was not the best choice for Coach, but I also promise you there was a legitmate reason why Auburn Settled with him on the lawsuit. It would have changed my future if he had been head coach. I would probalby would have been a GA Coach. Oh well, thats how the cookie crumbles.
wareaglerk,
terry ran fine with bostic and davis, rusty williams was the slowest (4.8) running back ever at Auburn
If we go to a more consistant use of the ace and the I, Tate should easily be a 1,000 yard + back this year.
Terry ran fine with Bostic and Davis in 1993 because that was what the offense was set up for. In 1994 he did the same with Davis. Starting in 1995 Bowden started getting his own players in and Davis' carries were reduced greatly during his junior year...and that's why he went to the NFL a year early against the advice of the experts because he knew Auburn was moving away from the offense that he could excel in.
477 yards in 5 games is a little under a 100 a game so that's doable for sure.
His high this year was 115 against ULM, but that was in the spread.
The funny thing about Rusy Williams is that he actually believed he would be drafted. Nobody danced in a hole as much as Rusty did.
rk,
i didnt say anything about Terry's recruiting,.... was his downfall
Eddie,
I'm sure there are reasons why the settlement was done. Where there is smoke, there's fire.
I just don't think Brother Bill just wasn't the charismatic person that could go in a kids house and sell Auburn to them as the head coach.
He's a great defensive coordinator, no doubt about that.
Brother did not return to Finebaum this year becasue they didnt offer enough money....you would be amazed at how much those ex-coaches want for their time
He had a big start to the Vandy game and I think finished with over 100 yards...mostly from the ace.
What does Pat Dye get for his weekly slot on F-Baum?
Bowden's scheme was to do like FSU did with Amp Lee and RB's like that. Small scat backs and a lot of passing. So he recruited to that.
It just didn't work out.
Bostic and Davis were special backs. Dye recruited both of those guys. Terry never could get a decent back.
Remember in '99 when Tubs had to put Clifton Robinson at TB because we had no one else?
In 1999, eventually we just used Heath Evans as the TB since we didn't have anyone.
Ben Tate's Vandy Stats.
27-108-1 TD
I think 70+ was in the 1st quarter
Remember when Terry moved Fred Beasley to fullback?
That actually worked out for him in terms of the NFL.
lol @ Jay's last Twitter
"I swear planes keep getting smaller."
I felt the same way when I flew to Cali. in Sept. via BHam-Colo. Spring-Sacramento.
No remedies for the cold?
RK,
I agree with you about Brother. I'm glad that they hired Tubs, and he was a bresh of fresh air in that complex. His coaches were much nicer than Bowden's and Tubs would actually talk to you, no matter who you were. It took Tubs a couple of weeks to learn my name. It took Bowdwn 3 years to acknowledge me.
Mr Sensible...drink a show of whiskey. Thats all i got for the cold.
If you've had it for a few days I got nothing. If it's just starting pop some Zicam. It's helped me before.
I'll try that Eddie.
I've had this a month ago, it kind of went away, now it's back.
Zicam Extreme Sinus spray and Claritin D (Found behind the counter) is usually a winning combination.
Rusty Williams, Clifton Robinson!! What blasts from the past. Those were some dark days for Auburn's running game.
Remember Marketh Cooper?
I'll see your Markeith Cooper and raise you a 'Lectron Williams.
The lizard. Cooper had his moments.
Was 'Lectron Williams the guy that was called out of the stands to suit up in the middle of the game?
Mr. S,
Pat Dye gets about 25k, Stallings about 35k
I'll cut 'Lectron some slack. He had career hampering/ending injury.
All that stuff goes to show that 2000 was a VERY impressive coaching job for CTT. Almost as much as 2004.
Didn't the Lizard have a "Grill". He was ahead of his time!
He wore number 45 I think. Part of the Dye era.
I thought Gabe Gross was the guy recruited out of the stands. Or maybe just the baseball field.
That's some nice coin just to talk a for 30 mins. a week.
Thanks. Scott.
markeith definetly had some bling in his mouth. I believe he is playing or was playing for the Atlanta Force Arena team.
If I recall, 'Lectron broke his leg as a high school junior/senior, blown knee at Auburn?
I haven't heard Dye this year on Finebaum. Is he coughing more or less this year?
Someone mentioned Zicam. I took that once and couldn't smell or taste anything for about a week. I got online and found where people had there senses permanently damaged by Zicam.
Anyhow, I still take it, because it works. Who needs a sense of smell anyway?
Pretty sure Davis was actually a senior in 95 when he left. He was a prop 48 hit back then and could only play 93,94, and 95.
If we wouldve just given him the ball more at LSU and vs UF, we win those games.
The guy called out of the stands was Otis Mounds. He actually played in that game.
Good one Jim. I couldn't remember. That is hilarious that it happened.
The biggest bust we had at RB was Demontray Carter. He came in with a ton of hype. He had rushed for 330 yards in the FL state championship game. I don't think he had 330 yards total in 3 years at Auburn.
RK...he didn't last 3 years at Auburn. If I remember right, he transferred to Troy and was pretty successful there.
He was there in 97, because we burned his redshirt and made him the starter at the end of the year. 1998 he started the year as our starter and he was here under Tub for at least a spring.
Correct RK, Tubs ran him off or he left in sping of 98. I think he left during winter workouts that year. It was a brutal winter workouts to sort of weed the bad out of Auburn if you may call it that.
Speaking of random names from the past, whatever happened to Evander Holyfield's son who was on the team 4 or 5 years ago?
OK, without looking it up - can any of you name the starting tailback for AU in the 1999 Arkansas game?
(HINT: He carried four times for 5 yards in that game - his only appearance in an actual game in his entire AU career. . .)
Brent..Telle Embree?? I'm just about positive that cannot be right. I believe we had a walkon that started that game, but I cannot think of the name.
Anyone else cautiously optimistic about tomorrow night? I can't help myself.
It was either Don Timmons or Victor Horn. I don't remember which.
I know it's not Marshall Thornton, because he was here in 2003. I was wanting him to get a TD in that 73-7 game vs LaMonroe.
Brent,
I had to look it up because I had no clue. I remembered the name. I didn't realize he played in only one game.
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