The Big Plays
Hey everyone. Thanks for being so civil and reasonable with your comments during the past 15 hours or so. That's why the HABOTN is too darn hot: Quality people speakin' the truth without the need to posture.Why posture when you know the BANHAMMER > you?
OK. So we've got Thomas H. Tuberville on the line at 3. I'm doing this one on the phone. I'll basically do what I did for Franklin -- type it live as best I can.
I went back through the play-by-play during the flights home today. Here are the official Jay G's Six Biggest Plays of The Game:
- Wes Byrum's missed 44-yard FG (third quarter): Auburn actually built a nice little drive there, moved the ball 52 yards. Then Byrum comes in there and shanks one wide left. That would have tied the game. Everything went downhill for the Tigers after that.
- Mario Fannin goes for no gain on 3rd-and-goal from the 1 (first quarter): Gotta have that one. Just gotta. Someone blew that call; either Kodi Burns handed off the wrong direction or Fannin ran the wrong direction. It was a hideously mistimed error.
- Burns stuffed on 3rd-and-2 (second quarter): This was just before half-time. Auburn had moved just beyond mid-field, then asked Burns to convert a short third down with a keeper. He gained only one yard. This was a prime opportunity to build momentum going into the second half.
- Walt McFadden flagged for pass interference on third down (third quarter): It was 3rd-and-4 from the AU 43. The pass wasn't going to be caught and both players were fighting for position. McFadden pushed a bit more, though, and cost his team an important third-down stop. The Mountaineers scored moments later on a field goal -- their first score of the second half.
- Montez Billings loses 7 yards on a reverse (second quarter): Auburn was ahead 17-3 and just recovered an on-side kick. They were trying to seize momentum with a trick play, which I considered a sound strategic decision. I would have attempted something similar in that circumstance. I'm not going to rip Tuberville & Co. for the call, but losing yards provided a significant mental blow. Auburn seemed to lose confidence after that.
- Noel Devine gains 36 yards on the first play an important WVU drive (second quarter): It was a mis-direction pitch of some kind that completely fooled the Tigers. Auburn had gone ahead 10-0 moments earlier and the pressure was on WVU to make something happen. This was it. The play shocked the Tigers' defense and fueled the home team's first scoring drive.
Photo credit: Todd Van Emst/Auburn University
Questions? Comments? Post directly to the blog below or email me at jgtate@gannett.com.
posted by Jay G. Tate at
2:28 PM
34 Comments:
Expecting anything exciting for the standard press conference today?
Nah. Nothing exciting just yet.
Ask Tuberville about his sweet jacket.
Will the something exciting be during the season or afterward? After last night there can be no doubt it is coming.
I missed your radio appearance due to driving. Have you talked to anyone behind the scenes to get a pulse of the situation?
I disagree on the reverse. I thought it was a really dumb call. We don't have an athlete who can run that a la Harvin or Holliday. Perhaps a flea flicker or some other gadget play, but not a reverse with our personnel.
TigerTarHeel
People are unhappy.
Popularity has eroded.
The call was innovative and it was a point in the game when innovation seemed appropriate.
I'd have tried that, so I can't hate.
The timing of the reverse was the problem. At that point in time we were just running down their throats and we should have kept doing that.
Well...I do believe if Billings had kept running to the outside, he would have had a shot at a big play.
Isn't that the same play LSU ran after the recovered the onside kick against us?
innovative: ahead of the times; being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before
Having already lost yards on nearly 1/3 of our plays this year, that reverse was hardly innovative ;-)
What I heard Jay say on the radio that was something new (to me at least) was that Auburn doesn't have talent. That it's not that CTT has lost the team it's just that the talent isn't there. That's all a paraphrase. Did I hear you right, Jay? Straighten me out on that.
Tuberville is gone, and it can't happen soon enough. Make the call to Austin....NOW.
Monica- IF that is the case, which I definitely believe is the case on offense, that can only point to one person.
Crazy question:
How many times has our defense made a big sack for a huge loss of yardage ONLY to give all of it up on the VERY NEXT FREAKING PLAY by a draw play or QB scramble?
I can recall that happening at least twice last night.
Just maddening.
The reverse took too long to develop.
There is no one in Austin that I want to coach AU, other than perhaps Mack Brown (haha, like that could happen). To be honest, I can't think of anyone who I would want AND who I think would take the job. I certainly don't want WM acting loony on the sidelines.
I've never seen so many big plays of 20+ yards in one game as I saw in that one in a long time.
QUESTION. Has a Tuberville coached Auburn team ever come back from more than 10 points to win a game? I went back to 2004, and unless I've missed something it hasn't happened. I'm not sure what that says, but it can't be good.
Muschamp is a very interesting candidate due to his recruiting ability, but I don't think he would be first choice, but I do think he could be really good.
Not that I put a ton of weight into talking heads at halftime, but didn't Craig James unsolicited said that AU had just as much talent as other schools (except USC, he says)? The problem was upheavel in system and managing through that transition. He seemed to think Tubs would be fine. I think this was also before the game, or at half.
PS-- If Lou holtz said "Here we go again" one more time, I was going to drive to WVU and strangle him.
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Should have in 02 at Florida, but it didn't happen. I can't think of a time. By watching this team, it doesn't seem hard to do.
Monica is now on the HABOTN Payroll as Head of Marketing :)
I'd take the coach at Boise,Utah, and Oklahoma State. Kiffin would also be on the list and for assistants I would go after the Oklahoma OC. Jacobs should just send them e-mails asking if they want to coach at Auburn and have the options of yes no or maybe and go from there.
Kmo171,
We were down 17-0 to Syracuse in the 2nd quarter in 2002, 17-3 at the half and came back to win.
AU trailed the 'cuse in '03 by a 17-3 score and AU won in 3(or2)OTs
I don't know why we bother with reverses this year, they haven't worked all year long.
Our OL & WR's don't hold blocks long enough and we don't have the speed to hit the corner fast on a play like that.
I just wouldn't have ran any play that far behind the line of scrimmage with the way the OL isn't stickign with their man.
oops, wareglerk's facts are closer to the truth than mine
Lou Holtz sounds more and more like Slyvester the Puttycat.
Thanks guys. So thats one legit comeback in nearly a decade. I guess we can look at it in one of two ways. Auburn is so good they have never had to play from behind, or as soon as Auburn gets behind the team packs it in.
That stat is unbelievable. We haven't come back from more than 10 points since 2002.
And in all 4 losses this year the opponent has come back from 10 points or more.
I liked the reverse call. I agree with frizzle, though, in that it took too long to develop. It still have value, like a called bluff in poker - now they know you'll do it and have to watch for it.
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