Congrats HABOTN. I think we blew out Kentucky on the live blog. The most intriguing comment by a UK fan was "go Kats" or something like that. I didn't count, but I think the final score was around HABOTN 20, UK Fans 3.
In terms of how to get questions answered, it might be interesting to have an ask Jay blog sometime. Have everyone e-mail or message questions in and you filter and answer them. It could be like, Jay's top ten question list, or something like that.
Oh, nothing special digger, just a gibberish score prediction and a story about ben tate making both eric berry and me cry. But if you don't mind, I would like to go on pretending I had a whole bunch of awesome posts rejected by The Man.
Tate has been great this year. He has finished runs like never before in his career, and his running style is prefect for what the coaches have run for him. All he needs is a couple of clear steps at the beginning of a run, and he is golden.
By the way, a comment I've been meaning to make about the play where Tate put Berry on his back: if you look at the replay, it really was a great play by berry. Running sideways with no leverage, he stopped Ben Tate in his tracks with a forearm shiver. Pretty incredible when you look at it from that perspective. So, even though Tate won the youtube war, I would say it was actually a more impressive play by Berry.
And even so, I will replay it again and again and laugh at him.
Good point Michael, but it was also terrible tackling by Berry. He thought he could just run into Tate and bring him down. Wrong. He ended up on his back, and Ben still got another 5-10 yards. Tate wins on the play and youtube. TKO for Tate.
Let's pretend 1996-1999 didn't happen for Auburn RB's sake. Even in '95, Bowden refused to run Davis, or Davis refused to run to protect his pro career. Maybe that was just the Outback Bowl.
It all makes sense now. Eddie was a Bama spy working at Auburn to gather information for Saban. This was part of Saban's early planning phase in the takeover of the state of Alabama.
From the ashes of Eddie's devastating work, however, came E-Bro, who worked with the running backs from Spring 01-Spring 04.
I like to think I had a little something to do with the three 1,000 yard rushing seasons sqeezed in from 2002-2004. No 1,000 yard rusher in '01, but only b/c I felt Lac wasn't ready until that Georgia game in Athens.
FSJ- Bowden didn't have a perfect attendance record at practice. Nothing can get in the way of a James Taylor concert for Bowden. He was a laid back coach, but he had an enormous ego. He didn't know all the players names, some that he recruited of course. I heard Brother Oliver say that he tried to talk X's and O'x with Bowden and the talk went completely over his head.
FSJ- Also, as far as gameday coach, in 96, Tommy Bowden was the OC and Tommy called the running plays and Jimbo Fisher called the passing plays. After Tommy left in 96, Terry thought he would try and call the plays again and he could never make his mind up. I bet we had more delay of games in that 97 and the time he was there in 98 than any other time that I could remember. He had us tape his headset communication and I would listen to it for fun and he was just out of it at times. Had no idea what to do.
I know Brother doesn't like him, but then again who does Brother like...
It's all funny. Brother hated Stallings. Stallings hated Brother. Bowden hated Brother. Brother hated Bowden...and Stallings hated Bowden. Not sure how Bowden felt about Gene though. I assume he didn't care for him.
RK, he did, but we lost 42-17. I told him afterwards it's a team game and we lost. Give me 41 carries and over 160 yards in a win at Athens and then I'll think he's something. So I told him anyway.
FSJ- You are correct. I was lucky that I got to know Brother outside the complex. I was with brother the day he was named Interim HC and I also had been over to his house a couple of times to hear Bear stories. I like the man.
FSJ, my roommate was a defensive SA at the time and talked about how the defense was going to come with OLB blitzes all game to take away the Tide's option under Watts.
i had a buddy call me from a bar in Tuscaloosa one night and he put Tyler Watts on the phone. it's one of the most random calls i have ever gotten. my buddy thought it was hilarious.
What can I say. We just weren't ready to play that game. Except for Lac. He was running like a beast before he got hurt. After that, the team was stunned.
But it really started on Tuesday and Wednesday for the team. You could just sense it in practice that were sleep-walking through that week. Maybe if Lac doesn't get hurt, we stay in that game, but bottom line we just weren't ready.
Bama was. I remember in pre-game warm-ups I was fielding some punts having the "great" Freddie Milons try to pop the ball out of my grasp after I caught a punt. Kind of typified the swagger Bama played with that day and we didn't.
I don't think Tubs truly grasped the Auburn-Alabama rivalry until after that game.
We spent all of winter workouts and spring practice and everything else thinking about 31-7. It wasn't like that the year before when we won 9-0.
I know it's a cliche whenever any team loses to a big rival (like this year with us talking alot about 36-0 last year), but we spent the whole year looking forward to that game. Wasn't much doubt in my mind about whether we were going to win in 2002, even when RonnieB went down against UGA and we put Tre Smith back there.
The 2001 Iron Bowl was the worst game I've ever attended as well.
I remember Bama jumping on the midfield logo before the game and not getting a penalty, then we do it the next week against LSU and get one. I didn't quiet understand what made one a penalty and one a no-call.
By the way, the quote of the chat award goes to Jay G. Tate with "Did you know "ziemba" means "yellow" in Algonquin?"
There was no more awkward feeling than knowing that if we went down to LSU the week after 31-7 and won we would still win the West. Just didn't seem right. A Western Division Championship doesn't really seem worth having if you don't beat Bama.
Didn't matter though. Rohan Davey and Josh Reed took care of that for us.
We had to win two of our last 4 games to win the west. I thought we'd do it in our 1st two with Ark and UGA...we dominated Ark in the stat sheet and they dominated us on the scoreboard.
My best friends and I were at the game and were on the lookout to see if Ronnie Brown came out looking like he was ready to play...When he didn't we thought we had it in the bag to be honest..
that '02 game was one of the most pleasant surprises ever. we were about 5 rows up in the endzone where Robert Johnson scored both those early TD's. so much fun.
I'll also never forget sitting in Legion Field in 98 when Auburn jumped all over us to begin with. One of my Auburn friends called and said you don't spot Brother Oliver 17 points and win...
It was like the lights came on right after that.
Those were two bad football teams on the field that night. Auburn was very bad and Alabama was barely a .500 caliber team.
Well, the assist for 2002 also goes to the evil one, Robert Petrino. With options limited at running back, (FB brandon Johnson was also out), Petrino installed a gameplan that was almost exclusively five wide and let if fly.
No way Bama would be ready for that after 11 games of what we had been running. Element of surprise was with is. I'm just sorry we stopped running the offense at 17-0. Would have liked some more points.
As for Ronnie, he was never going to play in that game. Kind of like our approach to Watts in 2001 I guess.
Yeah, I thought our 98 defense would have held up better. Our offense was terrible, but I thought our defense was the best unit on the field for both teams heading into that game. Didn't see 31 unaswered coming.
Ronnie getting hurt against UGA and having to play hurt at the end of the game probably cost us a trip to Atlanta. One more first down, or if he doesn't run out of bounds to avoid getting hurt worse we probably win that game.
Had he not gotten injured late in that game, we win because UGA doesn't get the ball back.
Scottie,
I too was in that same endzone toward the top for the Robert Johnson TDs. Too bad we got super conservative at that point.
I'll always remember that game for Dansby being in position to tackle Watts and Shaud Williams on an option play.
The 98 & 99 Iron Bowl as all Shaun Alexander willing his team to victory.
E-Bro,
The 98 Iron Bowl, one of our callers "Big Daddy Bama" had bet his hair that Alabama would beat Auburn and at 17-0 Quake calls me on my cell phone talking about how fun the show would be on Monday.
I was ousted from the family Thanksgiving dinner when I grabbed my 13 year old nephew (who had observed we could still win the division and go to Atlanta) by the shoulders and screamed at the top of my lungs "I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP! WE JUST GOT EMBARRASSED BY ... BY ... THEM!"
Yeah FSJ, I guess I waxed lyrical about the offense more because of the injuries. We weren't sure where points would come from. We knew the defense would be good. It had been pretty good all year, aside from Arkansas and Horace Willis losing his footing in the endzone agaisnt UGA. Sure would like to have that DC as our head coach now. Wait...
I'm with ya Jet. Just wouldn't feel right. It's like when we had to pull for Bama against LSU in 2005 to help us out in the West. I can never quite do that, even knowing what happened when we played Bama a week later.
The 1999 Iron Bowl turned on two plays ... Duval missing a short field goal early in the second half and Kindal Moorehead sacking Leard for the safety after Auburn had made a goal line stand.
But for 2002, we would have beaten the Gators three times this decade on last second field goals, twice in the Swamp. Duval missed the easiest of the three that year. Oh well, candy nuts and stuff.
The Florida game was the worst. That sucked badly in 2002, especially being there. That would have been an awesome comeback to win the game only to choke the XP, i mean FG. Of course, It would have been nice if we had just punched the darn ball into the endzone since we had all the momentum.
Coach Knox knew we should have punched it in too. The whole time we kept running the ball conservatively he was saying, "We need a touchdown. We don't need to count on Duval."
e-bro, what is your opinion of Knox? I have suspected our receiving troubles had to do with him, but since I haven't seen him coach, it is far from certain.
Steve, here's a story that gives you a lens into Knox's coaching. After the UGA game in 2002, Petrino made some of the following comments to our receivers one day in practice of Bama week (I'm paraphrasing): "Boy, did you see those Georgia receivers getting off the line on Saturday. It would be nice if our receivers could get off that line as good as they can."
I guess that tells you a little something about Knox and Petrino. It was classy of Petrino to call him out in front of everybody like that. So I don't think Knox was the greatest coach. He always seemed a little off to me.
That said, the receiving corps from 2004-2005 I felt was the best in Auburn history, thought that is more indicative of talent maybe than coaching. Still, Courtney Taylor came to Auburn a raw athlete and ended as one of Auburn's greatest receivers. Maybe more CT than Knox. Probalby is because I don't think Knox always got the most out of his receivers, especially with the small things like running routes and blocking downfield.
RK- To be fair, Danniels only had Knox has a Position coach. But maybe you meant that Danniels came in a big time receiver and after a year of coaching him down he was irrelevant.
Bro- I was at the game, you got me the tickets. Anna and I saw you before the game at Tiger Walk.
dfghert3rgef
ReplyDeleteDEUCE!
ReplyDeleteBy the way Michael, I'm getting really sick of you calling me out. I thought we addressed this already.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time for an old-fashioned-every HOTTIE for himself brawl like they use to have in the old Westerns.
ReplyDeleteJay G can stand there behind the bar polishing glasses like nothing's happening.
Dude on the roundtable said the he still thinks Miami is better than Va Tech..even though the Hokies smoked their butts.
ReplyDeleteAnd Steve gets the first comment in that I can tell.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Rumble anyone? Let's see who is punching the ticket for Wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteJust call me The Nature Boy...
ReplyDeleteWhoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
So will all these comments be destroyed per the regular fate of chat comments? Or is this different?
ReplyDeleteI'll bet they don't show my comment on hiding in the tree of Ben Tate's yard while taking pictures of him. Squares.
ReplyDeleteFSJ, you better walk that aisle, and style, and profile.
ReplyDeleteE-Bro...
ReplyDeleteTo be THE MAN you gotta beat THE MAN !
Man, I am getting shut down on chat!
ReplyDeleteWow, JGT rockin' the Casey Kasem tagline.
ReplyDeleteWell that was a mild chat compared to what I was expecting.
ReplyDeleteYou are right J that thing is slow and kept resetting and making me resign my name.
ReplyDeleteBut is was fun
yaaaayy that was fun yaaaayyyy
ReplyDeleteCongrats HABOTN. I think we blew out Kentucky on the live blog. The most intriguing comment by a UK fan was "go Kats" or something like that. I didn't count, but I think the final score was around HABOTN 20, UK Fans 3.
ReplyDeleteI could see the questions you asked ... but Eric was in charge of getting them submitted to the chat itself.
ReplyDeleteThere was some funny stuff in there!
I expect nothing less from you all.
Michael: It was very nice of you to say "you're welcome" to Eric at the end.
ReplyDeleteDidn't think you were old enough to remember old school AT40.
ReplyDeleteJay G, imma let you finish, but Nathan Hale had one of the best sign offs OF ALL TIME TIME!
ReplyDeleteIt's just so slow.
ReplyDeleteThat could be a good way for us to get questions answered in a more direct manner, though.
I was tempted to enter a score for Bama/S. Carolina on their predictions.
ReplyDeleteThat was cheap of UK to cheat and keep one of our most creative players (Michael) out of the game.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had a feeling most of my comments weren't chat worthy. Made me thankful there is no filter at HABOTN!
ReplyDeleteI think I blew a response or two during the chat. I'll call me out for those mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI filter the HABOTN in my nightmares.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of how to get questions answered, it might be interesting to have an ask Jay blog sometime. Have everyone e-mail or message questions in and you filter and answer them. It could be like, Jay's top ten question list, or something like that.
ReplyDeleteGive us a rundown Michael
ReplyDeleteIt was slower than Ben Tate on the stretch play last season.
ReplyDeleteI crashed and burn with my comments. So it goes.
ReplyDeleteYou must realize that UK is probably not prepared to handle the HABOTN chat heat. We run a fast paced no huddle chat. They aren't use to that.
ReplyDeleteBy my calculations, Pogs will be back sometime in the late 2030s.
ReplyDeleteOh, nothing special digger, just a gibberish score prediction and a story about ben tate making both eric berry and me cry. But if you don't mind, I would like to go on pretending I had a whole bunch of awesome posts rejected by The Man.
ReplyDeleteWhen will pogo's be back?
ReplyDeleteI asked a question about Ben Tate/Eric Berry, but they didn't put it on either. COnspiracy.
ReplyDeletePogos 2014
ReplyDeletePogs will be back in the 2030's? I guess now is the time to buy a good slammer before they get expensive again.
ReplyDeleteSo, bye.
ReplyDeleteGotcha Michael I almost threw out a rediculous score of 5-3 Auburn but decided against it
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting comment was when Jay said that Tate is our best running back since Ronnie Brown. That surprised me, although it is likely true.
ReplyDeleteif UK starts a true freshman with ZERO playing experience at Jordan-Hare at night he is going to get drilled.
ReplyDeleteAUBURN 45, CATS 17.
If our defensive line doesn't get some pressure on their QB, we could make any QB a Heisman contender.
ReplyDeleteBen Tate is the man
ReplyDeletebut
I missed Eric running and catching the ball wonder what happened there. Did see him on two great blocks.
Tate has been great this year. He has finished runs like never before in his career, and his running style is prefect for what the coaches have run for him. All he needs is a couple of clear steps at the beginning of a run, and he is golden.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly Eric Smith had a third down catch for us to move the chains against Arkansas.
ReplyDeleteIt's either Irons or Tate since Brown. I like Tate.
ReplyDeleteEric Smith is probably our most underestimated back. He isn't Tate, but he is the closest alternative.
ReplyDeleteThat Tate run in the spring game opened my eyes.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea he had that kind of spend
And then to see it several more times during the season WOW.\I still say he is AFAH
By the way, a comment I've been meaning to make about the play where Tate put Berry on his back: if you look at the replay, it really was a great play by berry. Running sideways with no leverage, he stopped Ben Tate in his tracks with a forearm shiver. Pretty incredible when you look at it from that perspective. So, even though Tate won the youtube war, I would say it was actually a more impressive play by Berry.
ReplyDeleteAnd even so, I will replay it again and again and laugh at him.
He also needs to hold on to the ball a bit better, and I'm confident he will.
ReplyDelete"speed" oops
ReplyDeleteSo at the beginning of the run, Ben becomes a Notre Dame WR?
ReplyDeleteI had a UT fan tell me the same thing, Michael.
ReplyDeleteI replied, well, if it was such an awesome play by Berry, then we should expect to see it in his Heisman highlight reel, no ?
Good point Michael, but it was also terrible tackling by Berry. He thought he could just run into Tate and bring him down. Wrong. He ended up on his back, and Ben still got another 5-10 yards. Tate wins on the play and youtube. TKO for Tate.
ReplyDeleteThe only complaint this year about Tate is that he has two fumbles inside the 5 where are our only two non-scores in the redzone this year.
ReplyDeleteHe's having the 1,200 yard year I predicted and then some.
I agree he's the best Auburn RB since Ronnie Brown.
Yeah, it was more of an impressive play by Berry than a good play. He should have gone low for a normal tackle.
ReplyDeleteBut still, quite a feat of strength to stop Ben Tate in his tracks with a forearm.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHad he gone for the lariat or a drop kick it might have been more effective than the forearm.
ReplyDeleteWho was the most recent 1000 yard back; Ronnie? Caddie? Rudi?
ReplyDeleteIrons was our last 1,000 yard back.
ReplyDeleteIrons 2005
ReplyDeleteRudi in 2000
ReplyDeleteBrown in 2002
Carnell in 03 & 04
Irons in 05
Let's pretend 1996-1999 didn't happen for Auburn RB's sake. Even in '95, Bowden refused to run Davis, or Davis refused to run to protect his pro career. Maybe that was just the Outback Bowl.
ReplyDeleteTrivia:
ReplyDeleteWho was our last 1,000 yard receiver?
Who was our last 3,000 yard passer?
I was at the Outback Bowl, I would have refused to do anything to stay off that field.
ReplyDeleteBen Leard?
ReplyDeleteAs for 1000 receiving in a season, I haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteRK- Ronney Danniels for WR and Daymeune Craig for QB is my guess.
ReplyDeleteMichael- Thinks for elminating every year I was part of the Auburn Team!!!!
ReplyDeleteEddie wins the Sporttalk prize pack.
ReplyDeleteDaniels in 1999
Craig in 1997 was our only 3,000 yard passer in school history.
I'll go with JCam for QB. RonneyD for receiving.
ReplyDeleteSo it's Eddie's fault we had no running game. I knew there was a reason I questioned your loyalty.
ReplyDeleteEddie's a Bammer everyone!
RK- Awesome! I'm really thrilled to find out that the trivia pack includes Auburn / Georgia Tickets. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDamn Sporttalk...
ReplyDelete36-0 EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! I've been exposed.
ReplyDeleteWell Eddie, with regard to the running game, you were working with the o-line from 96-98. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteI KNEW IT..
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the dark side Eddie.
Let the HABOTN heel turns continue. Bammers will be outted every day until we find the ring leader.
ReplyDeleteIt all makes sense now. Eddie was a Bama spy working at Auburn to gather information for Saban. This was part of Saban's early planning phase in the takeover of the state of Alabama.
ReplyDeleteBro- That's a low blow. I can't help that the scheme we had to run was lame and the coach wanted to pass the dickens out of the ball.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Bowden ball is back to full form at UNA. They are 3-1 pass to rush there.
Steve- My first mission by Saban was getting Dinardo ousted at LSU, and my fake field goal plan helped lead the way that day.
ReplyDeleteMy brother almost completed his mission in 2003 until his scheduled flight was outed.
FSJ- If you can't beat'em, join'em.
I always thought that Bowden was a good "gameday" coach.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how good he was at the other stuff in the week leading up to the game. I'm sure Eddie and a few others have insight on that.
From the ashes of Eddie's devastating work, however, came E-Bro, who worked with the running backs from Spring 01-Spring 04.
ReplyDeleteI like to think I had a little something to do with the three 1,000 yard rushing seasons sqeezed in from 2002-2004. No 1,000 yard rusher in '01, but only b/c I felt Lac wasn't ready until that Georgia game in Athens.
FSJ- Bowden didn't have a perfect attendance record at practice. Nothing can get in the way of a James Taylor concert for Bowden. He was a laid back coach, but he had an enormous ego. He didn't know all the players names, some that he recruited of course. I heard Brother Oliver say that he tried to talk X's and O'x with Bowden and the talk went completely over his head.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm a modest guy. FYI
ReplyDeleteFSJ- Also, as far as gameday coach, in 96, Tommy Bowden was the OC and Tommy called the running plays and Jimbo Fisher called the passing plays. After Tommy left in 96, Terry thought he would try and call the plays again and he could never make his mind up. I bet we had more delay of games in that 97 and the time he was there in 98 than any other time that I could remember. He had us tape his headset communication and I would listen to it for fun and he was just out of it at times. Had no idea what to do.
ReplyDeleteTo me Bowden came across as a good motivational speaker and a guy who could make some decent in game adjustments, but that was about it.
ReplyDeleteE-Bro
Didn't Carnell have 170 yards rushing against Arkansas the week before the 01 UGA game?
LOL...now that is funny Eddie.
ReplyDeleteI know Brother doesn't like him, but then again who does Brother like...
It's all funny. Brother hated Stallings. Stallings hated Brother. Bowden hated Brother. Brother hated Bowden...and Stallings hated Bowden. Not sure how Bowden felt about Gene though. I assume he didn't care for him.
RK, he did, but we lost 42-17. I told him afterwards it's a team game and we lost. Give me 41 carries and over 160 yards in a win at Athens and then I'll think he's something. So I told him anyway.
ReplyDeleteBro- What did you tell him for the bama game in 2001 or any other pep talk to the team for that game?
ReplyDeleteEddie...
ReplyDeleteHe told them that Tyler Watts has to play.. You don't miss the Iron Bowl!
:-)
FSJ- You are correct. I was lucky that I got to know Brother outside the complex. I was with brother the day he was named Interim HC and I also had been over to his house a couple of times to hear Bear stories. I like the man.
ReplyDeleteAnd then after the game he said "Coach Fran is going to have to answer to why he hasn't played Zow all year."
ReplyDeleteWait...that was Tubs...right?
Fran is one that I am surprised imploded in such a big way.
ReplyDeleteI honestly thought he was a good coach....even when he left Alabama.
I guess he lost his mojo somewhere.
FSJ- Most painful bama game I have ever attended. That one hurt.
ReplyDeleteLater Hotties, I'm headed home to get my Marching orders from Saban.
ReplyDeleteI'd say 1993 or 1986 would be the most painful that I have attended.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost certain that if Stan White does not get hurt in that game we win.
FSJ, my roommate was a defensive SA at the time and talked about how the defense was going to come with OLB blitzes all game to take away the Tide's option under Watts.
ReplyDeleteWhoops.
E-Bro...
ReplyDeleteI'd heard that the Auburn coaches really thought he was going to play.
That surprises me. I couldn't see how.
i had a buddy call me from a bar in Tuscaloosa one night and he put Tyler Watts on the phone. it's one of the most random calls i have ever gotten. my buddy thought it was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say. We just weren't ready to play that game. Except for Lac. He was running like a beast before he got hurt. After that, the team was stunned.
ReplyDeleteBut it really started on Tuesday and Wednesday for the team. You could just sense it in practice that were sleep-walking through that week. Maybe if Lac doesn't get hurt, we stay in that game, but bottom line we just weren't ready.
Bama was. I remember in pre-game warm-ups I was fielding some punts having the "great" Freddie Milons try to pop the ball out of my grasp after I caught a punt. Kind of typified the swagger Bama played with that day and we didn't.
I don't think Tubs truly grasped the Auburn-Alabama rivalry until after that game.
Well he caught on in a big way after that unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteOC we had something to do with that miserable few years.
We spent all of winter workouts and spring practice and everything else thinking about 31-7. It wasn't like that the year before when we won 9-0.
ReplyDeleteI know it's a cliche whenever any team loses to a big rival (like this year with us talking alot about 36-0 last year), but we spent the whole year looking forward to that game. Wasn't much doubt in my mind about whether we were going to win in 2002, even when RonnieB went down against UGA and we put Tre Smith back there.
Captain Lou Albano died Wednesday. Unlike most wrestling characters, he lived to see age 76.
ReplyDeleteThe 2001 Iron Bowl was the worst game I've ever attended as well.
ReplyDeleteI remember Bama jumping on the midfield logo before the game and not getting a penalty, then we do it the next week against LSU and get one. I didn't quiet understand what made one a penalty and one a no-call.
By the way, the quote of the chat award goes to Jay G. Tate with "Did you know "ziemba" means "yellow" in Algonquin?"
There was no more awkward feeling than knowing that if we went down to LSU the week after 31-7 and won we would still win the West. Just didn't seem right. A Western Division Championship doesn't really seem worth having if you don't beat Bama.
ReplyDeleteDidn't matter though. Rohan Davey and Josh Reed took care of that for us.
We had to win two of our last 4 games to win the west. I thought we'd do it in our 1st two with Ark and UGA...we dominated Ark in the stat sheet and they dominated us on the scoreboard.
ReplyDeleteWell I was shocked at the 2002 outcome.
ReplyDeleteMy best friends and I were at the game and were on the lookout to see if Ronnie Brown came out looking like he was ready to play...When he didn't we thought we had it in the bag to be honest..
Oops.
that '02 game was one of the most pleasant surprises ever. we were about 5 rows up in the endzone where Robert Johnson scored both those early TD's. so much fun.
ReplyDeleteEverything Sucks
ReplyDeleteI'll also never forget sitting in Legion Field in 98 when Auburn jumped all over us to begin with. One of my Auburn friends called and said you don't spot Brother Oliver 17 points and win...
ReplyDeleteIt was like the lights came on right after that.
Those were two bad football teams on the field that night. Auburn was very bad and Alabama was barely a .500 caliber team.
Well, the assist for 2002 also goes to the evil one, Robert Petrino. With options limited at running back, (FB brandon Johnson was also out), Petrino installed a gameplan that was almost exclusively five wide and let if fly.
ReplyDeleteNo way Bama would be ready for that after 11 games of what we had been running. Element of surprise was with is. I'm just sorry we stopped running the offense at 17-0. Would have liked some more points.
As for Ronnie, he was never going to play in that game. Kind of like our approach to Watts in 2001 I guess.
Yeah, I thought our 98 defense would have held up better. Our offense was terrible, but I thought our defense was the best unit on the field for both teams heading into that game. Didn't see 31 unaswered coming.
ReplyDeleteRonnie getting hurt against UGA and having to play hurt at the end of the game probably cost us a trip to Atlanta. One more first down, or if he doesn't run out of bounds to avoid getting hurt worse we probably win that game.
ReplyDeleteHad he not gotten injured late in that game, we win because UGA doesn't get the ball back.
Scottie,
I too was in that same endzone toward the top for the Robert Johnson TDs. Too bad we got super conservative at that point.
I'll always remember that game for Dansby being in position to tackle Watts and Shaud Williams on an option play.
Dansby was a beast that game. i've got that Dansby/Torbor/Watts print on my wall. it's purdy.
ReplyDeleteThe 98 & 99 Iron Bowl as all Shaun Alexander willing his team to victory.
ReplyDeleteE-Bro,
The 98 Iron Bowl, one of our callers "Big Daddy Bama" had bet his hair that Alabama would beat Auburn and at 17-0 Quake calls me on my cell phone talking about how fun the show would be on Monday.
It was downhill from there.
Karlos Dansby...freak
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Quake to ruin everything.
ReplyDeleteAs good as Petrino's gameplan was on offense in that 2002 game, the Auburn defense was spectacular.
ReplyDeletei didn't think anybody could hold Alabama to that few points that year.
back from the dentist, now about to leave for hockey. Drive by post to say HOTTIE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
ReplyDeleteWARRRRRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE!!!
GO TIGERS!!!
GO PENGUINS!!!
According to Sensi on the show last night, I'm setting myself up to sadness for thinking it's possible that we win 10 games.
ReplyDeleteE-Bro ...
ReplyDeleteI was ousted from the family Thanksgiving dinner when I grabbed my 13 year old nephew (who had observed we could still win the division and go to Atlanta) by the shoulders and screamed at the top of my lungs "I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THE WESTERN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP! WE JUST GOT EMBARRASSED BY ... BY ... THEM!"
Yeah FSJ, I guess I waxed lyrical about the offense more because of the injuries. We weren't sure where points would come from. We knew the defense would be good. It had been pretty good all year, aside from Arkansas and Horace Willis losing his footing in the endzone agaisnt UGA. Sure would like to have that DC as our head coach now. Wait...
ReplyDeleteI'm with ya Jet. Just wouldn't feel right. It's like when we had to pull for Bama against LSU in 2005 to help us out in the West. I can never quite do that, even knowing what happened when we played Bama a week later.
ReplyDeleteRK, Sensi and Eddie know best.
Happy Puppet Hour!
ReplyDeletePUPPET HOUR!! AHHHH!!!!
ReplyDeleteAll right, you crayon eatin', HOTTIE hatin', Tebow nuzzlin', Iowa defendin', blitz wantin', lilly livered, side-windin', no-count BC coaches better bring it!
ReplyDeleteThe 1999 Iron Bowl turned on two plays ... Duval missing a short field goal early in the second half and Kindal Moorehead sacking Leard for the safety after Auburn had made a goal line stand.
ReplyDeleteJet,
ReplyDeleteI've agreed with you a lot lately and I don't like it.
"Duval missing a short field goal"
ReplyDeleteNow where else have I seen that before?
RK ... sing with me
ReplyDeleteKumbayah, my Lord. Kumbayah.
Kumbayah, my Lord. Kumbayah.
Kumbayah, my Lord. Kumbayah
Oh, Lord, Kumbayah.
Duval never missed crucial short fg's, did he?
ReplyDeleteHe started it as a freshman against Ole Miss and it continued...however long FG's in the wind and rain for some reason he was deadly.
ReplyDeleteBut for 2002, we would have beaten the Gators three times this decade on last second field goals, twice in the Swamp. Duval missed the easiest of the three that year. Oh well, candy nuts and stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida game was the worst. That sucked badly in 2002, especially being there. That would have been an awesome comeback to win the game only to choke the XP, i mean FG. Of course, It would have been nice if we had just punched the darn ball into the endzone since we had all the momentum.
ReplyDeleteBro, were you at that game? Did we meet up?
ReplyDeleteCoach Knox knew we should have punched it in too. The whole time we kept running the ball conservatively he was saying, "We need a touchdown. We don't need to count on Duval."
ReplyDeletePrescient words.
Leave it to Duval to kill a thread. Or me. The threads I've killed the last couple of weeks are becoming notches on my belt.
ReplyDeleteE-Bro,
ReplyDeleteGet your @$$ to the locker room until you can stop killing threads!
e-bro, what is your opinion of Knox? I have suspected our receiving troubles had to do with him, but since I haven't seen him coach, it is far from certain.
ReplyDeleteSteve, here's a story that gives you a lens into Knox's coaching. After the UGA game in 2002, Petrino made some of the following comments to our receivers one day in practice of Bama week (I'm paraphrasing): "Boy, did you see those Georgia receivers getting off the line on Saturday. It would be nice if our receivers could get off that line as good as they can."
ReplyDeleteI guess that tells you a little something about Knox and Petrino. It was classy of Petrino to call him out in front of everybody like that. So I don't think Knox was the greatest coach. He always seemed a little off to me.
That said, the receiving corps from 2004-2005 I felt was the best in Auburn history, thought that is more indicative of talent maybe than coaching. Still, Courtney Taylor came to Auburn a raw athlete and ended as one of Auburn's greatest receivers. Maybe more CT than Knox. Probalby is because I don't think Knox always got the most out of his receivers, especially with the small things like running routes and blocking downfield.
Just my opinion.
I think Knox held back the talent of Aromashodu and Obomanu. I'd say with good coaching those guys could have been even better than they were.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ronney Daniels went from a 1,000 yard receiver to a 250 yard receiver in one year under Knox.
ReplyDeleteI have posted a poll.
ReplyDeletePlease get out and VOTE.
RK- To be fair, Danniels only had Knox has a Position coach. But maybe you meant that Danniels came in a big time receiver and after a year of coaching him down he was irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteBro- I was at the game, you got me the tickets. Anna and I saw you before the game at Tiger Walk.
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