Iron Bowl 2005: A Big Ol’ Can of Whoopin’
November 20th, 2005
That’s what Rece Davis said on ESPN, as relayed to me by Kay: “Auburn’s opened a big ol’ can of whoopin’!” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Rece. Or could I? Last week I said that LSU force-fed Alabama a dose of reality. To continue that analogy, what Auburn did yesterday was to dump Alabama bodily into a big bubbling vat of bitter reality and hold its head under until it drowned. Unfortunately, we couldn’t prevent the next of kin from hauling the corpse out and propping it up to make it look decent.
Nah, on second thought, I like the way Rece put it better. Short. Simple. Funny. A BIG ol’ can of whoopin’.
The game was over in the first quarter. You can read about that in the many reports on al.com and other sports sites, but it bears repeating. Brodie Croyle had completed a pass on the first play of every game they played this year, including a short completion against LSU. Not yesterday. Auburn sacked Croyle on the very first play from scrimmage. And again two plays later. And nine more times in the game. Alabama went three-and-out in its first three possessions. Auburn scored touchdowns in its first three possessions. That was the game right there. Against a competent offense, it might not have been, but…
I don’t understand why Alabama didn’t run the ball more. We clearly had a problem with Kenneth Darby – we gave up 89 yards to him. On their first-half touchdown drive he ran the ball well, and I was afraid they were onto something. But on Alabama’s next three possessions, they went back to throwing the ball, and had three more three-and-outs. If you’re counting, that’s six three-and-outs out of seven first-half possessions. If we hadn’t given them that fumble, the first half easily could have ended 35-0.
Shula said Alabama went to throwing the ball because they were 21 points behind, but with nearly three quarters left to play, that doesn’t necessarily make sense. If you’re able to run the ball, three quarters is a very long time. Bottom line: Shula panicked. That made the final three quarters a simple matter of mop-up duty for the Tigers. Thanks, Mike.
We’d heard so much about Alabama’s great defense coming into this game, but it was the Auburn defense that was the story of the day. Eleven sacks. Eleven. We didn’t even have to blitz much to accomplish that; I only remember one sack on a blitz. Our front four was just too physical for the Alabama offensive line. Speaking of physical, the biggest hit any Alabama man made on any Auburn man was when Alabama linebacker Juwan Simpson slobberknocked Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges on the sideline. Poor Al doesn’t look too mobile and on that play it caught up with him. Maybe you should think about wearing a helmet on that sideline, Al. We need you to protect that wonderful noodle.
Speaking of defense, how about Jae Wilhite going horizontal and backwards to slap away what would have been a touchdown pass in the second half – was that a pretty play, or what? Re-ject!
While we’re at it, how about Kenny Irons? 103 yards against the vaunted Alabama defense. And how about Brandon Cox? He didn’t put up big numbers, but he was deadly accurate in the first quarter and simply picked apart Alabama’s zone defense. Then there’s Ben Obomanu, who caught a pass for the first touchdown, and ran a reverse for the third. And how about Stanley McClover? And Marquies Gunn? And the rest of the defensive line? There were just too many great performances to list them all.
Yesterday was another great day to be an Auburn Tiger. Not only did we get to watch a terrific game, but we ate well here at Pine Gulch. Before the game, I made an experimental batch of dressing. I used a different recipe (more about that later). It didn’t turn out as well as my usual recipe, but it was still good. At halftime, we popped a big batch of stove-top popcorn (none of that microwave stuff for an occasion like the Iron Bowl). After the game, I made tacos for Bryn and her friend Shelby, and we chowed down. We prepared 18 taco shells and ate every one of them. Another dominating performance!
WAR EAGLE!