Blowing Leads To Auburn: A Problem We Must Fix Long-Term

Alasippi · Jun 24, 2014

TouchThatThang said:
What would y'all rather have over a period of 20 years, an 80% Iron-Bowl-Victory percentage and 1 NC, or a 60% Iron-Bowl-victory percentage and 3-4 NCs? It may not be possible to have both. I'll take the latter.

There's no question that teams, not just one or two, play Bama harder. Auburn didn't set a record for playing teams coming off bye weeks. Auburn's schedule didn't force the SEC to create a bye-week limit. I don't think it's possible to match the emotional intensity of every team we play. We have to treat games with a business mentality because we have higher aspirations than most teams and everyone wants to beat us. IMO beating Auburn has never meant as much to Bama fans as beating Michigan does to Ohio State or even beating Florida State does to Florida (and vice versa).

And the fact is Auburn had a better team both times they beat us. They were better in the trenches--on both sides of the ball--in both 2010 and 2013. In 2010, a scripted first-half gameplan made us look better than we were. To me, the game didn't start until GMac fumbled, and from that point on, they dominated. In 2013, our own nerves beat us, I admit. But we were playing for history and Auburn's chances of playing in the BCSNCG seemed like a long shot. Look at what happened to the Heat. Trying to beat history instead of the Spurs got them whooped. I'm not saying they would've won, but they were a lot better than what they showed. All I'm saying is, let's not act like this is an exclusively Alabama thing. We're talking about things that are very universal in sports.

The AU game in 2010 turned around when Mark fumbled on the 20 and the ball took the most improbable bounce down the sideline and through the end zone of any fumble in history.
A team of nuclear physicians couldn't make that ball stay in bounds with the most elaborate equipment available. I've never seen anything like it.
Still, I'll agree with you. When it came down to it, they beat us on the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball.
The Bama-AU game, and basically any game, comes down to that.
sip

Tide Rev · Jun 24, 2014

GrayTide said:
I keep hearing on here "our goal every year is to play for the NC and auburn's goal is to beat us" which somehow makes us superior to them. If I am not mistaken, if we don't beat auburn we ain't gonna play for the NC. Maybe we ought to spend more time worrying about the IB and less about the NC.

This is the truth and I feel in the last 10 years, regardless of the coach, this perspective has diminished. I remember Coach Bryant writing about this in his autobiography. Saban made a statement when he came on board about wanting to be better than the other team across the state each day. Somehow in the last few years, it seems we wanted to be better than LSU. I hope we can get back to what Gray Tide posted. Us old timers remember dominating them and I would like to see it again before the Lord calls me home.

Bamaboda1 · Jun 24, 2014

Great conversation and good points. I agree, to some extent with all. I just have a feeling that this year, largely based on last year, a close 4th quarter isn't going to be a problem.

ptw1961 · Jun 24, 2014

I have often said recently that the 5 greatest moments in Auburn football history all came against Alabama- 72, 82, 89, 2010 and 2013. The five greatest moments in Alabama history have absolutely nothing to do with Auburn. But one could argue that the 5 worst moments for Tide fans have come against the Barn. ( see years above).

And there-in lies the difference in how we as fans view the rivalry. Those 5 losses listed above had mind numbing circumstances (except for 89) that allowed Auburn to win when they absolutely had no business doing so. Seldom has the Tide won a game with Auburn in some freakish fashion. I still shake my head at those losses listed above.

theballguy · Jun 24, 2014

GrayTide said:
I keep hearing on here "our goal every year is to play for the NC and auburn's goal is to beat us" which somehow makes us superior to them. If I am not mistaken, if we don't beat auburn we ain't gonna play for the NC. Maybe we ought to spend more time worrying about the IB and less about the NC.

I still prefer CNS's approach. We play each game a down at a time. Doesn't matter if it's the Barn or Georgia State. Since the end of the 07 season, there's not a game where I've been ashamed of the Tide or the coaching staff. On this subject, I cannot second-guess the Coach.

Blindside13 · Jun 24, 2014

ptw1961 said:
I have often said recently that the 5 greatest moments in Auburn football history all came against Alabama- 72, 82, 89, 2010 and 2013. The five greatest moments in Alabama history have absolutely nothing to do with Auburn. But one could argue that the 5 worst moments for Tide fans have come against the Barn. ( see years above).

And there-in lies the difference in how we as fans view the rivalry. Those 5 losses listed above had mind numbing circumstances (except for 89) that allowed Auburn to win when they absolutely had no business doing so. Seldom has the Tide won a game with Auburn in some freakish fashion. I still shake my head at those losses listed above.

Good post and I totally agree.

tide96 · Jun 24, 2014

eh. they won two games that we should have won and we beat them one time when they could have won and blew them out the other times since 2008. I don't see a problem.

MOAN · Jun 25, 2014

Why does anyone think that the Iron bowl is the greatest rivalry in college football and one of the top rivalries in all sports? Because the results and passion for the game shows it that is why? Am I surprised how close the record is in this rivalry? NO! Maybe Auburn does put more emphasis on beating us than we do them, I don't know. But I do know historically we have had more than just beating them at stake when the game is played compared to Auburn. Last year was an exception as well as this year may end up being.

Regardless, compare the two programs anyway you like but if you only compare wins and losses verses each other then I will still take what we have achieved verses theirs. 1 point verses a 49 point margin of victory may not matter to most, but I wear a Bama shirt proudly a 49 point stomping win over Auburn 2 years ago, a team that had just won a national championship 2 years before.

BamaJama17 · Jun 25, 2014

Yup I'm sick of Alabama only beating them 2 years in a row. CNS should never lose to them again as long as he is still at Alabama. They have far superior talent and they should start playing like it...every year.

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B1GTide · Jun 25, 2014

Alasippi said:
Thanks. I'm glad an Ohio State guy can teach me Tide tradition. I truly appreciate it.
sip

Teams like Alabama play football to win championships. In order to win championships in FBS football, you need to win every game - every game counts. That is very hard to do when you are Alabama because you are the focus of most of your opponents for more than just a week of preparation. Most of your opponents have no real aspiration of winning a championship. For most of them, beating Alabama would make their season no matter their W/L record.

The only way to combat that is to try and treat every game the same way. Your next opponent is going to be up for you, so you had better learn to get up for them. You can't do that if you are looking ahead or behind at future/past opponents.

So, if Alabama's tradition is winning championships, then your most important opponent is, and always has been, your next opponent. It was never Auburn, and it never will be. If that changes, welcome to the world of also-rans.

Alasippi · Jun 25, 2014

B1GTide said:
Teams like Alabama play football to win championships. In order to win championships in FBS football, you need to win every game - every game counts. That is very hard to do when you are Alabama because you are the focus of most of your opponents for more than just a week of preparation. Most of your opponents have no real aspiration of winning a championship. For most of them, beating Alabama would make their season no matter their W/L record.

The only way to combat that is to try and treat every game the same way. Your next opponent is going to be up for you, so you had better learn to get up for them. You can't do that if you are looking ahead or behind at future/past opponents.

So, if Alabama's tradition is winning championships, then your most important opponent is, and always has been, your next opponent. It was never Auburn, and it never will be. If that changes, welcome to the world of also-rans.

Yes every game is the most important, of course. My point was, "traditionally", at least in Saban's tenure, it has ended up that our biggest and most critical game of the year has turned out to be either LSU or Auburn, and, for whatever reason, we seem to be more ready to play LSU every year than we are for Auburn.

BamaMoon · Jun 25, 2014

ptw1961 said:
I have often said recently that the 5 greatest moments in Auburn football history all came against Alabama- 72, 82, 89, 2010 and 2013. The five greatest moments in Alabama history have absolutely nothing to do with Auburn. But one could argue that the 5 worst moments for Tide fans have come against the Barn. ( see years above).

And there-in lies the difference in how we as fans view the rivalry. Those 5 losses listed above had mind numbing circumstances (except for 89) that allowed Auburn to win when they absolutely had no business doing so. Seldom has the Tide won a game with Auburn in some freakish fashion. I still shake my head at those losses listed above.

You nailed it. The real difference in the two programs is not the "fans" desire to win the IB, but the programs' traditional purposes/goals. Every program wants to win the National Championship, but the truth is most seasons only a handful of teams have a reasonable chance. Historically, Bama has been in that group that has a chance to win it and Auburn has not. That may have changed in the last few years with Bama playing for 3 and Auburn playing for 2, but historically Auburn hasn't been in the mix as much as Bama.

While the rivalry won/loss record is basically .500 over time, nationally, Bama has always been viewed as the "state power" because of our SEC chamionships and National championships.

Do I want us to beat Auburn more??? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR!!!

But which number really matters: .500 OR 15 > 2 (or as they may start agruing 4,5,6 or 7)???

So is the Barn our equal in won/loss records historically? Yes.

But which is more important to us beating the Barn or winning NCs?

Year in and year out I'd prefer WE BEAT THE BARN AND WIN THE NC, but since I know we won't/can't do that ever year I'll rest assured that we'll continue to play for and win more national championships than "little brother."

B1GTide · Jun 25, 2014

Alasippi said:
Yes every game is the most important, of course. My point was, "traditionally", at least in Saban's tenure, it has ended up that our biggest and most critical game of the year has turned out to be either LSU or Auburn, and, for whatever reason, we seem to be more ready to play LSU every year than we are for Auburn.

IMO, that is because you match up better with LSU than Auburn, both from a scheme and personnel point of view.

GrayTide · Jun 25, 2014

BamaMoon said:
You nailed it. The real difference in the two programs is not the "fans" desire to win the IB, but the programs' traditional purposes/goals. Every program wants to win the National Championship, but the truth is most seasons only a handful of teams have a reasonable chance. Historically, Bama has been in that group that has a chance to win it and Auburn has not. That may have changed in the last few years with Bama playing for 3 and Auburn playing for 2, but historically Auburn hasn't been in the mix as much as Bama.

While the rivalry won/loss record is basically .500 over time, nationally, Bama has always been viewed as the "state power" because of our SEC chamionships and National championships.

Do I want us to beat Auburn more??? YOU BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR!!!

But which number really matters: .500 OR 15 > 2 (or as they may start agruing 4,5,6 or 7)???

So is the Barn our equal in won/loss records historically? Yes.

But which is more important to us beating the Barn or winning NCs?

Year in and year out I'd prefer WE BEAT THE BARN AND WIN THE NC, but since I know we won't/can't do that ever year I'll rest assured that we'll continue to play for and win more national championships than "little brother."

They are not mutually exclusive, you have to do one to get to the other. The fact that we proclaim every year we only want NCs does not mean anything unless we beat auburn.

TouchThatThang · Jun 25, 2014

Alasippi said:
Yes every game is the most important, of course. My point was, "traditionally", at least in Saban's tenure, it has ended up that our biggest and most critical game of the year has turned out to be either LSU or Auburn, and, for whatever reason, we seem to be more ready to play LSU every year than we are for Auburn.

I don't think we've been "more ready to play LSU." What about 2010 and 2011? The 2011 season meant everything to the fans and players, and we still lost. And in 2012, we should've lost. We sure didn't win because we were "more ready." We've only lost twice in the past six seasons, and in one of those games I think we were very ready (2010), that's why we opened the game with 21 points.

BamaMoon · Jun 25, 2014

GrayTide said:
They are not mutually exclusive, you have to do one to get to the other. The fact that we proclaim every year we only want NCs does not mean anything unless we beat auburn.

I agree that one typically leads to another! Yet, in our case, we are typcially still in the National Title picture at that point in the season more than they are. When so, they'd rather beat us, kill our dreams (like last year) and that's more important to them than anything else...even than them being in the NC hunt...some of their fans admit this very fact.

Good news, in case anyone is searching for a silver lining in our .500 series record with the Barn is this: Rarely, when we are in the running for a National Title, do they knock us out of it.

Obvoiusly last year sticks out and still stings, but when is the last time we lost a game from Auburn that potentially kept us out of playing for the National Championship? Other than last year, 1989 was the last time we lost to Auburn and it cost us a shot at the NC.

Now, more than ever, the game with the Barn matters in terms of post season play, but there is no question that our program's vision has Auburn has a step to the NC game and Auburn's vision is primarily concerned with trying to be like Bama (in national perception) and they feel the best way to do that is win the IB.

Alasippi · Jun 25, 2014

TouchThatThang said:
I don't think we've been "more ready to play LSU." What about 2010 and 2011? The 2011 season meant everything to the fans and players, and we still lost. And in 2012, we should've lost. We sure didn't win because we were "more ready." We've only lost twice in the past six seasons, and in one of those games I think we were very ready (2010), that's why we opened the game with 21 points.

Even when we've lost to LSU the performance and effort would have been enough to beat the Auburn teams we've lost to IMO. Now in 2010 there's no doubt in my mind that we were "ready" to start the game against Auburn. But we obviously weren't "ready" to finish. Conversely, since Coach Saban's first year at Bama we have laid it on the line for four quarters and then some against LSU.

MOAN · Jun 25, 2014

Well I for one will not take anything away from Auburns teams last year and in '10. They won the National championship in '10 and from my couch should have beaten FSU last winter for the championship. But what makes me sick is for the want of a field goal, (and we tried and missed several) we beat Auburn for the third time in a row and probably win our third championship in a row this past season! Auburn had a very good team last year and like I said should have beaten FSU and won their second championship in four years. Not bad for little brother is it?

Bamagator · Jun 25, 2014

Those were some gut-wrenching, sickening, infuriating, "why was I ever born" defeats, for sure. But I would be a little leery of interpreting those results from some 40 years as a disturbing "trend." Yes, there have been some baffling, improbable, incredibly frustrating results. But usually, the favored (better) team wins.

It's a bitter, intense rivalry. Crazy things happen. For most of the players, not going on to the NFL, it's the game of their life, their emotional Super Bowl. They have had good players and good coaches too, trying their hardest, laying it on the line. They are not Vanderbilt, Kentucky or Mississippi St. (historical comparisons notwithstanding).

I suspect if you looked closely at Florida-Florida St., Florida-Georgia, Michigan-Ohio St., and Texas-Texas A&M you could find similar examples of "how did that ever happen?".

Also, "blowing a lead" as opposed to them "coming from behind" is a matter of perspective. Having the lead at a point in a game is sometimes interpreted as entitlement to victory. You could just well ask, how did the eventual loser manage to get the lead in the first place? Sometimes, they briefly play to a level they can't sustain, they got all the breaks, or the eventual winner started out slowly for whatever reason, who knows?

I'm not sure you can "fix" a bitter, intense rivalry having close, crazy games. It's just nice to beat 'em bad when we can, and we have.

tusks_n_raider · Jun 25, 2014

BamaMoon said:
Good news, in case anyone is searching for a silver lining in our .500 series record with the Barn is this: Rarely, when we are in the running for a National Title, do they knock us out of it.

Obvoiusly last year sticks out and still stings, but when is the last time we lost a game from Auburn that potentially kept us out of playing for the National Championship? Was it 1993, the first time we played them in Auburn when we went into the game 10-0?

Now, more than ever, the game with the Barn matters in terms of post season play, but there is no question that our program's vision has Auburn has a step to the NC game and Auburn's vision is primarily concerned with trying to be like Bama (in national perception) and they feel the best way to do that is win the IB.

It was 1989 when they ruined our 10-0 record. They came within an eyelash of ruining 2009, and then the thing that happened this past year.

We did nothing to ruin 1993, 2004, 2010, or 2013 for them.

Off the top of my head the only time we ruined a chance for them was 1971 when we crushed them and the Sullivan/Beasley connection.

Blowing Leads To Auburn: A Problem We Must Fix Long-Term

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