CONFIDENT AUBURN SAYS THEY ARE READY FOR TIDE

Iron Bowl is like no other rivalry...

Derrick Henry has been a locomotive

       Has it already been a year since the last Iron Bowl?  A lot has happened to Auburn in that time span. The Tigers were an almost unanimous pick to win the SEC West. To win the West seems almost tantamount to winning the SEC Championship. I've not seen anything to make me change my mind about that. Auburn was boldly boasting about their soon to be a great defense under Will Muschamp. He would be the man to turn around that part of the AU game. Of course, everyone believed that Auburn had the best offense in the NCAA. So the mood was set. Boom when the pixie dust was sprinkled by Gus Malzhan over every AU fan in the world. Boom when Jeremy Johnson was going to win the Heisman Trophy. Boom when the Gus bus was going to hit the road and win every game played, and then go out and recruit 25 five star recruits. A funny thing happened on the road to Auburn's greatness. It turned out they were not very good. The offense seemed helpless with Johnson in control. The defense, well, the defense was stunningly horrible. Auburn was the most overrated team in the history of SEC football, or the sportswriters were so enamored with Auburn they created a kind of contagious stupidity in their ranks. It turned out the emperor wore no clothes. 

When Pigs head South...

     Meanwhile, the Alabama Crimson Tide,  the old protagonist of the previous season had somehow become the antagonist in the storyline of the most hate-filled rivalry in the history of college football. To most of us, the Tide seemed forgotten but Alabama fans felt their team was being overlooked.They may be been forgotten, but they had gone nowhere. Unnoticed, the Tide was building a powerhouse of a team. The focus for the media became who  would play quarterback. The focus should have been the great accumulation of defensive players by the Tide. All of that is now a chapter of great expectations on one hand and never underestimated Alabama on the other hand. After that short  history lesson the question is: Can Auburn will the Iron Bowl?  Perhaps, but it would be the biggest win AU history. Will Auburn will the Iron Bowl?  I'd say yes if you see pigs flying south for the winter. Otherwise, I'm betting my social security check on the Crimson Tide.

     In the process of the bizarre loss to Ole Miss the Tide found a quarterback. The loss was unexpected.  The end of the Saban era was promptly announced as over.   Not only were sports writers penning articles about the decline of Alabama football, the fifth estate was falling all over themselves in some contest to see who could write the most inflaming article. After due consideration, I deemed it a 50 man tie for first place. How had this happened?

The protagonist in the series had gone back to work...

     How had the old protagonist turned into the antagonist in the fiercest rivalry in college sports? How had everyone gotten it so wrong? First, never under estimate Nick Saban. Next, if you disregard the tradition of the greatest football program in college football you are foolish. That's exactly what Auburn fans and sports writers had done. Then they doubled down when Alabama lost to Ole Miss. Most football teams would have lost with five turnovers. What I remember about that game was the play of Jake Coker and competitive nature of Alabama. Each time Ole Miss started their winning celebration the Tide came back and scored. When the game was over it was Alabama who beat themselves, but it was also Alabama who learned some valuable lessons. Jake Coker also found himself. While the media world was burying Alabama, a lot of observers felt the Tide was primed to become a great team. How many times has Alabama won a national championship with a loss? How many times does any team get through the SEC without a loss? The answers are several and rarely. I'll give Auburn credit for being bowl eligible after their start. The win over lowly Idaho, the school and not the potato, gave them six wins.   I'll give Alabama credit for being a great football team. How good is Alabama?  Let's put it this way- Mark May of ESPN has underestimated the Tide. He already thinks Alabama is the best team in the nation.

      So here we are. The week of the meanest game in college football. Fights will break out among friends, divorces will be filed, and families won't get together for Christmas. All of which is true, all of which is silly. This is the week my Auburn friends won't telephone me. The next time they'll call is if Auburn wins, or it's time for golf again. The players don't feel the way fans do. That's good. Auburn has a chance because the game is played in Lee County. I seem to recall that Alabama has played its best football on the road.

UPDATE:  "I don't think they are anything special, honestly",  said Cyrus Jones when asked about the Auburn wide outs. If Nick Saban has a list of what not to do before a game Jones didn't get the message. I'm sure that Cyrus Jones broke that rule. Jones went on to say that he had to "prepare for them like they are the best receivers in the conference."

Alabama center Ryan Kelly said he "had never heard of Carl Lawson", premiere pass rusher for the Tigers. I bet we don't get any further comment from these two seniors prior to game time.