My Thoughts From the Stadium (Alabama)

[abw0004 10,110]

Good morning all,

For those that do not know, I intentionally wait until Monday's to post these articles to let the emotions settle whether we win or lose and I am still just as pumped up as I was on Saturday so that did not work.  This is a good problem to have however, and I will keep riding these emotions as long as I can.  Let's dive into this masterpiece of a game shall we?

Weather:  The weather could not be more perfect.  Mid-70's is actually what you hope for with no rain and we got exactly that.  Much better conditions than the previous game.

Atmosphere:  As always the atmosphere was a sight to behold.  People got into their seats early this game and stayed the entire time.  I was surprised to see that there not as many Alabama fans as there was Georgia fans two weeks prior.  This game had a lot on the line for Alabama so I was surprised to see this.  Auburn also got a flyover as well which would get anyone excited.  The second I see the band director look up I know they are coming.  This game I had a feeling we would get a brand new hype video as well.  The order in which the videos were presented said as much.  And guess who did the hype video?  Mr. DeShaun Davis of course!  It was really well done and I hope he returns to do another one next year.  I will post it below for those that have not seen it.  At halftime Auburn also played Spikes' "Tick Tock" video again.  I was like a kid in a candy store.

Alabama Fans:  For the most part they were fairly well-behaved.  I wonder if it had anything to do with them knowing we had a real shot at winning this one.  The one despicable thing they did was when Daniel Thomas was hurt. They started to cheer and do their chants and if you listen closely on the broadcast you can hear it and then hear our fans drowning them out.  There was another instance in my section when Derick Brown was hurt.  There was a female Alabama fan that stood up and was ecstatic he was hurt.  You will be proud to know our fans put her in her place.  You will also be proud to know Auburn fans showed some class and cheered their players off of the field when they were hurt.  

Stadium:  Yesterday I watched the entire game again (because why not) and noticed the broadcast did not do our fans justice in depicting how loud we really were.  There was a reason why Alabama had so many false starts.  Part of the credit also goes to our audio team of have a perfect song each and every defensive down.  They even showed Nickolas Saban's temper tantrum on the big screen and played a funny song to it.  It really did seem like one giant party and I truly never felt we were in trouble this game because of it.  Our fans were focused.  Our players were focused.  And our coaches were focused.

Penalties:  Once again I noticed that the broadcast missed a lot of blatant penalties Alabama was getting away with.  Again, our video team does a great job at pointing these out on the video board to show the refs how bad they are at their jobs.  If you go back and watch the game, key in on Marlon Davidson.  Holding his shoulder pads down, pushing him squarely in the back.  Those calls were there every play.  It was extremely frustrating.  It was almost as if, when the drive mattered, the referees made sure Alabama scored, but made an effort to try and make it seem that was not the case.

Offensive line:  They have struggled all year, but they do deserve a ton of credit.  Lanes were opened up for our running backs to keep us balanced.  And would you like to know a fun fact?  Alabama's offensive line was called for more false starts in the Iron Bowl than we have all year.  I also believe we have not been called for a single holding penalty this year.  Only Spencer Nigh was called but he lined up at tight end when that happened.  If I am incorrect please let me know.

Defense:  How can you go through this recap and not mention our defense?  After they settled in, Auburn made plays when they needed us to.  For those looking for it, Auburn also showed new defensive sets in the red zone which led to keeping Alabama out of the endzone for the majority of the trips.  And those two pick sixes could be watched on repeat all day.  I just could not believe my eyes.

Bo Nix:  I have been saying it all year that this guy is our present and future and this game says it all.  Many will point to his completion percentage in big games being low, and that is true.  But when you take out dropped passes his completion percentage goes way up.  In the Georgia game it would have been 92%, and that also factors in throwing the ball away.  The stage really was never too big for him.  The only time I saw Nix rattled was the Florida game this year.  Even this game, when he was flushed out of the pocket, Nix kept his eyes downfield looking for the throw instead of the run or taking a sack.  Next year will be big time for him, you heard it here first.

Anders Carlson:  Welcome back Mr. Carlson!  Anders very well may deserve the offensive MVP this game.  Nailing all of those kicks, plus one that we took back.  All Auburn kickers made their kicks this game.  Yes, all Auburn kickers.  Even the student who kicked a field goal to win $5,000 toward his tuition made his kick.  That is how good we are with kickers.  Even our students are better kickers than Alabama's.

Rushing the Field:  I was not really a fan of watching fans rush the field.  We do it too many times.  We will start to look like Clemson's fans if we keep this up.  As a student, doing it once should be enough and they did it two years ago.  What upset me the most was how they ruined the hedges and then taking branches with them as if that is an accomplishment.  You broke off a branch of a bush from your own stadium, how does that justify that?  The opposing team that won would do that like South Carolina did to Georgia.

Nickoli Saban:  Watching him lose his mind was pretty funny and Auburn made it funny replaying him on the board with funny music.  Trolling at its finest.  In all fairness, I see why he was upset with the referees.  Wouldn't you be upset too if the people you pay to work for you don't do their job as you see fit?

Gus Malzahn:  Over the past few weeks Gus has taken a lot of heat and some of that was justified.  After this game, we need to give credit where credit is due.  Many are saying we played how we normally play, but that is not true.  Our offense hung 34 points on Alabama's defense with many of our wide receivers hurt or out completely.  The last time Nickky Saban let his opponent put on 48 points was when he was still head coach at Michigan State.  If you think about it, Malzahn has only lost one game to Alabama in Jordan-Hare.  Gus has won the last 2 of three games against him and 3-4 overall.  No other coach has won more against Saban than Gus.  Only Les Miles is tied with Gus at three.  Kirby Smart is 0-3.  Orgeron is 1-2.  Jimbo Fisher is 0-2 (who is also paid more than Gus and inherited a ton of talent at A&M to boot).  I am happy Gus won.  As many know I am still on the bus and plan to continue as long as he is our head coach.  We now have a shot at 10 wins this season.  Most of you thought we would only win eight games this year.  Our loses stung, but so do all loses in any sport.

Looking forward:  I am excited for what our future holds with Nix at the helm and our recruiting class coming in.  We have a solid offensive line class coming in with some top rated JUCO's and some great weapons enrolling early.  I am hoping for one last win this season however.  I want it for our seniors.  It will be bittersweet to see Derick Brown, Marlon Davidson, Jeremiah Dinson, Daniel Thomas, Will Hastings, Sal Canella, Javaris Davis, and many others play for the final time in an Auburn uniform.  But we all know these days will come for everyone.  Let's make sure they go out on top!

[abw0004 10,110]

 

[kwagoner 214]

Was it just me, or were there very few UA fans there? Even their corner and upper sections had a lot of Orange and Blue. The 3 around us were very well behaved and the younger guy and I talked realistically about our own flaws etc. I ALMOST felt bad for them when they turned away for every single PAT and FG attempt.

[AU64 10,122]

25 minutes ago, kwagoner said:

very few UA fans there?

Guessing that meant that AU fans were not selling their tickets to their bammer neighbors.    

 

[autigeremt 6,598]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

 

Hearing Rod in those............ WAR EAGLE! 

[asf0531 0]

The ones who were there were not nearly as loud as usual either.

[ChltteTiger 649]

"Most of you thought we would only win eight games this year."

 

Your take on Gus was very reasonable until you wrote this. Maybe folks were saying 8 loss ceiling after about our 3rd loss. Maybe one or two people were saying that before the season started. Everyone else recognized this year was an SEC title game type team. Turns out we are somewhere in the middle which is not bad with a shot at 10 wins and final Top 10 ranking.

[abw0004 10,110]

24 minutes ago, ChltteTiger said:

"Most of you thought we would only win eight games this year."

 

Your take on Gus was very reasonable until you wrote this. Maybe folks were saying 8 loss ceiling after about our 3rd loss. Maybe one or two people were saying that before the season started. Everyone else recognized this year was an SEC title game type team. Turns out we are somewhere in the middle which is not bad with a shot at 10 wins and final Top 10 ranking.

Not true:

 

[Mikey 16,575]

37 minutes ago, ChltteTiger said:

"Most of you thought we would only win eight games this year."

 

Your take on Gus was very reasonable until you wrote this. Maybe folks were saying 8 loss ceiling after about our 3rd loss. Maybe one or two people were saying that before the season started. Everyone else recognized this year was an SEC title game type team. Turns out we are somewhere in the middle which is not bad with a shot at 10 wins and final Top 10 ranking.

Looking at the pre-season predictions, 7-5 and 8-4 were the most common picks. Some few had 6-6 and some 9-3 or better. You are underestimating the number of posters who underestimated Gus. Also, having to face the nation's toughest schedule had a lot to do with the many 7-5 and 8-4 picks.

[Win4AU 4,052]

42 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Not true:

 

I pick Auburn to win every game every year because I’m an eternal optimist Auburn Homer.  

[Win4AU 4,052]

50 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Not true:

 

One last thing.  I got crazy close on the LSU, Bama games.  

[atl-tiger 655]

Fined $250K for rushing the field. 

[Win4AU 4,052]

9 minutes ago, atl-tiger said:

Fined $250K for rushing the field. 

Cheaper than $25 million to fire the coach

[AU64 10,122]

14 minutes ago, atl-tiger said:

Fined $250K for rushing the field. 

Add a dollar to ticket prices   Maybe it will happen but have not seen how much UVa will be fined for rushing the field at their game..

[Mims44 1,867]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

Looking at the pre-season predictions, 7-5 and 8-4 were the most common picks. Some few had 6-6 and some 9-3 or better. You are underestimating the number of posters who underestimated Gus. Also, having to face the nation's toughest schedule had a lot to do with the many 7-5 and 8-4 picks.

Most actual sports talking heads had Auburn with 3 to 4 losses (a lot of them had us losing to Oregon and beating Florida).

Before the season started dude on SECN said Auburn would be the best 3 loss team in the nation by years end.

[AURealist 2,185]

So Auburn fans were unable to predict bama's best player, the Heisman candidate, would suffer a season-ending injury.

Definitely something to gloat about.   

 

[abw0004 10,110]

1 minute ago, AURealist said:

So Auburn fans were unable to predict bama's best player, the Heisman candidate, would suffer a season-ending injury.

Definitely something to gloat about.   

Not sure what you are getting at.  Auburn fans were not allowed to make excises in the 2016 UGA game or the 2017 SEC Chanpionship on who was injured for us, so Alabama can’t either.  We also have to beat a few other teams to get to 9-10 wins?  Alabama is just one win.  

[AURealist 2,185]

1 minute ago, abw0004 said:

Not sure what you are getting at.  Auburn fans were not allowed to make excises in the 2016 UGA game or the 2017 SEC Chanpionship on who was injured for us, so Alabama can’t either.  We also have to beat a few other teams to get to 9-10 wins?  Alabama is just one win.  

You get it.  Don't pretend you don't.  

[atl-tiger 655]

10 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Add a dollar to ticket prices   Maybe it will happen but have not seen how much UVa will be fined for rushing the field at their game..

I think its an SEC thing, not sure ACC fines the schools. 

[abw0004 10,110]

5 minutes ago, AURealist said:

You get it.  Don't pretend you don't.  

Not really so you could also just answer the question.  Thanks 

[AU64 10,122]

3 minutes ago, atl-tiger said:

I think its an SEC thing, not sure ACC fines the schools. 

I'm pretty sure you are right.....which is a good thing because ACC fans rush the field or court on a regular basis after a big upset win.   

[abw0004 10,110]

5 minutes ago, atl-tiger said:

I think its an SEC thing, not sure ACC fines the schools. 

It is the SEC that makes the fines.  The ACC does not have a fine schedule in place, which is why I made the reference to Clemson.  Their students rush the field after every win.

[AURealist 2,185]

27 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Not really so you could also just answer the question.

What question?   I see a statement with a question mark at the end of it.  

Why pretend that you're dense? 

Folks generally had an idea of which games we'd win and which we'd lose.  Losses to 4 of O, aTm, UF, LSU, UGA and uat would end us at 4 losses.   When folks predicted 8 wins max, they assumed bama would have their first string QB.  So I don't get slamming people for thinking AU would have only 8 wins this season.  

Take the bama win as a win.  It's great for everyone.  To 'I told ya so' is going to sour the win by bringing in facts people would like to just put aside for now.  

[I_M4_AU 7,789]

3 hours ago, abw0004 said:

I am happy Gus won

Gus didn’t win it, he said so at the end of the game.  You might have missed it; he said; “it’s not about me”.  Now, I will give him credit for getting his team up and they refusing to lose.  Also his ploy to get Waddle off the field which, in turn, allowed Saban to “Gus it up”, but he didn’t win that game.

This is what gets me sometime, people believing Gus is Auburn and not the players that play for Auburn.

[abw0004 10,110]

55 minutes ago, AURealist said:

What question?   I see a statement with a question mark at the end of it.  Thank you for defining what the structure of a question is.  Now that we understood I asked a question let's move on.  For the record that does qualify as a question when used in the correct tone, which I did.

Why pretend that you're dense?  That is uncalled for personally and very unwarranted.  To each their own I suppose.

Folks generally had an idea of which games we'd win and which we'd lose.  Losses to 4 of O, aTm, UF, LSU, UGA and uat would end us at 4 losses.   When folks predicted 8 wins max, they assumed bama would have their first string QB.  So I don't get slamming people for thinking AU would have only 8 wins this season.  Ah you also forget people also thought we would lose to Oregon.  Hence in my original comment to you that the one win over Alabama does not complete a 9-10 season.  We had to win at least eight more games.  We also beat other teams including Oregon and A&M.  And using the card of "They lost their starting QB" would not hold water if we were also not allowed to use that same card for the 2017 SEC Championship or 2016 UGA game.  Fair is fair.

Take the bama win as a win.  It's great for everyone.  To 'I told ya so' is going to sour the win by bringing in facts people would like to just put aside for now.  That is what I do in these threads.  I use my observations and also bring in facts many did not know or forgot about.  That is what makes these fun.