What If? - Auburn Football Edition

[woodford 3,678]

1 hour ago, AUght2win said:

I think it altered who Gus was. 2015 Gus and 2013 Gus were not the same person at all.

That's why it's possible to believe that things could have shaken out a little different. It's possible he builds a more well-rounded program.

 

Or take a step back and Kirby is hired instead of Gus. That's pretty hard to speculate that far back with his experience, but I think Auburn would be in a better place had Kirby gotten the job. And no, I'm not convinced he would bolt for Georgia given the chance.

[woodford 3,678]

4 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

If you  like alt/speculative history you should watch this series.

 

 

Yes! I'm a couple episodes in. It seems pretty interesting although unlikely (that's why I love alt history, anything is possible) that Japan AND Germany not only defeat America but invade us. I would like to read the book.

There's a lot of great YouTube content on the subject. I'm a history buff, but this topic has helped expand my knowledge and discover new interesting subjects in history.

 

 

[augolf1716 21,434]

9 minutes ago, woodford said:

Yes! I'm a couple episodes in. It seems pretty interesting although unlikely (that's why I love alt history, anything is possible) that Japan AND Germany not only defeat America but invade us. I would like to read the book.

There's a lot of great YouTube content on the subject. I'm a history buff, but this topic has helped expand my knowledge and discover new interesting subjects in history.

 

 

Gets a little slow at the end but overall not a bad series not great. I never thought about Japan and Germany splitting US in half to rule if they had won.

[MadtownTiger 363]

5 hours ago, woodford said:

What if Jameis throws a pick on that final drive and Auburn wins 31-27? 

A play or so before their final TD there was a batted ball by our DL.  The ball hit the turf at just about the same spot Frost was standing when the ball was snapped.  Not necessarily saying he was out of position, he had taken several steps forward to cover the RB, but it would have been awesome if he had Alex Lincoln-ed that ball to seal the win for AU.

Here's another scenario:  What if Deshaun Watson had flipped from Clemson to Auburn??  Jeremy Johnson doesn't happen.  Maybe Clemson's rise doesn't happen, and it was AU instead.

Or this:  What if instead of hiring Dillingham, Malzahn got over himself and hired Kliff Kingsbury (and he didn't immediately interview for other jobs).

WDE!

[fredst 9,064]

What if JJ had made a good hire after deciding to fire Chizik? Maybe one less magical season that ended in heartbreak but maybe not a slow descent into the pit of mediocrity our program has been in for 8 years now……Man, this is a fun game 😃

Edited January 20, 2022 by fredst

[IronMan70 3,277]

It was the missed tackle that lost the game and gave FSU their chance to win. After Mason scores to take the lead, appx. 1:20 is left on the clock and FSU will have to drive the length of the field to win. We had to keep them from making a large gain on a single play while not taking up much time on the clock. Do that and we run out the clock.

On 3rd and 5 on their side of the field, they run a simple 5 yard hitch to get the 1st down. We must make a solid tackle, grab the jersey if need be, but make the stop. AU has 2 defenders go for the big hit instead of just wrapping up the WR. They fail to make the stop and their WR gains 35+ yards in just 12 seconds. That play put them in a position of having a chance to win the game, a chance they should have never had. That play bothers me to this day because of everything that was on the line.   

Edited January 21, 2022 by IronMan70

[aubaseball 2,673]

The 1:20 on the clock sounds oh so familiar.    But instead of 80 yards, it was 97.    

[ThurstontheWelshCorgi 576]

Kirby Smart is 1 and 4 vs Saban -- maybe auburn would have been in a better place w him but I think playing in the sec east and losing to Saban 4 of 5 times doesn't really bode well in terms of a "what if he was at Auburn" just my opinion.  Also two blowout losses to Ed orgeron.

Edited January 19, 2022 by ThurstontheWelshCorgi

[AuburnEagle79 2,170]

I don't think much changes outside of having another title.

FSU won and has been on a downward spiral since. Our defense would've still been inept the 2nd half of 2014, and then from there the rest plays out similarly, except as some others have said, we probably pay Gus more to leave. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 hours ago, fredst said:

What if JJ had made a good hire after deciding to fire Chizik? Maybe one less magical season that ended in heartbreak but maybe not a slow descent into the pit of mediocrity our program has been for 8 years now……Man, this is a fun game 😃

Ding ding ding. If we're going to play what if, then let's solve some real problems.

 

[woodford 3,678]

14 hours ago, fredst said:

What if JJ had made a good hire after deciding to fire Chizik? Maybe one less magical season that ended in heartbreak but maybe not a slow descent into the pit of mediocrity our program has been for 8 years now……Man, this is a fun game 😃

Yes! My memory is a little fuzzy, who else was Auburn looking at or who were the fans wanting?

I remember wanting Kirby or Steve Spurrier (lol I'm serious)

[fredst 9,064]

Just now, woodford said:

Yes! My memory is a little fuzzy, who else was Auburn looking at or who were the fans wanting?

I remember wanting Kirby or Steve Spurrier (lol I'm serious)

Kirby was the prime candidate but supposedly wanted a “total control” situation that Saban has and we were unwilling to guarantee (that, and he wanted to wait until after the national championship game which we supposedly opposed). Personally, I was on board with Kirby at the time but thought any talk of Spurrier was silly (thought that he had lost his fire to do what it would take to go up against Saban)

[McLoofus 35,182]

22 minutes ago, fredst said:

any talk of Spurrier was silly (thought that he had lost his fire to do what it would take to go up against Saban)

Agreed. I think there would have been some Tuberville to him. Honestly, I'm not sure Spurrier was ever built for the current climate. He was known for promoting a healthy work life balance. 

[AUApostle 7,663]

15 hours ago, fredst said:

What if JJ had made a good hire after deciding to fire Chizik? Maybe one less magical season that ended in heartbreak but maybe not a slow descent into the pit of mediocrity our program has been in for 8 years now……Man, this is a fun game 😃

What if one JJ became QB and the other JJ became AD?

[jj3jordan 2,081]

Karma beat us that game. When Tre Mason score to take the lead, he momentarily adopted the Heisman pose in the back of the end zone. That is when I knew we would lose. He taunted the real Heisman guy and sure enough he made us pay. Karma. We were toast. Although I thought the last play had a chance also.

[woodford 3,678]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Agreed. I think there would have been some Tuberville to him. Honestly, I'm not sure Spurrier was ever built for the current climate. He was known for promoting a healthy work life balance. 

Spurrier would have been awesome to work for. Someone that smart and revolutionary and has a helluva system in place. Dream job. Similar to Saban.

I think it was from Finebaum's book or maybe that SECN doc about Spurrier, but back in the late 90's Florida had a bye before the Tennessee game I believe and Spurrier took his coaching staff over to Daytona Beach (or someplace similar) for the day. While they were out on the beach, he asked one of his assistants, "You think the staff at Tennessee if doing this today?" Always stuck with me.

[woodford 3,678]

1 hour ago, jj3jordan said:

Karma beat us that game. When Tre Mason score to take the lead, he momentarily adopted the Heisman pose in the back of the end zone. That is when I knew we would lose. He taunted the real Heisman guy and sure enough he made us pay. Karma. We were toast. Although I thought the last play had a chance also.

He was excited.

"Karma?" lol their quarterback was Jamies Winston! Karma must have taken the season off.

[gman87 398]

I think winning MNC #2 within 3 years would have opened up recruiting a good bit, maybe even carried us through 2014 & 2015 with more a killer instinct. Never forget the MS St game in 2014 when we went down 21 points in what, the first 5 minutes? Down 21+ and Gus was kicking field goals....that was the beginning of the end. Win there and worst case we are a 1- 2 loss team in 2014 which continues to carry momentum in recruiting and we don't suck so bad in 2015.

[AUFightingSoldiers 685]

The what ifs are fun after some time has passed. One of my favorites from the last decade is what if Russell Wilson chooses Auburn over Wisconsin and he's our starter in 2011. 

[AUstere 13]

Then we would have limited his playing time and he would have transferred somewhere like, let’s say “Liberty” and then be selected high in the NFL draft. 

[CameronCrazy 1,105]

Special teams lost that game for us - missed FG, not kicking the ball out of the end zone and allowing the kickoff return TD. But maybe the pivotal play was giving up the fake punt that allowed them to score right before the half and get back in the game.

[AUreo 753]

On 1/19/2022 at 11:25 AM, woodford said:

Since it's slow I wanted to bring this up, Little thought exercise.

I'm a big fan of alt/speculative history (ex, what if WWI never happened, what if Soviets discovered the bomb first, etc)

 

What if Jameis throws a pick on that final drive and Auburn wins 31-27? 

What do yall think? I'll share my thoughts soon.

 

Germany gets bombed instead of Japan, Cold War still happens… U.S. satellite scares the Soviets and the Russians land on the moon first. CCCP win the Miracle on Ice game vs USA in 1980 (except it’s not a miracle). Khrushchev famous words “tear down this wall” refer to the U.S.-Canadian border wall (which finally falls around 1990). Same year, United States of America renamed into “America”. U.S. troops (actually American troops) about to invade the Lone Star state instead of Russia threatening the Ukraine… is that how it works?

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by AUreo

[woodford 3,678]

7 minutes ago, AUreo said:

Germany gets bombed instead of Japan, Cold War still happens… U.S. satellite scares the Soviets and the Russians land on the moon first. CCCP win the Miracle on Ice game vs USA in 1980 (except it’s not a miracle). Khrushchev famous words “tear down this wall” refer to the U.S.-Canadian border wall (which finally falls around 1990). Same year, United States of America renamed into “America”. U.S. troops about to invade former U.S. state Texas instead of Russia threatening the Ukraine… is that how it works?

 

Saw a reddit post timeline about if USSR took over the world and it is absolutely terrifying lol

[Allen_D 72]

On 1/19/2022 at 1:46 PM, JMassie11 said:

He might have been able to recruit an offensive line and a WR with some size 🤷‍♂️

Showing kids a path to the NFL is recruiting.  That’s what they want (and the expectations of $ with it).  

Last staff was losing  the track record of putting many guys (specifically OL) in “the league”, gets used against us, heck watch opponents games “team x continues to put … in the league”.  
 

Thankfully we’re on a bit of a trend that way with DBs.  Need to fix that for everywhere else.