Auburn's date with Florida State, history is here

[Saniflush]

PASADENA, California -- History is here.

The game plan has finalized, the stage is set and now all Auburn has to do is win the BCS Championship.

This date with history is not that simple, but when has it been easy for the Tigers this season?

"I'm trying my best to enjoy the moment, but the bottom line is we've got a job to do, and as a coach your responsibility is to have your team as prepared as possible and to stay in that routine," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said on the eve of the championship game. "In this setting this week, obviously, that's a challenge. But our team and our coaches have done that all year, and I feel so far up to this point as a group we've done that."

No. 2 Auburn (12-1) can cap an improbable turnaround season in historic fashion at the Rose Bowl today (7:30 p.m., ESPN) against No. 1 Florida State (13-0), a team so good, statistics and superlatives don't quite encapsulate the Seminoles' dominant run this season.

No team has challenged the Seminoles, who are led by a strong-armed Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback and the nation's top defense. They win games with ease and a plethora of style points, with the average scoring margin of 38.5 points.

"We're looking for a football game," Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said. "We're not looking for a game that we go out there and blow everybody out. There's nothing wrong with blowing everybody out, but we're looking for a football game and we expect Auburn to give us one."

Auburn enters as the underdog, too, against a familiar opponent providing a familiar storyline for the Tigers, who needed incredible, last-gasp plays in the final seconds against Georgia and Alabama to reach the SEC Championship and eventually the BCS Championship Game for the second time in four years.

A win here for Auburn would be an unprecedented feat, one in which would cap the final chapter in a book packed full of amazing moments for the surprising and surging Tigers.

The question is whether Auburn can stick to the script by staying within striking distance of the Seminoles before slamming the door in the fourth quarter.

"It's like Coach Malzahn said," quarterback Nick Marshall said. "At the end of the game we're going to find a way to win. We have been doing that the whole year."

The Tigers have seemingly added feathers in their cap with each passing week. They can do much more than that tonight against a team some have compared to the greatest teams in the last 20 years.

"I still think our best game is out there," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said.

Confidence is not in short supply for either team, and neither is the opportunity at making history. Auburn and FSU are both playing for its third national championship.

A victory for Auburn will make it the first in NCAA history to defeat three top 5 teams in as many games while also securing sole ownership of the greatest turnaround in college football history -- and, arguably, the greatest rebound in sports history.

Malzahn's hiring one year ago provided the Tigers the spark they needed. He promised players they would put together the greatest turnaround in college football history, and so far he has delivered.

A team fractured after a 3-9 season needed some TLC and a fresh start. Malzahn provided the Tigers that and so much more thanks to a game-changer at quarterback, a downhill running attack and an opportunistic defense that gives up plenty of yards but thrives in pressure situations.

The secret to the success might be intangible.

"We started to win football games, and when you win football games, your team comes together," said center Reese Dismukes. "And it's just a lot easier to be successful."

Auburn's singular focus has led it here, too. The Tigers have blocked outside distractions while using the disappointment in 2012 as motivation, but they have not paused to reflect on their remarkable season and their accomplishments.

For a moment, however, Malzahn and the Tigers will realize just how big this moment is for the program -- and college football -- before the sun sets in Pasadena.

The former high school coach, with several of his former high school colleagues in the stands, has traveled a long way to get here. He's come a long way from the day he drove a small, beat-up red car from Hughes, Ark., to Little Rock to watch a state championship game and daydream of one day coaching for a championship in the early 1990s.

Twenty years later Malzahn can reach the summit of college football.

Malzahn's brief moment of reflection will arrive when he walks on the field with roughly 90 minutes before kickoff. The coach will wander the field alone, turning his head side to side as he scans the yard-markers.

He'll slowly walk toward the end zone from the 40-yard line, stopping every few yards to lift his head and eyes. Each time he lifts his head he will look to the end zone, "landmarking" situational plays as he contemplates his potential decisions later that night.

"When you first go out there on the field, you get the environment around you and you're able to reflect a little bit," Malzahn said. "And then when you go back out there for real, you've got to flip the switch and get your mind on your business and don't let anything distract you."

History awaits.

[WiregrassTiger]

Has anyone heard from Buzz or AUChizad on what the gay bars are like in Pasadena?

[Saniflush]

Has anyone heard from Buzz or AUChizad on what the gay bars are like in Pasadena?

I imagine they are still there....I've heard those bars stay open around the cock.

[AUJarhead]

Buzz got stuck in Dallas.  GF and I pick him up at the airport around 9am.

[Saniflush]

Buzz got stuck in Dallas.  GF and I pick him up at the airport around 9am.

This is the part where I point and laugh.....I bet Wade has been flipping the fuck out.

[AUJarhead]

This is the part where I point and laugh.....I bet Wade has been flipping the fuck out.

It was so bad he took us to a casino that had War and Rock, Scissors, Paper.

[Saniflush]

It was so bad he took us to a casino that had War and Rock, Scissors, Paper.

Clark, they play some different games here.

[War Eagle!!!]

This is the part where I point and laugh.....I bet Wade has been flipping the fuck out.

You have no idea...I was pissed at one time yesterday. But it's all good now! I will be all up in the stadium in a couple of hours...

[GH2001]

You have no idea...I was pissed at one time yesterday. But it's all good now! I will be all up in the stadium in a couple of hours...

I really really hate you.

[WiregrassTiger]

You have no idea...I was pissed at one time yesterday. But it's all good now! I will be all up in the stadium in a couple of hours...

Are you familiar with the letter F and the letter U? No, srsly, I'm happy for all that are there. But, if it doesn't go our way, there will be accountability measures taken.

[Tiger Wench]

Are you familiar with the letter F and the letter U? No, srsly, I'm happy for all that are there. But, if it doesn't go our way, there will be accountability measures taken.

THIS^^^^^

[Saniflush]

The way I see it is if it doesn't go our way it's on all of you.  You know that when the Chief and I have been at games together we are undefeated.  Yall could have flown us out and bought us tickets to ensure the win but you went all chinsey.

[Pell City Tiger]

The way I see it is if it doesn't go our way it's on all of you.  You know that when the Chief and I have been at games together we are undefeated.  Yall could have flown us out and bought us tickets to ensure the win but you went all chinsey.

Hell yes! IF Auburn comes up short tonight, I say we track them down and whip the shit out of them.

[Tiger Wench]

If I were tuning in for the very first time, that team playing FSU ain't got a snowball's chance in hell.

[dallaswareagle]

If I were tuning in for the very first time, that team playing FSU ain't got a snowball's chance in hell.

We don't, just ask (fill in whomever)

[AUJarhead]

Hell yes! IF Auburn comes up short tonight, I say we track them down and whip the shit out of them.

I blame all of the bad things that happened yesterday squarely on the shoulders of this guy:



So GF and I head to the airport to pick up Buzz, and he tells us which bag claim door he's at.  We see him, and the car in front of me is stopped, and for me to pull into loading/unloading lane, it would be about 100 feet, GF yells for Buzz to hop in.  Buzz opens the door, and that's when Ponch comes running up to us, telling me to pull over into the loading zone.  While that's happening, Buzz is trying to throw his suitcase into the car when Ponch tells me, "Fine you don't want to pull over to let your buddy in the car, pull over for a ticket."

So Buzz hops in, and I pull over for CHIPS.

Guy asks for my license, proof of insurance, and car registration.  Guy looks at the AVIS documentation, and you could tell he didn't want to have to go through the hassle of writing a ticket for a rental car, and beings to lecture me about "stopping on a freeway" and would I do "this back home?"

He tells me it's a $650 ticket, and then adds as he points to Buzz, "Don't let your dumbass friends get you in trouble."

We pull out, and GF adds, "it's a damn good thing Sani isn't here, because we would all be in jail after he asked Ponch why he wasn't out putting drywall up right now."

[Saniflush]

I blame all of the bad things that happened yesterday squarely on the shoulders of this guy:



So GF and I head to the airport to pick up Buzz, and he tells us which bag claim door he's at.  We see him, and the car in front of me is stopped, and for me to pull into loading/unloading lane, it would be about 100 feet, GF yells for Buzz to hop in.  Buzz opens the door, and that's when Ponch comes running up to us, telling me to pull over into the loading zone.  While that's happening, Buzz is trying to throw his suitcase into the car when Ponch tells me, "Fine you don't want to pull over to let your buddy in the car, pull over for a ticket."

So Buzz hops in, and I pull over for CHIPS.

Guy asks for my license, proof of insurance, and car registration.  Guy looks at the AVIS documentation, and you could tell he didn't want to have to go through the hassle of writing a ticket for a rental car, and beings to lecture me about "stopping on a freeway" and would I do "this back home?"

He tells me it's a $650 ticket, and then adds as he points to Buzz, "Don't let your dumbass friends get you in trouble."

We pull out, and GF adds, "it's a damn good thing Sani isn't here, because we would all be in jail after he asked Ponch why he wasn't out putting drywall up right now."

I resent this.
Everyone knows with the current state of building in the residential market that he would have been needed more to reshingle a current home

[Tiger Wench]

I resent this.
Everyone knows with the current state of building in the residential market that he would have been needed more to reshingle a current home

I disagree. With the recent drought in Texas ending, landscaping is where it's at.