Is Auburn the new Ole Miss? Or perhaps a comparison is poor rhetoric - Is Auburn just an average, or maybe even, shit SEC program compared to the Joneses right now? Looking at the PastIn a different thread, Kaos said this:
As prickly as Tuberville was, ten years straight we were competitive every year. Like Dye he brain farted a game or two a year, losses that maybe kept us from being what we could have been.
That consistency seems, to me, to be better than the ridiculous highs and puzzling lows we're experiencing the last seven.
There's something to his comment, and I'm trying to put my finger on it. It's an argument that resides in the heart of this fact: We were a better program under Tuberville than we are now.
As someone who has only recently felt the wetness of his feet concerning Auburn football - currently experiencing his 13th season as a fan - I have definitely begun to understand that what we had in Tuberville's era was different than what we have now. It was very safe watching Auburn football for the most part. We would have a salty defense, a strong running game, and a passing game that was about as exciting as watching paint dry.
I used to
know we would win or lose after watching the team play in the 1st quarter. Is the running game pushing the line of scrimmage? Defense making stops at the line of scrimmage? Quarterback hitting a few play action passes?
We win.
Even in big close games, I typically knew we had it in the bag. How many times did the opposing team in a big game have the ball with the chance to drive the field to tie or win or make it competitive at the end of the 4th? And how many times did those games end with an interception, fumble recovery, or turnover on downs?
Quite a few.
In games where the running game wasn't working? Quarterback wasn't throwing the ball well?
We probably lose. But not by much.
In 2003, it was considered an abomination of a season. The opening two games were some of the worst losses in Auburn history if you ask fans. But were they? Were you really THAT embarrassed watching it?
Sluggish. Frustrating. Sure.
USC came into Jordan Hare and BLEW US OUT. By definition, sure. Shut out at home. 23 point deficit.
It was 10-0 at halftime. 16-0 at the start of the 4th. We held USC to just over 300 yards of total offense. They didn't run or throw all over us like you might remember they did. They didn't even have a 100 yard rusher.
Even that Georgia Tech game was only 10-3 at halftime.
The losses, even the bad ones, felt different. Because they were different. You didn't have an entire stadium having a four hour orgasm that was prepped a week in advance because they knew they would just run track sprints on us while embarrassing our players.
But back to the 2003 season - even though we stunk it up early (at least, on one side of the ball), we still upset two ten ranked teams in Arkansas and Tennessee. We also beat Wisconsin in our bowl game.
In 2006 we could have played for the BCS championship game if we hadn't let Arkansas blow us out. But go back and look at that blowout. It was bad. Was it that bad?
It was 17-10 at halftime. Their offense didn't eclipse the 400 yard mark. Take away a freak trick play and one long busted run by McFadden, and does Arkansas even win?
Consider 2008, Tuberville's worst season. While I hated losing so many games, I only remember feeling downright embarrassed twice. The 2nd half of the West Virginia game and the Iron Bowl. We were one score away from winning five games that year. I mean, honestly, if we had kept the same ole Al Borges boring play calling, is that a 10-2 season? Could he have not gotten us one more score in each game considering Tony Franklin was the worst OC hire of all time and firing him midseason only made the offense worse?
tl;dr - Tuberville's era was a dominant one. We could have won every game we were in. The overwhelming majority of the ones we lost were due to sluggish play by the offense. Even if we were "getting blown out," the team was still in contention to win late in the game. You typically knew what to expect from the Auburn Tigers week in and week out from the year 1999 until 2008, and your expectations were typically met. Why was that?Obviously recruiting plays a big part, but I think Tuberville's knack was developing players. How many times did we hear about diamonds in the rough?
It was dead-on accurate.
Because Tommy Tuberville and his coaching staff could develop guys to be competitive SEC-caliber football players. Even Tuberville's softest teams were stout compared to what we're seeing now.
Alabama fans like to say that Tuberville was able to have so much success because they were "down." Their sanctions kept them from recruiting well, which killed their ability to actually be competitive. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps not.
Maybe I don't know what it was about Tuberville's teams that made them so consistent and good. But I'm longing for bitching about the offense only getting 300 yards of offense instead of bitching about players playing leap frog instead of tackling.
Anyone know the answer?
tl;dr - I don't know why Tuberville's teams were so good. Anyone know? He didn't dominate recruiting. He let some 5 stars go to Bustville. They actually weren't that great considering he let a few championship-caliber teams underperform in meaningful games. Yet he always had them back fighting, looking like the same ole Tuberville teams he always has. Where are we?The true point of this post - Where the hell are we?
Who are we?
We have no identity. I think that's what this writing exercise has led me to. We have no identity because of something no Auburn fan has maybe considered or if they have, hasn't wanted to discuss or admit:
Two great seasons have made us think we're better than we are.
We are since 2009:
2-5 against LSU (3 losses as blowouts)
2-4 against Georgia (3 losses as blowouts)
2-4 against Alabama (2 losses as blowouts)
We've blown out LSU once. The other five wins against our main rivals have been absolute dogfights for us to get a victory.
That's not to even mention that our record is rather shitty against these teams going further back:
2-8 against LSU over the last ten meetings.
3-7 against Georgia over the last ten meetings.
5-5 against Alabama over the last ten meetings (which kinda supports their "we were down" argument considering we didn't really beat the other big dogs of the conference).
There's something else here, though. What is it? What is it?
In 2010, we had what I believe was the GOAT football player. I would not pick anyone over Cam Newton if I was starting a team. He'd be my first choice over Bo, Herschel, Tebow, Manziel, Flutie, whoever.
In 2010, we could have and should have lost to Miss State and Clemson. This isn't to say that the close games could have gone either way - no, we should have lost those football games. Both games the opposing team had wide open players to give us the loss that dropped the ball.
In 2010, we could have lost to South Carolina, Kentucky, and Alabama. All three of those games needed Herculean performances that lasted late into the 4th quarter.
In 2011, we nearly lost to Utah State and Miss State. Also that year, we got blown out by Georgia, LSU, and Alabama. Gave Dabo Sweeney a good time in Clemson.
In 2012, it was the worst season of all time for any SEC team in history. Utter shit, and oh yeah, could have lost to LA Monroe.
In 2013, we were a good football team, but let's be honest, we struggled with Washington State and Mississippi State. We also needed a miraculous play to beat Georgia.
In 2014, we nearly lost to Kansas State and South Carolina. We were curb stomped by Georgia.
I don't know where I'm really going with this. Here's the overall point:
tl;dr - With Tuberville, we were two steps away on offense from being a perennial championship caliber team that competed with and often defeated our rivals. We KNEW it every year.
With post-Tuberville, we ARE two steps away as a whole team from being a lower tier SEC program. Every game, I sit and wait to see what LSU did to us last Saturday. Just about every game, the other team will run all over us or pass the ball. We'll miss tackles. We'll make mistakes. If our offense can keep up? Great. It'll be an exciting game to the finish even if it's against a god damn FCS team. If our offense is sputtering at all? Embarrassing blowout that tarnishes the program's reputation.
And that's it. I literally have just been typing and thinking this through, but I've finally reached what I wanted to say. We're the new Ole Miss. I think this is what Ole Miss has felt like since Cutliffe was there. When they're bad, it's REALLY bad and embarrassing. When they're good, they almost could have been bad.
Only difference is that we've been lucky to squeeze out two seasons to make us feel better about ourselves.
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