Shit just happened. Just below what I'm typing. No, look down. Read what Kevin Skrabdinski wrote.
You expect fans to buy into any myth or misperception that might ease the sting of an epically painful defeat. You don't expect that kind of thing from opposing coaches, especially an opposing coach who wasn't even involved in the game.
For reasons known only to him, Jimbo Fisher decided Monday to revisit the 2013 Iron Bowl. Perhaps he was trying to deflect attention away from a second defeat for his Florida State team in three weeks or explain a run of horrendous defensive performances by the Seminoles.
In any case, Fisher managed to cast aspersions on one of the biggest victories in Auburn history. Worst of all, he was wrong, and he owes Gus Malzahn and Auburn an apology.
In complaining about the advantages offenses enjoy today within the rules, Fisher focused on Auburn's pop pass touchdown from Nick Marshall to Sammie Coates in the final minute of that 2013 Iron Bowl.
"When we played Auburn for the national championship, they had a lineman 7 yards down the field on the pass they threw that tied it up before the Kick 6," Fisher said. "They would never have been there. It should've been illegal."
Not so fast. Not even close.
On heels of loss to North Carolina, Seminoles rank No. 11 out of 14 ACC teams in total defense, with FSU allowing 438 yards per game.
That pop pass was a play brilliant in its design and execution. After Auburn handed the ball to Tre Mason on the first six plays of the drive, Marshall pulled the ball back from Mason on a read option and rolled left with the ball tucked in his left arm. When cornerback Cyrus Jones and safety HaHa Clinton-Dix both rolled up to tackle Marshall, the quarterback switched the ball to his right hand and flipped it to a wide-open Coates, who could've walked into the end zone to complete the 39-yard touchdown pass.
Two myths were born in the aftermath, one of which Fisher resurrected, and both were wrong. One said Marshall had crossed the line of scrimmage before he released the pass. He hadn't. The other said Auburn linemen were more than 3 yards downfield, which is the limit under the rules on a pass play. They weren't.
A review of the video shows center Reese Dismukes and guard Alex Kozan at the 36-yard line when Marshall releases the ball - a legal 3 yards ahead of the line of scrimmage at the 39. Pause the video below at the 1:22 mark to see for yourself.
I'M RETARDED. THE VIDEO DIDN'T COME WITH MY COPY/PASTA. YOU'VE SEEN IT, THOUGH. IF YOU HAVEN'T, YOU'RE RETARDED.
That play tied the game to set up the Kick Six, which gave Auburn a 34-28 win and the SEC West title while denying Alabama a shot at its third straight national championship.
So Fisher's argument was factually incorrect, but there are other problems with his line of thinking when he said that play "cost Alabama a national championship."
Again, he's playing fast and loose with the truth.
That play didn't end the game. It merely tied it. Nick Saban could've had AJ McCarron take a knee to go to overtime. Instead Saban went for the win, and Alabama had enough time left to move into decision range.
Saban could've elected to have McCarron throw a Hail Mary on the final play of regulation, but he called for a field goal, which Adam Griffith could've made.
Instead the kick was short, and Chris Davis returned it 109 yards to make history. As big as the pop pass may have been, it was just one in a series of moments that decided the game in Auburn's favor.
Gus Malzahn didn't have much to say in response to Jimbo Fisher's comments about offenses, specifically Auburn, using "illegal" tactics with offensive linemen downfield blocking on passing plays.
Besides, had Alabama found a way to win in regulation or overtime, no one would've handed Saban the crystal football in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Crimson Tide would've faced Missouri in the SEC Championship Game. Had they won there, guess who they would've met in the BCS Championship Game.
By foolishly stating that Auburn's pop pass "cost Alabama a national championship," Fisher's failed attempt at logic suggests the Crimson Tide would've beaten his Seminoles in the title game.
That sentence alone tells you he didn't think through his point before making it, but it's one thing to inadvertently diss your own team. It's far worse to disparage another team's victory by getting your facts flat wrong.
That calls for an apology, but Malzahn probably shouldn't hold his breath.
Fisher probably should stick to coaching his own team. At 7-5 in his last 12 games, he no doubt has plenty of issues in his own house.
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