POSTGAME
— That … what do you say about that? Craziest, nutzoidest, most back-and-forth game Auburn’s played in ages. I’m spent. Utterly spent. I barely even screamed when Thorpe drove the NU ball-carrier out-of-bounds, I was so sure something else was going to give the ‘Cats a 15th chance. Insane. Fun, in a lot of ways–we’re going to be talking about this one for a long, long time, that much is certain–but insane.
— Just when I couldn’t be any more frustrated with Auburn’s offense or more disappointed in Gus Malzahn, voila: back-to-back scoring drives and a 14-point fourth-quarter lead. This game was so, so close to becoming another gut punch; when the offense absolutely, positively had to get off the deck and give their team a chance to win, it did. 28 points and 400-plus yards with this group of players against a BCS-conference defense … I’ll take that every time.
— What a freaking incredible play by Thorpe on the final snap. He should have been blocked. It should have been a touchdown. Auburn should have lost. But he made the play. After dropping back into coverage for 78 different pass attempts and staying on the field for a bunch of special teams plays on top of it.
— Which is why, even after looking at Kafka’s gaudy final stat line–47-78, 532 yards–the secondary deserves the game ball. It wasn’t just McFadden and Thorpe–T’Sharvan Bell (!!!) had two massive picks. Daren Bates was all over the place. Demond Washington did everything we could have asked of him (save, of course, not fumbling the ball on Auburn’s final possession of regulation). Drew Cole was on the field for overtime and made a nice open-field tackle. In the end, for all his yards, Kafka wasn’t particularly threatening–6.8 yards per-attempt, and if you take away the 66-yard run by Dunsmore, it’s a lot less than that–and those picks were the difference in even getting Auburn to overtime. Huge game by that unit.
— The fumble by Tate sucked. Sucked. The game should have been over. But every now and again, it happens. Whatever. I might be able to deal.
The dunk, however, was one of the most selfish things I can remember an Auburn player doing. It’s one thing for an excitable player to get a little overexcited, a la McFadden, even if the glaring lack of discipline from one of your senior leaders is beyond disappointing. But to consciously go through with a celebration like that that you know beyond all doubt will cost your team 15 yards, just because “hey, the game’s won, I’ve always wanted to do this, screw it” … that’s horrible. Horrible. I’d have preferred to see him sit the rest of the game.
— Still: I’m glad he gets to walk off the field one final time a winner. I’m even gladder for Coleman, Todd, Ricks, McFadden, McCain (who did an excellent job on Wootton) and all the rest. That’s really the biggest positive out of this game: those seniors get to remember their final game fondly, and as something other than a third consecutive kick in the balls.
— More heroes: Darvin Adams, and his 12 catches for 142 yards (take THAT, All-SEC voters); Coleman, whose blocked extra point I think screwed just enough with Demos’s head to force the regulation-ending miss; and Gabe McKenzie, who celebrated his final appearance with a sack and plenty of other positive contributions when NU’s huge play-glut–they ran 115 plays to Auburn’s 72!–meant Auburn had to get something from their second string.
— Your final tally on the first season of the Gene Chizik era: 8-5, two big, big wins over nonconference opponents, a win on New Year’s Day, just about the best possible performance vs. the Tide, wins over two upper-half SEC teams … yessir, I will take it.
— Do take a second–just a second–to feel some sympathy for Northwestern. This was the biggest game of their season, just as last year’s bowl game was the biggest game of that season. Both times they arguably outplayed their opponents and had their chances to win both in regulation and in OT; both times they lost. That is an extremely well-coached team that very obviously gets the absolute most out of its talent, and I tip my cap to them.
— And finally: War Eagle. I’m going to take the rest of the day to process whatever the hell just happened and watch the rest of a mouth-watering slate of bowl games, then be back tomorrow with some more big- and small-picture thoughts.
It’s worth saying again: War. Damn. EAGLE.
HALFTIME
— Hard to describe how big that T’Sharvan Bell interception is, isn’t it? Instead of a 14-point swing and Northwestern going into the half with all the momentum, Auburn’s still two solid touchdowns up and will get the ball first to start the second half. Auburn could easily be up more than those two scores, but at this point you have to say the ‘Cats could be even more easily 7 points closer or even tied.
— Walt McFadden is the freaking man, man. What the ESPN crew (who I think has actually been pretty good today) failed to mention when discussing whether he should have been out there for the last NU drive was that Auburn just doesn’t have anyone to replace him. If Bell, Hood, and Washington are already on the field … who’s on the sideline?
— I don’t think I’m worried about Auburn’s offense, because if they’ll ever quit shooting themselves in the foot–a la Todd’s poor throw on the 4th-down play to Adams (more on this in a sec), Eddins’ dreadfully stupid tripping penalty (singlehandedly ending a promising drive that had already crossed midfield is not the way to start making your case for a starting job in ’10, Bart), the Kodi pick–they’re going to put some serious points on the board. Northwestern hasn’t done much themselves to stop the Spread Eagle, so if the kinks get worked out …
— About the Adams fourth-down play: it’s a terrible, terrible call, obviously. But I’m not going to complain that much, for two reasons: 1. the replay booth provided the critical game-altering reversal in the Ole Miss game, so Auburn was due for one of these kinds of bonings 2. that just made it Auburn’s turn to get a hand from the officials, which they got by letting Carr’s rather obvious push-off go uncalled.
For the record, I’d rather see a play like that go flagless on general principle. But I’ve also seen that play called a million times. Kudos to Carr for the play, but Auburn also caught a break there. A breaks they deserved after the Adams screw-job, of course, but a break nonetheless.
— 288 total yards allowed in the first half. Holy crap. Three different Auburn drives that crossed midfield totaling zero points. Also holy crap. Again: maybe Auburn ought to be only a few points up, but maybe they also ought to be a few more points ahead. Weird half.
— Bottom line: I think, as I did ahead of time, that Auburn’s got the better all-around team despite the yardage mismatch. If they play like it in the second half, they win. See you post-game.
PREGAME
— Mountain Time. 11 a.m. Eastern kickoff. New Year’s. Ugh. Let’s do aim for the Cap One next year, shall we fellas?
— Hey, it’s raining this morning in Tampa. On the one hand, that ought to play into Auburn’s hands, since w’ere the team with the strong running game and they’re the team that can’t run their way out of a paper bag. On the other, way more chilling hand, that makes for a terrifying parallel between this game and the epic Bowden no-show against Penn State in the rain in ’95.
— I’ll admit that both teams going up-tempo should make for a hell of game. I’ve seen this game dinged as unexciting in more than a few places, but it should be close, fast-paced, well-coached … what else do people want?
— Back at halftime with some insta-analysis (and some coffee). Let’s go, Auburn. War Eagle!
I hate these Big 10 homer douchebag announcers more than I hate watching Auburn get outplayed by untalented nerd schools. This game is pissing me off in all new horrible ways.
Greatest football game of all time, am I wrong? WDE.
My life expectancy just dropped by about five years
My heart stopped a few times. Sloppy game, probably did everything we could to lose it, but somehow pulled it out. I’ll remember this one.
Is there any doubt that NW would have run the same 2-point play for the win if we hadn’t blocked that extra point earlier? They were Boise State v2.0 today.
Good win, sort of feel bad for NU, the deserved it as much as we did. Sort of got to the point that I just wanted it to be over. Sort of typical of our year-when we had a chance to put a team away, we rarely did.
And, if I hear the phrase “man killer” one more time…….
War Eagle, see ya’ll next summer…
JB
I’m happy with the win, however…
I am very concerned about the discipline instilled by these coaches. I really hope this is an anomoly…
Discipline schmiscipline. As a current student at Auburn, i love seeing the guys celebrate and i have no problem with the high stepping or the slam dunk. i’ve never understood why auburn fans have to be a bunch of buzz killingtons when it comes to celebrating
Agreed. I care nothing for unsportsmanlike penalties as long as you are kicking someone’s ass. When you are up by 30 then the time for dancing and making an ass of yrself is fun. Nothing was more entertaining than the 80s Hurricanes. That being said, the Tate penalty was just dumb.
Curious about something-noticed el Toro dancing on the field (in uniform) after the game, never played a play that I know of. What’s his story? Injured still? Out of graces?
JB
JB, he saw the field several times, but NU required Auburn to be in a nickel for nearly the entire game, and Toro’s the first LB off the field when the extra DB comes on.
Harrison, I’m with JRS: if that TD put Auburn up 28 or 35, I doubt I’d care. (Or if it didn’t cost Auburn 15 yards, of course.) But the game was still extremely in doubt at that point and when McFadden went in, and BOTH of those short kickoffs led directly to TDs. I’m all for celebrating once you get to the sideline, celebrating with your teammates, celebrating wherever and however the hell it doesn’t cost your team 15 yards. But I am NOT for celebrating that puts a victory in jeopardy, and that’s what Auburn did today.
Dave, very exciting, but too sloppy on Auburn’s part to be an all-time, top-notch classic in my book. But saying it was an unbelievable hell of a game … that’s the stone-cold truth.
Also, is it just me or does Malzahn do better on 3rd-and-long than 3rd-and-short?
Re: 3rd and long – Better,… so long as Darvin Adams is on the field. I think every clutch catch for a first down was his.
My new name for him? “Clutch Adams”
Sullivan013
Jerry I guess my point is that I think it is stupid that dunking the ball over the goal post or high stepping is a penalty, especially a 15 yarder. I just don’t understand, are we afraid of hurt feelings? But I guess you are right, the fact is that it is a penalty. If standing on the sideline and picking your nose is a penalty, then the players shouldn’t do that either. But I think all the no celebrating nonsense is crap. It’s like the powers that be want the players to play in tuxedos and use british accents or something.
And I also noticed (earlier in the year too) how we tend to suck more on 3rd and short. I think it is because in that situation, a run play is too obvious, but Todd just isn’t a good enough playmaker to really make something happen. I think Todd is one of those game-manager types, not a game-breaker. Darvin bailed him out a ton too with some, shall I say, daring over the middle catches.
I was embarrassed by the AU performance today in many ways. AU should have had 10 interceptions vs noodle arm Kafka who either dinked it over the middle, or tossed a floater up for grabs hoping for pass interference. They did actually drop a couple of easy picks one of which was an easy 6. The defense made dumb mistake after dumb mistake with face masks, roughing, late hits, etc… Not to mention the trash talking and post-whistle roughhousing after almost every play. Its no wonder the Big 11 stereotypes the SEC as mindless Thug Ball. If NW was trash talking or playing dirty I would be OK with it, but they were playing with no animosity and had a good attitude. Offensively, AU should have scored 50 vs one of the most suspect defenses in the NCAA. They shot themselves in the foot over an over. Playcalling by Malzahn was terrible in spots. The late 2nd quarter trick play was definitely a bad call. Also, Malzahn kept running the ball up the gut on first down over and over through the 3rd quarter. And after these plays gained no yeardage, he passed on 2nd and 3rd down. Seriously, I think this happened like 10 times during the 3rd quarter when AU should have put NW away. 4th quarter was much better. The fumbles when the game was basically over in the 4th quarter were horrible. However, Tate is known for fumbling in key spots, although this year he has been slightly better. The celebration penalties do not bother me AS much. The NCAA is way too strict with celebrations, and I think the NFL rules would suffice. Discipline has been a problem with this team all year…whether it be presnap false starts or defensive personal fouls and face masks. I am hoping that this gets cleaned up for next season as it pains me to see mental errors. As a former student I want a team I can be proud of, and I was hoping for a more disciplined performance without the thuggery. And don’t get me started on Cam Newton. Seriously can we let a thief who was kicked out of Thug U be the QB of the AU Tigers, the face of our franchise so to speak? If it was a D-lineman or a RB so be it, but the QB? Anyone that would steal a laptop has a flawed brain and the QB position takes leadership and smarts. Cam Newton reeks of Ryan Perrilloux. I know this is a lot of negativity for a win, but I was very disappointed in the team today overall, especially discipline. Hope next season will show much more improvement in all facets. And if I am wrong on Cam Newton and he leads the Tigers to an SEC championship in Tebowesque fashion I will eat my words. WDE.
And one more thing…
Were the AU fans actually booing the injured kicker or was that NW fans?
Booing the kicker – I think the fans thought the personal foul was over zealous officiating, and the kicker was acting which was certainly not the case. It did make the fans look like boneheads, but the entire team represented themselves that way. I think the fans were following suit.
I thought they were booing the refs when I heard it
It was the announcing that killed me. It was like “man beater” was on their 2010 Football Phrase of the Day Calendar that they got for Christmas. Also, the sideline reporter was HORRIBLE. “They say that tragedy equals comedy …” was one head-scratching instance. Not listening at all to Chizik in the postgame interview was another.
Chizik: “… I thought we beat them twice. …”
Sideline reporter: “How many times did you think that you had beat them?
Chizik: “Uh … two times.”
Amateur hour yo.
I was at the game. We were booing what we saw as really poor officiating. We thought we had won the game twice at that point.
I’m fairly certain the booing was directed towards the refs, who had kept the game alive for the ‘Cats for the third time in 10 minutes.
JM, that’s Rob Stone, and if that last bit wasn’t his finest hour, generally he brings a little personality and humor to the sideline role than most, so I’ll give him a pass for it. Plus he’s a soccer guy at heart.
Homer, yes, you’re being way too negative for a win. “Discipline” was a major problem yesterday, certainly, in a lot of ways, but penalties have been a problem all season. (Not that some of them couldn’t be forgiven–Fairley’s facemask, for instance, which was just bad luck.) If they’re still this kind of a problem next year, then it’s time to call it “embarrassing,” but no, I don’t see any way a victory over a solid 8-win Big 10 team is an embarrassment. I mean, c’mon–they picked off FIVE passes and that’s not enough for you? The offense put up 28 points and 400-plus yards against a Big 10 defense–not a great one, sure, but Ball St. it ain’t–and that’s cause to rip Malzahn a new one? Sorry, not following you.
Harrison, I’ll readily agree that the celebration rules are too strict. But dunking on the field goal posts up just two scores late in a bowl game isn’t the smartest way to protest, I’ll put it that way.
And FYI, today’s knee-jerk is delayed. it’ll be around late this afternoon.