Updating throughout the day. Linking, linking, linking and random thoughts from TWER’s contributors. War Eagle!
[ETERNITY CST] See ya’ at Toomer’s.
Let’s War Eagle forever.
[Sometime CST] John’s final chart:
[9:36 p.m. CST] John’s chart for the first half… who KNOWS what it would like if we weren’t playing the game on Oregon-grown Slip’n’Slide Turf [click to enlarge]:
[5 p.m. CST] This will be my final post for the evening. (Some other writer might check in though. John might have some halftime statistics/diagrams for us to pour over. So check out this space from time to time.) I don’t know about you but I am YAHHHA HAHAHA CRAZY WITH ANTICIPATION right about now. And very, very very nervous. Thanks for checking in on the gameday posts this very special season. It’s been a blast. It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger! (Mostly because you usually are surrounded by other Auburn Tigers!) Anyway, on with another round of photography! And let’s beat those Ducks tonight! [– J.M.]
[4 p.m. CST] It’s Miller time on the East Coast. My celebration begins now! Speaking of celebration, here’s some photos from one Grace Byrd Moss aka Twitter’s #auburnwarriorprincess that she took at last night’s Charles Barkley pregame party.
… more coming in a little bit.
[3:45 p.m. CST] Sneak preview? Definitely. Jinx? Possibly. But here it is anyway. Send your angry letters to Jer.
I’m partial to the navy blue myself. [– J.M.]
[3:35 p.m. CST] Four hours left?!?!? Aaaack! Have I worried enough? We’ve got some more photos from Van coming. And another set of photos from Charles Barkley’s party last night. Sadly, the photos are “safe for work.” And Jeremy sends this video and text:
Auburn fans give their thoughts on cancellations and celebrations on Championship Eve
A potentially crippling winter storm cast a surreal shadow over the football watching plans of the Loveliest Village of the Plains yesterday.
Those who stayed put for the BCS National Championship game, as well as the thousands of Auburn fans who drove in for the viewing party in Auburn Arena (which the university canceled Saturday night) were faced with the possibility of power outages… and no TV.
[3:15 p.m. CST] Photos from one of TWER’s Men on the Scene (Van, aka One-Half Wishbone) pour in! I’ll post them here as fast as I can!
[12:45 p.m. CST] Wow. 38-35 Ducks is a popular pick with the experts at Rivals.com. (Note to my heart: Hang in there buddy. We can do this tonight.)
Terry Henley sits down with The Daily Home and talks about the national championship game tonight, Cam Newton and Iron Bowls:
Henley said that he would like to think he had played in the greatest Iron Bowl ever; one that came to be known as “Punt Bama Punt.” … However, he admits that this year’s Alabama and Auburn game was the greatest Iron Bowl victory ever. He said Auburn was able to come back because of an “excellent coaching job at halftime.”
Strong “greatest” endorsement by Henley! [– J.M.]
[12:15 p.m. CST] As Steve Miller crooned and as I mash a couple of his lyrics: “Big ol’ jet airliner … fly like an eagle … to the … um … desert?” al.com reports that flights have resumed out of Birmingham! Too late? I dunno.
Walt checks in below. The gang’s all here!!!!
Justin has a FANTASTICAL preview up on the site now. Go there. [– J.M.]
[10:40 a.m. CST] After all that waiting for today, time is moving at an impressive clip right now. Nerves can’t seem to keep up. My mind screams, “Are they ready?!?! Are YOU ready?!?”
What kind of duck is everyone eating tonight? My group of gameday friends in D.C. is ordering delivery Thai duck for the game. Anyone out there have an impressive recipe/story to share? [– J.M.]
[10:35 a.m. CST] al.com reports that flights out of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport might resume at noon today. Keep your fingers crossed. It’s going to cut it close for some Auburn fans that might (or might not) actually have tickets to the game tonight. [– J.M.]
[9:45 a.m. CST] Two schools! Two winged warriors! A feathered fight to the death!
[8:45 a.m. CST] I still find it surreal. My mind just shut down at the beginning of the second quarter of the Iron Bowl. And everything after that has been dreamlike. Is this real? My wife and I have watched the Iron Bowl about seven times now on CBSC just to make sure it happened. Somehow our Tigers overcame.
There was a juncture in that game. I think that something happened … a shift in realities. The gods of the gridiron thought they’d be practical jokers. It was the McElroys dancing in the stands (I use “dancing” loosely here). That’s the point. The low point. The lowest of the low point for me. I felt sick. I was afraid. I had doubts. I seethed.
Now, it’s my favorite point of this season. How? HOW did the Tigers escape and win the Iron Bowl and win the SEC championship and win awards and now this? What feels like 293 days after the SEC championship game, our team is ready to take the country by storm tonight.
It is a long time coming. Read the words of Jerry. Kenny. Ben and the Wishbone. And John (I’m with his dad on the exhaustion of this year). Just a few voices of hundreds of thousands … millions? … of Auburn fans out there today waiting for destiny. Will our Tigers overcome again? Is there a tighter team on the planet right now? I mean, tight like brothers from coaches to players? I doubt it. You can’t break their spirit. You can’t beat ’em down. That’s our biggest strength: Auburn spirit. That orange-and-blue X-factor. That’s what the Oregon Ducks will be unable to beat tonight. [– J.M.]
Glad they finally called it. I was SCREAMING for it here.
Ah, it was Carter, not Eguae.
Come on, D. Big 3rd down here. But Kelly is liekly to go for it.
Good defense, there. Excellent pressure.
EXCELLENT defensive stand, there. Come on, Tigers. Let’s step on their throats here. Watch some retaliation by their D, though, for Fairley.
I like this, let’s kill some clock. Wish he would have handed that to O-Mac, though. We need this 1st Down.
Damn, he had Darvin WIDE open. CRAP!
Shoemaker’s punts have been excellent, tonight. We need the D to get another big stop, here.
Come on, Tigers. Don’t let them get the running game going.
Come on, Zac, get up. We don’t need to lose him. Great stop, though. Watch a fake.
Damn it, I knew it.
Come on, hold ’em to 3.
Big, big, BIG 4th down, here.
DEFENSE!!! DEFENSE!!! DEFENSE!!!
First down for the SWEDE KILLA
Come on, Lee. First holding call in a LONG time.
GOD2ILLA. Way to make up for that penalty.
4th quarter….he we go, ya’ll…
If nothing else, we’re definitely killing the clock. Going to the 4th with an 8 point lead, the O-line pushing, the D playing lights out except for giving up some big plays. 15 more minutes, Tigers. Just 15 more. Let’s finish this.
Dyer looking good. Excellent choice by Cam to throw that away.
Did not want to use that time out, there. Better that than the penalty, though.
Dyer and OL taking over
Anybody else thought about the surface? We’re used to playing on natural grass, but the boys are on turf right now. Wrong cleats?
It’s natural grass, even though it’s in a dome. But it’s a new surface; planted since the Fiesta Bowl.
Wow our defense is playing lights out. Come on, Tigers!!!!!
Ah, okay. Well, it’s Cam time. Please.
Let’s go back to Dyer; I don’t know that the speed sweeps will work.
Defense doing their job. Offense needs one more score at least
Oh crap.
GOD2ILLA!!!! Musberger saying “Cam gets up slowly.” Brent… he always does that. He always lays there for a bit.
Dang. Cam will make any would be tacklers pay.
GREAT play by Fannin! Especially the falling before they could strip the ball, LOL
Hey, it’s Mario!
3rd and long, here. We need points. We need to make this a 2 score game!!! I think a 2 score lead and it’s over.
CRAP. Come on, Tigers. Our offense can’t keep giving it back to them.
3rd and long, come on D!
Come on, Tigers. D is playing great except for a few plays.
CARTER AND FAIRLEY!!!! WHAT A STUFF!!!
WOW, the defense is playing better than I ever could have hoped. Come on, Tigers. A TD here could seal it. Let’s drive down and score!!!
Cam is in pain. Come on, GOD2ILLA. Just 5 more minutes. You can do it.
Oh crap, that was bad. Come on, D. We need you now more than ever.
Josh, you’ve got to bring that INT down.
Words can’t describe how big this play is.
I’m going to have a heartattack before this game is over, I’m convinced.
Come on, D. Come on. Hold ’em.
That timeout could be HUGE, too.
They burned a lot of clock right there.
Shit. Come on, stop ’em on the 2 points. Then we HAVE to score. Their offense is WAY too prolific to give them ANY time.
Well shit. Come on, Tigers. Cam, it’s up to you, now.
Are you KIDDING me!? DYER!