Tide Fans –
I apologize for the lateness of this post, but quite honestly I just didn’t have the words. I am slowly coming out of my post Iron Bowl depression. I don’t know that is there is anything for me to say…I don’t have an explanation for what happened, or even a way to look at this loss and come away with anything positive. We lost a game we had won, and should have crushed Auburn into submission last Friday. Instead, we let them come back in record fashion and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I am pretty sure this has been one of the toughest losses for me to swallow…I think the entire Bama Nation feels the same.
Standing in my seat at Bryant-Denny in complete shock at what I had just witnessed, my wife and parents both asked me if I was ok, as I stared blankly at the field. I think they were concerned at the fact that I was non responsive and was rocking back and forth. The second I saw $cam Newton run around the field shushing the crowd I quickly snapped out of my trance and screamed a few choice words at him. I truly dislike him, his attitude, and everything about his rock star status at Auburn. I will have the last laugh though…when he bolts to the NFL, and Auburn is left to clean up the mess he and his father created…I will have the last laugh! I can’t say how his situation will all pan out, but I can tell you one thing…Auburn is going to look really stupid if any of these allegations are true. Auburn went “All In” for Cam and his family, and I personally think this has been one enormous bluff.
So, what happened? How did we give up a 24 point lead at our home stadium? Why did we not finish? There is no one answer…but there are several things you can point to. Dropped passes in the end zone, 2 fumbles inside the 20, and other things are key factors. We score on these plays and even if we play like we did in the second half I still think we win. We would have been so far ahead score wise, I honestly don’t think Auburn would have had enough time to catch up. Think about it…it could have easily been 42 – 7 at half. Ingram doesn’t fumble while streaking to the end zone, Trent catches a TD pass, and McElroy doesn’t fumble on the 10…that’s 3 more TD’s! I will stop now, because it just opens up more wounds…and I don’t need to re-visit these as my blood pressure rises just thinking about it. We beat ourselves…we gave them the game. Auburn only had about 3 successful plays that made the difference. Very similar to the LSU game…we dominated minus a few plays that made the difference.
A very frustrating game, that took us through a roller coaster of emotions…from absolute elation in the first half to disbelief and shock in the second. I will say, the crowd at Bryant-Denny was ridiculously loud at points…it was awesome! Even several of my Auburn acquaintances were commenting on how loud and awesome our stadium was. You can’t blame anything on the fans…we did our part!
I guess we will find out what bowl we play in this weekend…not that I really care. It will be fun to see how Auburn plays in the SEC Championship…can they keep the streak going, or did we give Spurrier enough ammunition to use against Cam and company? I think this will be a good game…Auburn better not be looking ahead to Glendale!
Sorry I have nothing more positive for you this week Tide Fans…this one just broke my heart. I still love Alabama, and will support them in any situation…I just need a few more days to heal.
Until the bowl game…Roll Tide!
Jason
