Iron Bowl Live Blog!

NBC 13 HD’S Chris Pollone is live blogging the Iron Bowl from the Bryant Denny Stadium pressbox.  Follow along here for game insights and analysis.  If you have questions for Chris, email him at and put the word BLOG in the subject field.  Comments are welcome, as well.  Updates will be posted at the top.  Thanks for reading!

2:47AM—Many thanks to everyone who followed the Iron Bowl Live Blog… I enjoyed writing it.  We’re planning to reprise it Saturday during the SEC Championship, so join us back here then.  I promise my seating situation in the Georgia Dome will be resolved earlier, so I can start blogging earlier than I did for this game.  **NOTE TO ALABAMA SPORTS INFORMATION STAFF:  Maybe, just maybe, the TV stations from the largest market in Alabama that cover your program every single day of the season might be able to score an extra press box seat and parking pass for really big games, and the folks who show up only every so often can be cut back to one seat, or moved to an auxiliary press area??  No, I’m not bitter.  Also, when they’re working on that stadium expansion, maybe someone can throw up a few of those cheapo HD flatscreens in the dining area for those who have to watch the game there instead of in the press seating area because there aren’t enough seats?  Pretty please?  Thank you.

Enjoy some more sights from Tuscaloosa…

Pregame:

Snarky Alabama fans:

Not much to cheer about:

Tough season:

Saban explains it all:

What streak?

What am I going to do now that my favorite college player is graduating?

That’s it, and that’s all…

“I’m definitely coming back…“

1:57AM—Well, I’m back at home, watching the tape of the game, with some final thoughts about the remarkable 2008 Iron Bowl:

-Alabama is a phenomenal team.  Duh!  I know you know that.  What I mean is that they really prove that there’s no “I” in team (unless Kobe Bryant is involved, and then it’s spelled “teaim”).  There are groups of more talented players out there, but I don’t think any team on the national college football stage buys into the team concept more than Alabama.  Every player has a job, and every player worries about doing his job so he doesn’t let his teammates down.  This team understands they are on a mission, and that mission isn’t completed until the SEC Championship is won and a bowl victory is theirs, too.  In some ways, it shouldn’t really surprise us that Alabama didn’t celebrate too much tonight.  It’s a great win, but not the end of the road, to them.  In many ways, this team reminds me of the 2001 New England Patriots.  The Pats never had the best talent in the NFL that year, but they did have the best TEAM, and often that’s all it takes.

-For those worried about the Alabama offense against Florida, consider this:  Alabama CAN run right.  All season long we’ve gotten used to the Tide runners drafting behind All-everything tackle Andre Smith, but against Auburn, JPW and company showed that those guys down the right end of the line can block, too.  This will make the Alabama offense less predictable, and harder to deal with in the SEC Championship.

-Alabama needs to bring THAT crowd to Atlanta Saturday.  They were loud starting 40 minutes before kickoff, and did a great job throughout.  I’ve never heard Rammer Jammer THAT loud.  I was standing just next to the Auburn bench at the time, and I can assure you, they heard it.

-Auburn needs some work.  (I know… DUH)  Tommy Tuberville needs to figure out what kind of personnel he has on the team now, then decide what kind of system he wants to run that would maximize their opportunity to succeed (provided he’s retained for next year, which I think he should be).  He just didn’t have the horses to run that spread offense.  Tubs needs to hit the recruiting trail hard, too.  Saban is eating Auburn’s lunch on the recruiting trail, and since success breeds success, it could remain that way for years if Auburn doesn’t get on it.  If Saban sticks around, this season could mark the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Auburn football.  Hope you enjoyed it, and survived that BCS screwing in 2004, Tiger fans!

-John Parker Wilson has grown up before your eyes, fans.  He’s never going to be Tim Tebow or Sam Bradford, but he doesn’t need to be.  He has become more precise with his passes and has become smarter with the football.  That’s all you need with this running game, special teams and defense.  Remember Mark Rypien has won a Super Bowl.  Dan Marino has not.  Can JPW lead a come from behind win in a pressure situation?  I don’t know.  I think he can, and I think he has a better shot of doing it this year, than he did in the last two seasons.  The way he mixed in play-action and roll-outs Saturday night exhibited JPW’s versatility. 

-What’s up with Tracy Wolfson’s accent?  I still can’t figure out where she’s from.

-Alabama fans need to sit back and enjoy this one for a couple days.  Think about it.  12 and 0.  12 wins.  In one season.  Seriously.  My beloved Syracuse Orange(men) have won 10 games in the past FOUR seasons.  Win or lose against Florida, this has been an amazing season, and you didn’t expect it to happen.  No you didn’t.  Stop lying.  Enjoy this success. 

-I know a lot of Auburn fans who are ready to say goodbye to Tommy Tuberville, and it always cracks me up how Tubs always talks about the administration as “the Auburn people”, like he’s referring to a foreign government, not his own school, but I think when considering a coaching switch you have to consider who you might be able to get to replace the outgoing coach.  I don’t see a ton of coaching talent out there, and with his past, I think Tuberville has earned a mulligan this year.  Of course, I’m also the guy who thought Syracuse should have given Greg Robinson a fourth year, and we all see how that worked out—but hey, wasn’t that Notre Dame win awesome?!!?

9:20PM—Auburn locker room sound:
Interviews focused on three things: What went wrong today, what went wrong this season, and what’s going to happen next year.  Tuberville is confident he’ll be back and plans to hit the recruiting trail this week.  Check out what everyone had to say below.

Tommy Tuberville-

5:24 we needed them to make mistakes and they didn’t, we need not to make mistakes and we did, but that’s what good teams make you do, they make you make mistakes.  :08

5:36 they forced our hand, they forced us to execute, forced Qb to throw ball down field, got in his face, we weren’t able to take advantage in first half having a little field postion. :12

Seniors:
5:54 they’ve done a great job for auburn, I hate for them to end on a note like this, it’s been a tough year, I put them in a very tough situation in what I did this year starting off with offense, that’s totally my mistake it’s not theirs and we never recovered from it as the season went on on offense.  :16

6:31 they’re a good team, they’re physical, they’re big, we knew that going in, 5 yr senior qb made some amazing 3rd down throws, 2nd down throws, and that’s what it takes to win games and win championships.  :13

7:22 throughout season we were better team than winning 5 games, we found ways not to win a couple games, we found way not to push forward.  :11

injuries on D, and field goals last 6 or 7 games

Judged on body of work?

8:25 I have total confidence I can get this thing turned around, it was my fault I got it this way with our offense, we were never consistent on offense, but we’ll work immediately to recruiting and working in that direction.  :08

-Get back on offense, what to do… lots of guys in mind
8:56 we’ve got to recruit guys who can make big plays, we don’t have that, more offensive linemen, more physical, we weren’t a physical football team this year.  :11

recruiting going real well

9:42 I tried to do it for the right reasons, but it put us in a tailspin and we never really come out of it.  :05

10:22 we never could really put a finger on what we really wanted to do and how to do it… 04

10:28 I want to say something about the coaches, I put them in a bind, I put their back to the wall, offense did heck of a job to give ourselves a chance.  :20

11:07 the buck stops with me.  I’m the one who put them in that situation.  :03

***11:40 all of these jobs are hard in this conference, and if I didn’t think I could do it, I’d be the first to tell the auburn people, but 10 years, I’m still fairly young, it’s hard to take what we went thru this year, but sometimes it makes you hungrier when you go thru something like this.  We might have needed a setback.  We might have needed an adjustment, because we’ve been awful good for a long time.  :24

13:04 it had nothing to do with the players, they were trying, they were working hard, we had some thing we wanted to do in the second half, that we held to the second half, we never got any type of momentum at all, we just kinda shot ourselves in the foot.  :12

Senderrick Marks-
Coach back?
38:33 we don’t have any inside scoop on what’s going on, no one tells us what’s going on anything like that, all we can do is go into the offseason and get bigger faster stronger and see how it plays out.  :08

39:12 we came out and got embarrassed, you don’t like getting embarrassed, we got embarrassed in front of our home crowd and then here in the iron bowl, that’s something a lot of people on our team felt, a lot of people never lost to alabama on our team.  It didn’t feel good I can tell you that.  :26

40:10we’ve played a lot of great o lines this year.  They’ve got two studs up there, and the other guy who plays around them, plays solid, you can’t say they not doing a great job.  You have to give them an a plus.  :16

Jason Bosley—OL, Sr

17:12 probably the toughest thing I’ve ever had to go thru, coming from where we’ve come from, winning like we have, then come my senior year and go 5-7, it’s definitely tough.  :14

18:20 to go thru what we’ve gone thru this year, adversity wise, going from one offense to another, that’s tough on a team.  07

18:51 I’m not saying it’s tubs fault, the bottom line is players have to execute no matter what you do, and we didn’t do that this year, but these coaches are going to bring someone who can execute and teach us what we need to do, what they need to do and get this ship righted.  :22

19:14 I have full confidence in coach tubs,  I love that man, I’d run through a wall for him right now, I’m done, but I’d do anything for him. :06

Jerraud Powers—

21:52 we gotta work hard.  Even tho we had a terrible year, we gotta get stronger faster, there are a lot of things we have to do if we want to have a good season next year.  :20

22:18 I came into this game thinking it was going to be a low scoring game, their defense came to play, our d didn’t step up to the challenge like I thought we would.  It was very disappointing to get shut out here on the road.  And I credit Alabama to their success and we wish them the best for next week.  :17

22:50 he’s done a lot for this program, he rebuilt it to the level we’re at right now, and I don’t think one bad season should affect his future.  :09

23:37 that’s one of those plays I’ll make every day in practice, every other game, it just slipped out of my hands it will be in my head too.  :09

24:05 I went to the sideline talking for a minute or so…

24:33 if the running game is going good, it gives jpw more confidence, if the run game going they’re going to be tough to beat.  :14

24:56 they pulled on of those urban myer deals, it just shifted momentum to them.  I turned momentum, they took advantage of it and turned on it.  :20

Antonio Coleman—DE

26:45 he’s a great coach, it’s not his fault.  You got a coach and a position coach, but you still have to get out there and play, it’s not his fault at all.  :12

27:04 I take full responsibility for every loss we have this year I feel like all the guys rely on me as a leader and I let them down.  :06
Mario Fannin—
Field goal
27:50 it did kinda hurt us in the long run, but as for as the morale, we was ok.  :15

29:03 I’m kinda disappointed, the seniors are disappointed, we gotta watch film, see our seniors off and get ready for next year.  :12

29:22 we came in with mentally we’d handle business, we didn’t but we’ll get back to drawing board and get ready to play.  :10

Kodi Burns

Franklin

34:10 I def expect to start next year, I was thrown in, tough for me, in the sec when you haven’t gotten any reps, I expect to get better and start next year.  20

2nd half
34:38 we basically gave them the game.  First play we get 8 yards, moving balls, we came out ran zone and fumbled, you can’t do that to a good team like that.  You take advantage.  They’re goinna go deep, you get the momentum.  :12

35:06 I think we’re in this game until we turn ball over, in second half.  D did a great job all night, we had some ints we didn’t get, it’s the offense’s job to move chains, and I mean besides the first half we didn’t get ball close to red zone.  :18

35:29 we did get beat pretty bad, but as offense we didn’t move ball and defense got tired they were out way too long, way too long.  :08

36:05 he’s a great coach, like him, believe him, this year was up and down, we were looking for id all year, I don’t know what’s going to happen, he’s a great coach.  :21

36:37 we got a couple 3 outs, we had chances, moved ball, didn’t stay consistent, and coming out in 3rd stuck with how season’s been.  :14

9:18PM—Well, what a game.  I’ve never heard Bryant-Denny Stadium that loud.  We’re preparing for the 10PM show, but I figured I’d throw a rough transcript of the Auburn sound on here… full video to come later on NBC13.com.  I’ll have some pictures up later, too.

5:35PM—BTW, I’m hearing Bama Express on the UA Strip will have 12-0 T-shirts an hour after the game, should Alabama hang on to win. 

5:23PM—Ok, I’m going to roll downstairs… try to get some good pictures of the aftermath and sound from Tuberville, et al.  Back soon.  Keep it here!

5:15PM—I forgot:  pregame meal—baked chicken with green beans, squash casserole, and a great cherry cobbler.  Halftime—dogs and kraut.  I love the bumper sticker ideas… Let me know who gets gameballs, and your best bumper stickers.  KEEP THEM CLASSY!  PS- Can AU afford to punt here?

5:09PM—Taking a look t some of your comments, it looks to me like Saban was having JPW throw to soften up the D and keep them honest a little.  The hallmark of this team has been running over tired defenses in the 4th quarter, which is exactly what is happening right now.  As I write this, Mark Ingram goes in untouched from 15 yards out to put the Tide up 29-0.  Is it too late to change my score prediction?  Anyone think Florida might be in for a game next week??  PS- It’s getting close to the time when we go down on the field and to the lockerrooms.  Don Hawes will take Alabama, and I’ll be with Auburn.  If I stop posting for a while, check back later for more pictures, facts and analysis. 

4:59PM—What can you do when you see all 365 pounds of Terrence Cody coming in to block for a running play?  Is that called the Jumbo package… or the Gigantic package?  I have so many questions.  The Tide is up 22-0, the Alabama crowd is having fun for the first time in seven years, and I have to wonder if Tommy Tuberville has enough fingers to count how many points Alabama’s dropping on his overmatched team right now.

4:52PM—Auburn’s eight drives so far:  5 punts, 1 blocked FG, 2 lost fumbles.  Terrence “Mount” Cody recovers a bobbled snap and Alabama has great field position again.  If the Crimson Tide wants an undefeated season, now is the time for that “finishing” thing Nick Saban always talks about.

4:49PM—Well, remember that big break I was talking about?  In a game like this, turnovers make all the difference.  Alabama goes up 16-0 after Brad Lester coughs up the football on a Kodi Burns handoff.  Alabama takes over at the 41 yard line and JPW throws his first TD pass in 4.5 games to a fellow senior, Nikita Stover.  Might the streak be coming to an end?  Plenty of time left.  Auburn needs some points.

Alabama Band

Auburn Band

4:28PM—First half analysis:  My first thought is Auburn is lucky to still be in this game.  Their offense sputtered like it has all season long, but they might be onto something with that quasi option thing they ran right before the half.  Kodi Burns was fairly successful running the ball and connecting on short passes.  They really needed the points on that field goal attempt, though.  As for Alabama, the running game seems to be working pretty well, and JPW has only attempted ten passes so far.  I wonder if the ball is soggy because both quarterbacks seem to be a touch inaccurate on some passes.  Alabama gets the ball to start the second half, so if Alabama is able to score some points on a drawn out drive, the Tide would be in the driver’s seat, but if they’re forced to punt, it could be anyone’s game, and ANOTHER great Iron Bowl finish.  I expect the Tide to keep grinding it out on the ground and gobbling up clock.  If you’re Nick Saban, you’d like to be up another 7-10 points right now.  PS- Thanks to everyone for the comments.  Keep ‘em coming.

4:10PM—Has anything gone wrong for Nick Saban this year?  I mean, really?  Auburn sophomore kicker Morgan Hull lined up to attempt his first ever kick for Auburn.  The ball was snapped, Hull drills it straight through the uprights—but guess what??!?!  Nick Saban called one of those “icing” time outs right before the snap.  On the next attempt, Hull has the kick blocked and Alabama goes to the lockerroom with a 10-0 lead.  Is this shaping up to be another classic Iron Bowl finish?

4:05PM—Auburn takes a timeout with 45 seconds left in the half.  This is by far their best drive, but Kodi Burns is doing most of the work.  He’s had a couple of nice runs and passes to get to the Alabama 24.

Sara Evans sings the Anthem:

3:56PM—Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:  Auburn runs up the middle two times for three yards, then Kodi Burns airmails a pass over Montez Billings, and Auburn punts for the 5th time today.  The PA is blaring Dixieland Delight, and the partisan Alabama home crowd is feeling pretty good about itself right now.

3:45PM—This could get ugly.  On a key 3rd and 7, Alabama LB Eryk Anders comes on a delayed blitz and drops Kodi Burns for a 10 yard loss.  Auburn punts again.  If they can’t get some conversions, the Tigers might find themselves in a deep hole at halftime.  The one thing I can assure you is that this IS the Auburn offense I’ve been watching all season.  No imposters here today.  And that’s not good if you’re from the Plains.

3:39PM—Alabama takes the 10-0 lead after a 41 yard TD rush by Glen Coffee.  Nothing complicated about it.  The key play to set up the run was a 3rd down and 11 pitch and catch from Wilson to Julio Jones.  Wilson put the ball perfectly on Jones’ back shoulder.  The Auburn safety Mike McNeil has been giving Jones a lot of room.  That play went for 15 yards, then Coffee ran to the same side (right), the Auburn D was caught hesitating, and Coffee went untouched for the TD.  Nick Saban and Jim McElwain are making a concerted effort to run right after spending much of the season following the barge known as Andre Smith to the left. 

3:27PM—How about Kodi Burns?  He has been improving his accuracy over the past couple games.  On this Auburn drive Burns tries to go deep to James Swinton, but Swinton was double covered.  Rashad Johnson broke up the pass.  It reminds me of that old joke:  They say the 70 percent of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by Rashad Johnson.  Burns connects on a nice pass over the middle to pick up some yards, but after an illegal formation penalty, Auburn punts again, and Clinton Durst wants nothing to do with Javier Arenas.  Not a great start for the Auburn offense.  CBS analyst Gary Danielson is going to get himself in trouble.  He just said Auburn isn’t very good playing from behind… then he paused and said… of course, they’re not very good playing from ahead, either.  OUCH. 

3:21PM—Alabama has taken the lead 3-0 on a 37 yard field goal by Leigh Tiffin.  It was a nice drive for the Tide, with a couple of lengthy runs by Glen Coffee.  Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville lost a timeout when he challenged the spot on a 4th and 1 situation for Alabama.  The spot was upheld and John Parker Wilson ran a nice QB sneak to get the first down. 

3:11PM—Glen Coffee busts a couple nice runs, and Alabama is starting to move the ball.  They’re now in Auburn territory.  PS- I’ve gotten some requests for band pictures at halftime.  I’ll do my best! 

3:10PM—I know its late, but I’ll still offer my prediction:  Alabama 27 Auburn 13

3:04PM—For those keeping track at home, I’m told American Idol winner Taylor Hicks is in the house, as well as Crimson Tide and Jets legend Joe Willie Namath (I can’t of anybody more that I’d like to meet, besides Tom Brady, of course.  I’m efforting photographic proof).  Country singer and Jay Barker’s wife, Sara Evans, sang a scintillating version of the National Anthem.  It gave me chills.  Auburn goes three-and-out as both offenses appear to be feeling each other out.  Alabama takes over from its five yard line.

3:00PM—Both teams trade punts.  Alabama tries two runs and a pass… the pass was batted down and the Tide punts to about midfield.  It will be interesting to see how the crowd responds with Alabama on defense.  Nick Saban once again implored the crowd to be loud this week.  He said he wanted Bryant Denny Stadium to be a place where Auburn never wants to play.

2:56 PM—Alabama wins the coin toss and defers to the second half.  Gutsy move by Nick Saban, but it paid off.  Auburn moved the ball a little, but eventually punted.  For Alabama to win, it will be very important for them to jump out early.  The Tide hasn’t had to play from behind very often this year, and doing so might prove to be a weakness.  Alabama starts their first series deep in their own end.

2:53 PM—I can’t believe the Iron Bowl is finally here… Think about how you felt a little over three months ago when the season was just starting.  Now it’s almost over, and NO ONE would have thought these two teams would be where they are today.  This has all the makings for a truly historic game.  There’s a heavy fog in the air.  I wonder if we’ll be able to see the upper deck by the end of the game.