Remember the old days when the Alabama-Auburn game often decided the Southeastern Conference championship?
Since the Tide and Tigers series was resumed in 1948, the game had an influence on who won the SEC title 26 times. Often it was Alabama. Sometimes it was Auburn. And sometimes both were in the running with the game between the two deciding who would win the title.
I know it is early, but there is a chance that the Iron Bowl game on November 30th could determine who wins the SEC West — and which team will play in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
When the season started, most people figured Alabama would be in that position. Virtually nobody expected Auburn to bounce back from a 3-9 overall record and a 0-8 SEC record to find itself in position to even consider being a serious contender for the league championship.
But that’s exactly where Gus Malzahn’s Tigers find themselves after their thrilling 45-41 win over Texas A&M last weekend improved their record to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC. The interesting thing for Auburn is that they are doing it with a first-year quarterback (two actually when you consider Jeremy Johnson played the Western Carolina game when starter Nick Marshall was injured).
Who would have thought that going into the final football weekend of 2013 that Auburn would be one of only three teams in the league that control their own destiny?
Alabama and Missouri, who don’t face each other this season, are obviously two of the three teams that can win out and find themselves in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Now Auburn is also in that position. If the Tigers win out, that would mean a win over Alabama in the final game and would leave Auburn the West champion.
Is it too early for Auburn to be thinking that way? Actually no it’s not if the Tigers can keep it as a goal and not get too far ahead of themselves and continue to take it game-by-game. The Tigers should have no trouble this weekend with Florida Atlantic or next game with Arkansas, but then comes the closing stretch at Tennessee and home games with Georgia and Alabama. Auburn must keep its focus if the Tigers dream season is going to continue.
“We challenged our players to improve each week, and they have done that,” said Malzahn after the Texas A&M win. “We’ve been working on getting our edge back, and we are getting closer.”
The players realize that they still have work to be done and appear to be keeping their focus.
“Our team is going back to the top. We are just now getting our edge back,” said Marshall, who led Auburn on the game-winning 75-yard, 13-play drive. “On the last drive we went out there and executed. We knew we were going to be the more conditioned team in the second half, and it showed. This win is about confidence. We’re going to take one game at a time and keep moving forward.”
Running back Tre Mason came up big with 178 yards rushing on 27 carries and the 5-yard touchdown that was the final dagger into the Aggies’ heart with just over a minute to play.
“I was a little emotional after the game,” admitted Mason. “I was happy the whole time; those were tears of happiness. This was a statement game. The statement that we want to put across is that we are coming. We are getting better from here on out. You have to believe to achieve. We did that.”
After the most disappointing season in many years, it has gotten to the point where the rest of the SEC needs to listen when the Auburn players talk — and they are talking like a team that is keeping its eyes on the prize by going one game at a time.
It could come apart if the Tigers lose to Arkansas or Tennessee, but if they reach the final two game stretch of Georgia and Alabama with a 9-1 record, regardless of what happens in the final two games, Malzahn will be in the running — and possibly the frontrunner — for coach of the year.
The Crystal Ball suffered the same fate as the ranked SEC teams last week by going 2-4, the worse record of the season. That makes the season record 59-11, a .843 winning percentage. This week’s schedule will hopefully yield better results. Here’s how things might go: Mississippi State will beat Kentucky on Thursday night and then on Saturday look for Texas A&M to get back on track with a win over Vanderbilt; Alabama will derail the high-flying Tennessee Vols, and Missouri should keep their track toward Atlanta going with a win over South Carolina. In non-conference games next week, LSU will beat Furman, Auburn will knock off Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss will down Idaho.