18Champs
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If there has even before been an Iron Bowl in which one team truly needed to embarrass the other, I donāt remember it. There was actually a time when most coaches viewed running up the score in games that were in hand was bad form. This year is different.Itās another unfortunate byproduct of the College Football Playoff it does matter how badly you beat somebody. Sometimes it matters a lot.
And thatās where Alabama will be in next Saturdayās Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium. To have any chance of squeezing into the playoff, Alabama will need to win impressively against Auburn. Impressively these days means scoring lots of points.
I donāt believe Alabama can score lots of points on Auburnās defense. I actually will probably pick Auburn to win the game. But Nick Saban and friends will certainly run it up if they can, and they should.
***
I have long said only conference champions should qualify for the playoff. Itās not fair for one team to be knocked out because it earned its way to a conference championship game and another to get in as a result without having to test itself in a conference championship game.
Had there not been an SEC Championship Game in 2017, Auburn would have been a shoo-in. But there was, and Auburn lost to a Georgia team it had already beaten. Alabama sat at home and rested, got into the playoff and went on to win the national championship.
Alabama has already made it to the big game twice without winning its division ā in the old BCS days in 2011 and to the College Football Playoff in 2017. If it were to happen again for the third time in less than a decade, there would be a great hue and cry, as there should be. Maybe that would at least hasten the coming of an eight-team playoff.
***
In Saturdayās 52-0 win over Samford, Auburnās football team appeared focused and ready to play, which isnāt always the case in those kinds of games. Thatās a credit to the coaches, but itās more of a credit to the players who didnāt let the bitter disappointment of last Saturdayās 21-14 loss to Georgia or a rainy Saturday deter them from competing in the right way.
***
When I watch a game like Saturdayās blowout at Jordan-Hare Stadium, I am reminded of a season-opening 55-0 victory over Pacific in 1989. Auburn speedster Alexander Wright caught touchdown passes of 78, 60, 41 and 73 yards.
I was the sports editor of the Montgomery Advertiser and decided to go to the Pacific locker room for interviews in an effort to get something different. Walt Harris, the Pacific head coach, had his jaw set. āMy guys would go play them again right now!ā he said.
I had talked to the teamās best defensive player ā a safety ā in the week leading up to the game. I looked him up in the locker room and asked him about what his coach said. āI donāt think so,ā the player said. When I asked him about Wright, he looked at me and shook his head. āI thought he was fast as sh--,ā he said. āWhat did you think?ā
I agreed.
***
No. 6 Oregon threw a wrench into the playoff race Saturday night with a stunning 31-28 loss at Arizona State, which had lost its previous four games. For three quarters, the Ducks played about as badly as they could play. Then, down 24-7, they suddenly woke up in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Justin Herbert led two lighting quick touchdown drives to make it 24-21. Arizona State faced third-and-16 and its own 19. It looked for all the world like Oregon was going to finish off the comeback. But, amazingly, the Ducks gave up an 81-yard touchdown pass on third-and-16 to fall behind 31-21. They went and scored again but never got the ball back.
And with that, they fell completely out of the running for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Itās up to Utah now in the Pac-12, and the Utesā nonconference schedule is so weak that I donāt know if they can make it into the field.
***
Georgia barely held on to beat Texas A&M 19-13 at home Saturday. A&M had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter despite not being able to run the ball at all. Auburn looked like a running juggernaut against the Bulldogs compared to the Aggies, who had 20 rushes for minus-1 yard.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher went to an all-out throwing game sooner in the game than Gus Malzahn did a week earlier in Auburnās loss, but it still wasnāt soon enough.
Itās hard for coaches who believe in the running game to admit they canāt run it, but youāre not going to beat Georgia handing off to the tailback. For the second consecutive week, I thought the Bulldogsā pass defense was vulnerable. Their offense is pedestrian and quarterback Jake Fromm is in a slump. He has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in three consecutive games.
I doubt LSU will be shy about airing it out from the start in the SEC Championship Game, and thatās why I believe Georgiaās third consecutive trip to Atlanta will end in its second consecutive disappointment.
***
Remember when LSU āsettledā for Ed Orgeron after the 2016 season because it couldnāt get Tom Herman from Houston? Herman, who had been a head coach for two years, went to Texas. Itās pretty easy at this point to see who got the best end of that deal.
***
There was no contact to the head. There was no launch. There was no contact with the crown of the helmet. Yet, the referee on the field called Auburn safety Jamien Sherwood for targeting in Saturdayās win over Samford. Even the former SEC official CBS uses as an analyst said it clearly wasnāt targeting. Some dude in Birmingham decided on review that it was, and Auburn will be without an important player for the first half of next Saturdayās game against Alabama. That led an exasperated Malzahn to tell the referee Marc Curles āIāve got the Iron Bowl next week!ā
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was clearly frustrated and angry with officials in a 19-13 loss at Georgia. Remember the game being held up for no reason when Tennessee was trying to go fast in the red zone at Alabama? Remember LSU offensive linemen ā and there is ample photographic evidence ā tackling Auburn defensive linemen throughout a close game in Baton Rouge?
Whatās happening? Are SEC officials just that inconsistent? Weāll never really know.
The SEC proudly unveiled a Twitter account last summer that would supposedly explain why calls were made. What it really does is defend SEC officials. It never acknowledges that one of them or any of them might actually have made mistakes.
There has to be a way to hold officials publicly accountable like everyone else involved in the game is publicly accountable. Why that is so fiercely resisted in high places, I donāt know. But itās time for a change.
Until next time ...
And thatās where Alabama will be in next Saturdayās Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium. To have any chance of squeezing into the playoff, Alabama will need to win impressively against Auburn. Impressively these days means scoring lots of points.
I donāt believe Alabama can score lots of points on Auburnās defense. I actually will probably pick Auburn to win the game. But Nick Saban and friends will certainly run it up if they can, and they should.
***
I have long said only conference champions should qualify for the playoff. Itās not fair for one team to be knocked out because it earned its way to a conference championship game and another to get in as a result without having to test itself in a conference championship game.
Had there not been an SEC Championship Game in 2017, Auburn would have been a shoo-in. But there was, and Auburn lost to a Georgia team it had already beaten. Alabama sat at home and rested, got into the playoff and went on to win the national championship.
Alabama has already made it to the big game twice without winning its division ā in the old BCS days in 2011 and to the College Football Playoff in 2017. If it were to happen again for the third time in less than a decade, there would be a great hue and cry, as there should be. Maybe that would at least hasten the coming of an eight-team playoff.
***
In Saturdayās 52-0 win over Samford, Auburnās football team appeared focused and ready to play, which isnāt always the case in those kinds of games. Thatās a credit to the coaches, but itās more of a credit to the players who didnāt let the bitter disappointment of last Saturdayās 21-14 loss to Georgia or a rainy Saturday deter them from competing in the right way.
***
When I watch a game like Saturdayās blowout at Jordan-Hare Stadium, I am reminded of a season-opening 55-0 victory over Pacific in 1989. Auburn speedster Alexander Wright caught touchdown passes of 78, 60, 41 and 73 yards.
I was the sports editor of the Montgomery Advertiser and decided to go to the Pacific locker room for interviews in an effort to get something different. Walt Harris, the Pacific head coach, had his jaw set. āMy guys would go play them again right now!ā he said.
I had talked to the teamās best defensive player ā a safety ā in the week leading up to the game. I looked him up in the locker room and asked him about what his coach said. āI donāt think so,ā the player said. When I asked him about Wright, he looked at me and shook his head. āI thought he was fast as sh--,ā he said. āWhat did you think?ā
I agreed.
***
No. 6 Oregon threw a wrench into the playoff race Saturday night with a stunning 31-28 loss at Arizona State, which had lost its previous four games. For three quarters, the Ducks played about as badly as they could play. Then, down 24-7, they suddenly woke up in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Justin Herbert led two lighting quick touchdown drives to make it 24-21. Arizona State faced third-and-16 and its own 19. It looked for all the world like Oregon was going to finish off the comeback. But, amazingly, the Ducks gave up an 81-yard touchdown pass on third-and-16 to fall behind 31-21. They went and scored again but never got the ball back.
And with that, they fell completely out of the running for a spot in the College Football Playoff. Itās up to Utah now in the Pac-12, and the Utesā nonconference schedule is so weak that I donāt know if they can make it into the field.
***
Georgia barely held on to beat Texas A&M 19-13 at home Saturday. A&M had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter despite not being able to run the ball at all. Auburn looked like a running juggernaut against the Bulldogs compared to the Aggies, who had 20 rushes for minus-1 yard.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher went to an all-out throwing game sooner in the game than Gus Malzahn did a week earlier in Auburnās loss, but it still wasnāt soon enough.
Itās hard for coaches who believe in the running game to admit they canāt run it, but youāre not going to beat Georgia handing off to the tailback. For the second consecutive week, I thought the Bulldogsā pass defense was vulnerable. Their offense is pedestrian and quarterback Jake Fromm is in a slump. He has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in three consecutive games.
I doubt LSU will be shy about airing it out from the start in the SEC Championship Game, and thatās why I believe Georgiaās third consecutive trip to Atlanta will end in its second consecutive disappointment.
***
Remember when LSU āsettledā for Ed Orgeron after the 2016 season because it couldnāt get Tom Herman from Houston? Herman, who had been a head coach for two years, went to Texas. Itās pretty easy at this point to see who got the best end of that deal.
***
There was no contact to the head. There was no launch. There was no contact with the crown of the helmet. Yet, the referee on the field called Auburn safety Jamien Sherwood for targeting in Saturdayās win over Samford. Even the former SEC official CBS uses as an analyst said it clearly wasnāt targeting. Some dude in Birmingham decided on review that it was, and Auburn will be without an important player for the first half of next Saturdayās game against Alabama. That led an exasperated Malzahn to tell the referee Marc Curles āIāve got the Iron Bowl next week!ā
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher was clearly frustrated and angry with officials in a 19-13 loss at Georgia. Remember the game being held up for no reason when Tennessee was trying to go fast in the red zone at Alabama? Remember LSU offensive linemen ā and there is ample photographic evidence ā tackling Auburn defensive linemen throughout a close game in Baton Rouge?
Whatās happening? Are SEC officials just that inconsistent? Weāll never really know.
The SEC proudly unveiled a Twitter account last summer that would supposedly explain why calls were made. What it really does is defend SEC officials. It never acknowledges that one of them or any of them might actually have made mistakes.
There has to be a way to hold officials publicly accountable like everyone else involved in the game is publicly accountable. Why that is so fiercely resisted in high places, I donāt know. But itās time for a change.
Until next time ...
...So full of 
