‼️Sunday Morning Quarterbacking by Betty Burgess—Auburn vs #15Texas A&M❣️
1. As Jackie Gleason often said, “How sweet it is!” As Auburn fans, we’ve almost forgotten what the thrill of victory is like in an SEC home game. However, last night, with the temperature falling into the mid 40’s before the game ended, the fans in our packed stadium finally got to leave with smiles on their faces. It was wonderful to see the players who’ve fought so hard all season getting to celebrate on Senior Night.
2. It’s no secret that Jarquez Hunter is my favorite player on this team. I saw a clip of him with his family in the pre-season festivities, standing proudly beside his beautiful mother and other family members. He had yet another great game, scoring three touchdowns and gaining 130 yards rushing and another 23 receiving. I hate to see my Rocketman’s Auburn career nearly at an end but look forward to watching him play at the next level next year.
3. Cam Coleman had another outstanding night with 128 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches. His first half was especially spectacular.Also impressive was KeAndre Lambert-Smith who had gained over 100 yards on only two receptions. These two receivers accounted for over 2/3 of our 301 yards in the air.
4. I’m sure I’ll leave some names out when it comes to the big plays on defense. When Oscar Chapman uncharacteristically failed to back the Aggies up in the closing minutes of the game, these guys tightened up and refused to fold. Jerrin Thompson played his heart out, coming up with a huge interception in the first half and ending the night with a team leading 11 tackles. McLeod, Mausi, Harris, and Asante combined for 33 tackles with 16 other defenders contributing to the 79 tackles made by the team. Kaleb Harris’ open field tackle late in the fourth was a true game saver. The defense had four sacks, but the one I remember most was a particularly dramatic takedown by Demarcus Riddick.
5. I was proud of our 3rd string place kicker Ian Vachon for connecting on two of the three field goals he attempted, both crucial ones. The first one got us to overtime and the second one was the game winner. We’ve lost more than one game this year due to problems with connecting on field goals, so it was terrific to see our latest kicker win one for us.
6. I did think the officiating was unusually poor last night. I know I’m terribly partial but even the TV announcers seemed to think that they missed several key calls, especially in OT, that went against our Tigers.
7. We almost let three off-sides penalties on our final drive during regulation deprive us of the opportunity to attempt that game-tying field goal with three seconds left on the clock. It would have truly been a shame if those careless errors had robbed everyone of celebrating a much needed W.
8. While Peyton Thorne has been the object of a lot of criticism all season, I must give him credit for some extraordinary plays last night, both passing and running. His scrambling run just prior to Vachon’s tying field goal was key to getting the ball within Vachon’s range. He’s also improved exponentially on his ability to throw the long ball. Yes, some of those receptions were also due to the ability of the receivers to make difficult catches, but they were catchable and we wouldn’t have won without them.
9. We did continue this year’s tradition of having a horrible fourth quarter, something that has cost us the W in several games (California, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Vanderbilt). A writer for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED commented that we were just a few plays away from having a 10-1 record. However, unlike those other five games, we recovered just in time to get the game to OT.
10. Last night was the perfect time for recruits to see how Auburn fans react to a big SEC win. The stadium was packed with guys who’ve committed and others that we’ve targeted, and I think they were all impressed. I’ve read comments from at least 30 of them and, to a man, they were all excited and impressed. They saw how much fun it can be to be an Auburn Tiger. I wonder if they agree with Nick Saban that Jordan-Hare is a haunted place? 🥰 Regardless, I know they loved witnessing Coach Freeze’s first AU win against a ranked team, one that has a chance to play in the SEC championship game, and look forward to being a part of many more wins in Jordan-Hare.
WDE!
The latest Auburn foe appeared on the scene:
The Texas A&M Aggies, ranked number fifteen.
The game took place on a very chilly night.
Both teams came prepared for an SEC fight.
But only the AU Tigers fulfilled their dream!
Around the SEC:
#9Ole Miss/Florida—What a fabulous game! The Gators put on quite a show against the #9 Ole Miss Landsharks. Taking a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter, the Florida team that looked dead in the swamp just three weeks ago never relinquished its lead (although it was tied for a long portion of the game) and took the lead for good midway through the 4th quarter, stunning the guys from Oxford who’d been in position for a playoff bid with only Mississippi State, the worst team in the league, left to play. Next week the Gators take on in-state ACC rival FSU while Ole Miss hosts the guys from StarkVegas.
#10Georgia/UMass—Although the game was tied at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs dominated the next three quarters, defeating the now 2-9 Minutemen by a score of 59-21. The Dawgs will have a good shot of making the playoffs if they can get past their always dangerous in-state ACC rival Georgia Tech next Friday night in Athens. (Remember that Tech shocked Miami a couple of weeks ago when the Hurricanes were ranked #5.)
#11Tennessee/UTEP—Clinging to hopes of a playoff berth, the Volunteers, although scoreless in the first quarter, went on a four touchdown scoring spree in the second quarter and never looked back, defeating the overmatched UTEP Miners by a final score of 56-0. Although they are highly favored, the Vols must travel to Nashville next Saturday to take on the resurging Vanderbilt Commodores who’ve surprised Bama and Auburn (well, maybe that one wasn’t a TOTAL surprise 🥰) and held #3 Texas to a narrow three point W.
#3Texas/Kentucky—Tied at 7-7 midway through the 2nd quarter, the Longhorns took control and coasted to a 31-14 win. Next Saturday Texas, a newcomer to the SEC, plays their in-state foe Texas A&M, who’s been in the conference for a dozen years, in College Station, in what should be one of the top games in the country on the final Saturday of the regular season. It will also determine which of them will meet Georgia in Atlanta in the SEC Championship Game. No pressure, right? (As most everyone knows, this was once among the fiercest rivalries in the country when both were in the Southwestern and then Big 12 conferences but they haven’t played in a decade due to being in different conferences.)
#18South Carolina/Wofford—Trailing briefly 3-0, #18South Carolina took a 21-9 lead to the locker room at halftime and sailed to an easy 56-12 win over Wofford. Now 8-3 for the season, the Gamecocks travel to in-state ACC rival #17Clemson next Saturday for an 11 AM kick-off in what should be a very good game between two top twenty teams.
Arkansas/LA Tech—Now 6-5, Arkansas became bowl eligible with a 35-14 win over Louisiana Tech. The Razorbacks will end their regular season play next next Saturday when they visit Missouri.
#23Missouri/Mississippi State—The MSU Bulldogs played Missouri close for the first quarter (10-14) but the Mizzou Tigers scored 14 unanswered points in the second quarter and went on to a 39-20 victory. Next Saturday Missouri hosts Arkansas while Mississippi State travels to Oxford for a Friday afternoon match with their in-state rival Ole Miss.
#7Alabama/Oklahoma—After taking a 10-3 lead with 30 seconds left in the half, Oklahoma continued to pour it on the visiting boys from Bama, pulling off a very unexpected 24-3 win, keeping the Crimson Tide scoreless for the final three quarters of the game. Next Saturday Alabama plays host to Auburn while Oklahoma travels to Baton Rouge for a Saturday night clash with the Bengal Tigers.
LSU/Vanderbilt—Playing in Death Valley, the visiting Commodores took the early 7-0 lead but the Bengal Tigers answered with two touchdowns in the first half, taking a 14-7 lead to the locker room and winning by a score of 24-17. Next Saturday LSU travels to Norman to take on Oklahoma while Vanderbilt hosts its cross state rival, the Tennessee Volunteers.
And did y’all see the wild end to the #14 BYU-#21 Arizona State game? With one second left, thousands of Arizona State fans stormed the field, taking down at least one goal post, and then had to clear it off so BYC, which had only one loss prior to this one, could have one last chance to pull out a W and quite possibly advance to the playoffs. I didn’t see how they could possibly get that excited mob of fans under control enough to make it possible to resume the game, but they did. However, Arizona State hung on—barely—tackling the Arizona State receiver four yards short of scoring the winning TD.
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