​​Lyle's Corner

​Thursday, April 30th, 2020

Inevitably, a primary subject weighing on the minds of all sports fans is whether or not there will be a college football season this fall - or at all - because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Well, word came out today that Auburn will be switching to digital tickets for the 2020 campaign. They will be distributed through e-mail only. 

​An e-mail was sent to Auburn season ticket holders with information about the upcoming season and the changes in the way tickets will be delivered and distributed. An Auburn spokesman told Inside the Auburn Tigers ​that this change currently applies to only football and a decision about tickets for other sports has yet to be reached. Auburn will work with ticket holders on a case-by-case basis for those who are unable to access digital tickets. The e-mail reads as follows:

​"For increased convenience, flexibility and safety, Auburn Athletics is launching digital-only tickets for the 2020 football campaign. Digital tickets are paperless tickets that are received through e-mail, and are opened and used directly off a smart phone. All season, mini-packages, and single game tickets will be delivered digitally for the upcoming season. 

​"In addition to eliminating physical contact concerns that are prevalent at this time, digital tickets will help to reduce frequent issues related to paper tickets, including theft, shipping delays, tickets lost in transit and the need for an early confirmation of a shipping address. Other advantages are the ability for ticket purchasers to transfer tickets electronically and eliminate the need to mail or provide physical tickets. 2020 football season tickets will arrive via e-mail with an embedded link in mid-August. Ticket holders can still share their tickets via online transfer or directly from their Apple Wallet/Android-Google Pay, while still having the ability to post and sell tickets on Stubhub." 

The Tigers are scheduled to open their 2020 season on Sept. 5th against Alcorn State in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The team is also slated to host Southern Miss on Sept. 26th, Kentucky on Oct. 3rd, Texas A&M on Oct. 17th, Arkansas on Nov. 7th, UMass on Nov. 14th and LSU on Nov. 21st. 

That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 

​

Tuesday, April 28th, 2020

Time for another random trip down memory lane for one of my favorite Auburn football games. Today, let's go back to October 2nd, 2004. Eighth-ranked Auburn traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee to face the 10th-ranked Volunteers in Neyland Stadium. Two weeks prior, the Tigers had pulled off a dramatic 10-9 upset of defending national champion LSU in Jordan-Hare Stadium thanks to a last-minute 16-yard touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Courtney Taylor, which was followed by John Vaughn's decisive PAT (which he got two cracks with. The first try sailed wide left, but he got a reprieve thanks to an LSU personal foul, and connected). 

Despite that, not everybody was fully convinced that this was a team of destiny. Not yet, anyway. But after this contest in the Big Orange nation, such uncertainties evaporated. ESPN's College GameDay was on the scene, and most of them favored the Vols. Freshman quarterbacks Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer, combined with UT's tenacious defense, led by Jason Allen, would be too daunting a task for the Tigers to conquer. Former Auburn basketball star Charles Barkley, who was on the show that night, had a completely opposite view, saying, "I think Jason Campbell is going to have a great game, 'cause they (Auburn's defense) are gonna slow down the running game. And for Tennessee, there's a light at the end of the tunnel but it's a train coming......get off the tracks!" Man, was he right on the money!

It didn't take long for the Tigers to show that they meant business. They forced a three-and-out on the first series of the game, forcing the Vols to punt. True freshman Tony Bell partially blocked Dustin Colquitt's kick, and Auburn went to work at its own 45.  The Tigers found the end zone in nine plays, capping the drive with a nine-yard TD run by Ronnie Brown. On the play, Brown went down low and plowed over Jason Allen, knocking his helmet off in the process. Vaughn's PAT put the Tigers up 7-0 with 9:50 left in the first quarter. 

​Tennessee answered by going 59 yards in 13 plays, settling for a 41-yard James Wilhoit field goal to cut Auburn's advantage to 7-3 with 4:37 left in the stanza. On Auburn's next possession, they appeared destined to increase their lead until Brown fumbled inside the Vol 5-yard line and UT's Kevin Burnett pounced on it at the one. But just two plays later, the tables turned. Ainge tried to play it safe with a sneak......and fumbled. Junior Rosegreen recovered for the Tigers. Could they cash in this time? Yes. The Vols turned them away twice before Campbell hit Ben Obomanu on a 5-yard scoring toss. Auburn now had a 14-3 cushion as the first stanza came to a close.  

For the Vols, things weren't going right on offense. Ainge was out of snyc, so head coach Phillip Fulmer put Schaeffer at the controls as the second period got underway. With UT at its own 34, Schaeffer opted to go deep. His bomb for Robert Meachem was tipped by Auburn's Montavis Pitts....right to Rosegreen. Another turnover for the Big Orange. Auburn was in business again at its own 30. In 12 plays, they made it to the Vol seven, but UT held there, and Vaughn converted a 24-yard field goal to make it a 17-3 margin with 7:03 to go in the half. 

​Shortly thereafter, the Tigers were on the march again. It took them just four plays to find paydirt again, this time with Carnell Williams scampering the final five yards for the score by running over Allen just as Brown had earlier (except that Williams went in standing). It was now a 24-3 Auburn lead with 4:48 to go before intermission, and the vast majority of the 107,828 fans in Neyland Stadium were in utter disbelief. To say the least, Tennessee desperately needed to show life offensively. 

It appeared that the Vols had gained their second wind when they marched to the Tiger 32. But Auburn's defense once again said "No." Ainge's pass was deflected by offensive lineman Wayne Dickens......and linebacker Travis Williams managed to grab it. Miscue number three for the Big Orange. Would Auburn show the hapless Vols some mercy now? Not a chance. They drove 68 yards in just four plays. Campbell finished the job by hooking up with Courtney Taylor on a 31-yard touchdown strike. There were just 52 seconds remaining in the half, but the score was now 31-3, Tigers. At this point, Auburn Network color analyst Stan White commented that, "I'm looking out in the stadium, and it's almost halftime, but people are leaving. They are leaving." He was, of course, referring to the Vol fanbase. They knew that the damage had been done. This one was out of reach. 

The second half was mostly uneventful....save for three more interceptions by Rosegreen. Tennessee finally managed a meaningless TD on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard pass from Ainge to Cory Anderson. The Tigers, however, tacked on one more score themselves with a 29-yard field goal by Vaughn with 10:48 to play. But this one was locked up. Final score: Auburn 34, Tennessee, 10. The Tigers had blown the Vols out of their own stadium. Now the hype could build, and everyone could believe that this was a special team. 

​Campbell played superbly, going 16-of-23 for 252 yards (240 of which came in the first half) and two scores. Brown and Williams each scored one TD themselves. The real story, however, was the Tiger defense. Auburn forced six turnovers (five interceptions and a fumble) and Rosegreen picked off four passes to tie the SEC mark. The Tigers made QBs Ainge and Schaeffer look like JV rookies as they went a combined 18-of-40 for 186 yards and a TD. 

Yep, that was quite a wonderful evening in Knoxville. One that few Auburn fans will ever forget. 

That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 

Friday, April 17th, 2020

​Auburn football's latest pledge hails from the Big Orange nation. J'Marion Gooch, a three-star offensive tackle from Seymour (Tenn.) King's Academy, committed to the Tigers via Twitter last night, giving offensive line coach Jack Bicknell his first verbal in the Class of 2021. 

Gooch, who ranks as the No. 27 recruit in the state of Tennessee in the 247Sports Composite, also got offers from Florida State, Colorado, Miami, Oregon, South Carolina, Southern Cal, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He is listed at 6-feet-7.5, 358 pounds. 

Auburn offered Gooch on June 15th of last year. He is the Tigers' fourth commitment for '21. He joins four-star defensive tackle Lee Hunter of Eight Mile (Ala.) Blount, four-star running back Armoni Goodwin of Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) and three-star safety Phillip O'Brien Jr. of Deerfield Beach (Fla.). 

​With Gooch's pledge, the Tigers will leap eight spots from No. 33 to No. 25 in the 247Sports recruiting team rankings. 

Needless to say, he may be one tonic that Auburn will need in a portion of the team that will largely be in rebuilding mode for the foreseeable future. 

That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 



Thursday, April 16th, 2020

Today, I will take another random trip down memory lane, Auburn football-style. This time around, I'll go back to New Year's Day, 2003. 

​The Tigers were set to square off with Penn State in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Auburn was 8-4, while the Nittany Lions were 9-3. If you'll recall, the two squads had previously faced off exactly seven years prior in the 1996 Outback Bowl in Tampa. That day, the weather was rainy and miserable. On the field, things didn't go much better for Auburn. PSU pulverized the Tigers 43-14. 

Fast forward to the conclusion of Tommy Tuberville's fourth season on the Plains. While his troops had closed out the regular season with a stunning 17-7 upset of #9 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, most of the so-called experts predicted that this contest would be a carbon copy of the previous showdown between these two teams. One of Auburn's top running backs, Ronnie Brown, was healed up from an injury he had sustained against Georgia almost two months earlier. However, Penn State had its own superb running back in Heisman Trophy candidate Larry Johnson, and most of the talking heads believed he would be too much for the Tigers to take. 

Speaking of the talking heads, one particular comment that I'll always remember came from then-ABC studio analyst Terry Bowden (a former Auburn head coach himself). I don't remember what he said word for word, but he started out by solidly praising Auburn's team in general. Then, he ended his analysis by saying, "I'm not so sure they'll be able to pull this one off, though." Man, don't you just love those kinds of views? That's what motivates a team. 

It didn't start out well for the Tigers. On the third play from scrimmage, quarterback Jason Campbell fumbled on his own 15-yard line, and PSU recovered. Despite the odds, though, the Auburn defense held its ground, only allowing the Lions one first down. They had to settle for a 21-yard Robbie Gould field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 10:26 left in the first period. 

After that, it settled into a defensive tussle, as both offenses sputtered. Auburn's first meaningful drive started at the midfield stripe late in the first quarter. They drove 43 yards in 10 plays to the PSU seven. It ended in frustration, as Damon Duval's 24-yard field goal try was blocked by the Lions' Derek Wake. The only other score of the half came once again from Robbie Gould's foot, this time a 27-yard field goal to increase the Lions' margin to 6-0 with 1:44 left in the half. Indeed, it had been a relatively boring opening 30 minutes on both sides of the spectrum. But that changed in the second half. 

​In the third quarter, the Tigers finally got clicking on offense. QB Campbell guided them 74 yards in 13 plays, with the drive being capped by a 1-yard Ronnie Brown plunge on fourth-and-goal. Duval's PAT put Auburn on top, 7-6 with 3:52 remaining in the stanza. That was how it stood as the final quarter began. 

The Nittany Lions responded with their own effective march, going 61 yards in 11 plays. Once again, however, they were kept away from the end zone, and Gould nailed his third field goal of the afternoon, a 31-yarder to put PSU back up by a 9-7 count with 10:10 left to play. It seemed that that would be enough for them, considering how hard points were to come by on this day. 

Not so. With 5:04 to go, Auburn drove 40 yards in just six plays. Just like he had already done once before, Brown completed the series, this time with a 17-yard TD dash. The Tigers went for two, but that failed, as a Campbell pass fell incomplete. Nonetheless, Auburn had a 13-9 advantage with 2:19 left. 

Just three snaps later, the Tigers appeared to lock this one up when Roderick Hood intercepted a Zack Mills pass and returned it 28 yards to the PSU 27. There was still 1:49 to play, though. Auburn couldn't run out the clock, and was forced to punt back to the Lions. With just 42 seconds to go, PSU could crush the Tigers' upset hopes with just a touchdown. 

That didn't happen. The Lions managed to get to Auburn's 35, but at that point, they ran out of time. The Tigers had done what nobody thought they could, pulling off a 13-9 stunner that gave Tommy Tuberville his first bowl victory as Auburn's head coach. 

Ronnie Brown was named the game's MVP, rushing for 184 yards and two TDs. On the other side of the ball, the stubborn Tiger defense had held the heralded Larry Johnson to just 72 yards on 20 carries. The final score reflected both team's offensive performances as a whole. Auburn had managed a mediocre 278 total yards. PSU was held to 268 yards.  

On a sad note, although nobody knew it at the time, this would turn out to be the final football game that the late Auburn play-by-play man (and close friend of mine) Jim Fyffe would ever call. He passed away all too soon and suddenly on May 15th of that year from a brain aneurysm. He was only 57. God rest his soul. His "TOUCHDOWN, AUBURN!" exclamation will forever resound in our ears, hearts, souls and minds. 

That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 



Sunday, April 12th, 2020

Happy Easter, Auburn fans! He is risen!

The Tigers' men's basketball program got a commitment today. Four-star forward JT Thor has verbally pledged to Auburn, he told 247Sports. 

"Really, Bruce Pearl and the class that is coming in, I feel like it gels well with me and I feel like we can have a really good season next year and I'm looking forward to that," Thor explained. Currently attending Norcross (Ga.) High, he chose the Tigers over Oklahoma State. Thor made several unofficial visits to the Plains during the recruiting process, and in so doing, cultivated a meaningful relationship with Coach Pearl. 

"He's a players coach first of all, and he's a winner," Thor said. "He's had players before me that played like me so I feel like I can fit in well to his system and we can make it work." According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Thor currently stands as the No. 51 player overall and the No. 8 power forward. 

​"Shot-making ability, slashing ability, rebounding and I feel like I can score with the ball a lot," he stated. "I feel like I can surprise a lot of people next season." With Thor in the mix, Auburn has jumped into the top 10 of the 247Sports Recruiting Class Rankings. Thor joins five-star guard Sharife Cooper and three-star recruits Chris Moore and Justin Powell to make up their current class. 

Auburn is also a finalist for Jalen Green, who will announce his college choice this coming Friday. 

​That's all for today. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE! 



Friday, April 10th, 2020

Happy Good Friday, everyone. 

Auburn football got a pledge from a graduate transfer yesterday evening. Brandon Council, who is transferring from Akron, announced his commitment to Auburn via Twitter. He picked Gus Malzahn's Tigers over his other finalist, Missouri. The 6-feet-4, 325-pound Council started 24 straight games for the Zips and has experience at several positions. Last season, he made seven starts at left guard, two at center, two at right tackle and one at left tackle. The season prior, in 2018, he started three contests at right tackle before a season-ending injury halted his journey. In 2017, he made nine starts at left guard. 

​For Auburn, this experience may very well be the tonic it needs, as the Tigers must replace four starters on the offensive line. Tackles Prince Tega Wanogho and Jack Driscoll, as well as guards Marquel Harrell and Mike Horton all graduated, as well as backups Kaleb Kim and Bailey Sharp. The lone returning starter from last season is Nick Brahms at center. 

​Council, who was a redshirt junior last season, will have one year of eligibility left at Auburn, which signed five other offensive linemen during the 2020 recruiting cycle, including three high school prospects and two junior college products. 

Wow! Can you believe that I actually had some current news to write about in the midst of this virus pandemic? That said, I'm continuing to pray that this will all go away in God's timing. 

That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE!   

Friday, April 3rd, 2020

Tonight, I finally found time for another random trip down memory lane regarding Auburn football. On October 1st, 2011, the Tigers, under third-year head coach Gene Chizik, traveled to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia to face #10 South Carolina. 

Auburn was 3-1 overall, 1-0 in SEC play. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks, with Steve Spurrier at the helm, were 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the conference. The previous season, the eventual national champion Tigers had beaten South Carolina twice. The first match was a hard-fought 35-27 decision at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The other, however, was quite the contrary - a 56-17 demolition in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Now, one year later, the Gamecocks were determined to extract revenge. But Auburn had other ideas. 

The tone was set on the opening series. South Carolina went three and out, and punted to the Tigers. Auburn proceeded to drive 47 yards in 10 plays, capping the march with a 21-yard Cody Parkey field goal to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead almost five minutes into the match. 

The teams then exchanged turnovers. On the Gamecocks' next possession, running back Marcus Lattimore fumbled and the Tigers' Jonathan Mincy pounced on it at the Carolina 36. Just two plays later, on an end-around trick play, Auburn receiver C.J. Uzomah heaved an interception intended for Quan Bray that was returned 10 yards to SC's 21. That set up a 50-yard touchdown bomb from Stephen Garcia to Alshon Jeffery to give the Gamecocks a 6-3 edge. It remained that way when Auburn's Corey Lemonier blocked the ensuing PAT. 

The Tigers grabbed the lead back on the second play of the second period when running back Michael Dyer plunged in from a yard out. Parkey's extra point, though, hit the right upright to keep the margin at 9-6. With just over a minute left before intermission, Auburn had a chance to increase its lead, but that was dashed when Ryan White threw an interception on a 32-yard fake field goal attempt. Still, the Tigers were up by three at the break. 

When the second half got underway, defense continued to dominate on both sides. But with 5:58 left in the third stanza, South Carolina went back in front when Lattimore scampered 15 yards for the score to cap a swift two-play, 50-yard drive to make it 13-9, Gamecocks. (Just for the record, Lattimore broke at least five tackles on the play. To his credit, it's one of the most impressive runs I've seen.) That was how it stood after three frames. 

It was clear as day that defense and field position were the main attractions on this day. Thankfully, Auburn won the final fight. With 5:27 remaining in the game, the Tigers took over on their own 43 after forcing yet another three-and-out. With quarterback Barrett Trotter at the controls, Auburn drove 57 yards in 12 plays, chewing up 3:49 on the clock. The go-ahead score came on 3rd-and-5 from Carolina's 9. On a tight end throwback play, Trotter rolled right and saw Phillip Lutzenkirchen open on the opposite side of the field. Trotter's toss hit Lutzenkirchen in stride. Touchdown! If you'll recall, the exact same play had been run the season before in the fourth quarter of the Iron Bowl. Back then, Cam Newton, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, was Auburn's signal-caller. He hooked up with the same Lutzenkirchen to give the Tigers a 28-27 lead they would never give up. Now, almost 11 months later, here in Columbia, it was deja vu. This time, the Tigers had a 16-13 lead. 

But there was still 1:38 to play. The determined Gamecocks had more than enough time to win or, at the very least, force overtime with a field goal. They took their best shot, marching to the Tigers' 42 with 8 seconds left. On the ensuing snap, Garcia, under pressure, made an off-balance strike to Bruce Ellington, who scooted to the Auburn 30. At that point, though, time had expired. Coach Spurrier vehemently argued that his team should have had at least a second left when Ellington went down, allowing his team to try a tying field goal. His protests were to no avail. Game over. The defending SEC Champion Tigers had gotten a thrilling 16-13 upset win. SC's bubble had been burst. 

Both teams committed four turnovers. The Gamecocks had been held to 289 yards. Auburn had only slightly bettered that with 358 yards. Another key stat was that the Tigers had held Marcus Lattimore to a paltry 66 yards on 17 carries. 

Auburn's 2011 season wasn't exactly that of a fairy tale, as the Tigers finished 8-5 with a 43-24 win over Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. But on a clear, sunny day on the first weekend in October, Auburn had notched perhaps its most exciting win of that year, showing amazing grit and determination in finding a way to come out on top with the game on the line. 

That's all for now. Until next time, God Bless, and WAR EAGLE!

April 2020