​​Lyle's Corner

March 2020

Thursday, March 26th, 2020

Yes, I'm still out there. Yes, I'm well aware of the ongoing coronavirus and the beyond significant impact it's had on everything in our world - including Auburn athletics. 

It's quite a bummer to know that there will be no NCAA Basketball Tournament, no baseball season and no spring football, isn't it? Of course it is. With all of that in mind, I've spent the past couple of weeks trying to figure out where to go from here. 

In conclusion, I've decided that I certainly don't want my blog to become an uneventful wasteland just because there are no live sporting events to look forward to for a while. I try to remember that, Good Lord willing, that day will come when this deadly virus will die down and allow us to resume our normal lives. It's in His timing, not ours. 

We will get Auburn athletics back sooner or later, but until then, I'm going to write about my favorite Auburn football games as frequently as time allows. My picks will be random instead of chronological. 

Today, I'll talk about the 2014 Ole Miss game. Man, that was a wild one! On November 1st of that year, with Gus Malzahn in his second year at the helm, the 4th-ranked Tigers traveled to Oxford to face No. 7 Ole Miss. By the end of this one, the two teams would roll up 989 combined yards of offense (Auburn with 502, UM with 487).

​The Tigers drew first blood when quarterback Nick Marshall plowed in from two yards out to cap an 8-play, 73-yard march and take a 7-0 lead with 12:04 left in the first period. The Rebels responded with four minutes left in the quarter on a 4-yard scamper by I'Tavius Mathers to finish a 92-yard, 11-play drive and tie it up at 7-all. 

​Ole Miss went on top in the second stanza on a 10-yard scoring pass from Bo Wallace to Laquon Treadwell to make it a 14-7 Rebel advantage with 6:02 left in the half. But the Tigers fired back with 1:24 remaining on a 57-yard bomb from QB Marshall to Sammie Coates to again knot the count at 14-apiece. UM, however, reclaimed the lead 17-14 on a 47-yard Gary Wunderlich field goal at the halftime buzzer. But things would only get more intense from there. 

​In the third quarter, it began to look like a Hotty Toddy night when Bo Wallace hooked up with Evan Engram on a 50-yard TD strike to give UM a 24-14 cushion with 10:36 remaining in the period. Auburn, however, quickly fired back with a 7-play, 73-yard drive capped by Marshall's second rushing score of the night, a 2-yard plunge. That cut the Ole Miss margin to 24-21 with 8:30 left in the stanza.  

The Tigers later grabbed a 28-24 advantage with 1:59 remaining in the period on a 17-yard touchdown toss from Marshall to Marcus Davis. That was how it stood with 15 minutes to go. Just 34 seconds into the final quarter, UM went in front again when Wallace dashed in from three yards out to make it 31-28, Rebels. The play capped a 7-play, 75-yard drive. 

With 10:23 left to play, though, the never-say-die Tigers retaliated with a 6-yard TD jaunt by Cameron Artis-Payne to complete a 9-play, 75-yard journey and put Auburn on top to stay at 35-31 with 10:23 remaining. The scoring was completed, but the action was not. 

With 6:31left, the Rebels appeared destined to retake the lead when they drove to the Tiger six-yard line. But Auburn's defense came through with a big play, as Derrick Moncrief forced QB Wallace to fumble and Kris Frost recovered. A few minutes later, they would dodge another bullet in a more notorious way. 

With just over a minute and a half left, Ole Miss was inside Auburn's 25 when Wallace connected with Treadwell once more on a middle screen pass. Treadwell dodged several would-be tackles and battled his way to paydirt for the score. The Rebels had the lead again.....or so they thought. But wait! The ball had come loose near the goal line. Had Treadwell fumbled before scoring? The Tigers certainly thought so.

The officials reviewed the play carefully for what seemed like an eternity. Then the verdict finally came to light: Yes. He had indeed fumbled. Auburn's Kris Frost stripped the ball loose and Cassanova McKinzy recovered in the end zone. Auburn had the ball again, and its lead was safe! However, the play itself was overshadowed by the fact that Treadwell had dislocated his ankle on the play. It was a scary sight. He got well wishes and support from numerous fans on both sides, and endured intense rehabilitation to heal the injury. As of now, he has just joined the NFL Atlanta Falcons. God Bless that kid for overcoming such a painful obstacle!

But back to this game. Ole Miss did get one last chance in the closing seconds and was at midfield with 10 seconds left. But a brief game of hot potato on the final play went nowhere. The Tigers had come out on top 35-31 in an incredible offensive battle. Auburn's only disappointing stat lay in penalties, as the Tigers were flagged 13 times for a total of 145 yards. But the scoreboard, of course, mattered most. The Tigers improved to 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the SEC.

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

Monday, March 9th, 2020

​Auburn football is nearing completion of its 2024 non-conference schedule. According to FBSchedules.com, the Tigers have agreed to a non-conference home tangle with Louisiana-Monroe for the 2024 campaign. That's the third such game on Auburn's slate for that season, with the others being a Sept. 7th home meeting with Cal and a Sept. 14th home tilt with New Mexico. 

The Tigers are set to meet ULM on Nov. 16th, 2024 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. It will be the 12th all-time meeting between the two, with Auburn still undefeated at 11-0. They last squared off in 2017, with Auburn winning 42-14 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Let's all hope that we don't fall victim to a humiliating upset.....as was the case with Alabama - yes, our arch-rival - in 2007. (Ha, ha.)

A list of the Tigers' non-conference games through 2028 follows:

2020

​Sept. 5th vs. Alcorn State

​Sept. 12th vs. North Carolina (in Atlanta)

Sept. 26th vs. Southern Miss

​Nov. 14th vs. UMass

2021

​Sept 4th vs. Akron

​Sept. 18th at Penn State

​Sept. 25th vs. Georgia State

​Nov. 20th vs. Alabama State

2022​

​Sept. 3rd vs. Mercer

​Sept. 10th vs. San Jose State

​Sept. 17th vs. Penn State

​Nov. 19th vs. Western Kentucky

2023

​Sept. 2nd vs. UMass

Sept. 9th at Cal

Nov. 18th vs. New Mexico State

2024

​Sept. 7th vs. Cal

Sept. 14th vs. New Mexico

Nov. 16th vs. ULM

2025

​Aug. 30th at Baylor

Sept. 13th vs. South Alabama

2026

​Sept. 5th vs. Baylor

2027

​Sept. 4th at UCLA​

2028

​Sept. 2nd vs. UCLA

In other news.....

​- The baseball team completed a sweep of Chicago State yesterday afternoon with a 9-0 win in Plainsman Park. The Tigers will return to action tomorrow night in another home match, this time with Georgia Tech. The game is set for 6 p.m. CT, and will be televised by the SEC Network. 

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



Saturday, March 7th, 2020

Here I am once more with another short and sweet input on Auburn's 85-63 victory at Tennessee today. 

Read that final score again. Saying that this game was a "victory" is a gross understatement. The Tigers never trailed, and although the Vols, to their credit, did manage to trim Auburn's lead to six at one point in the second half, the outcome was never truly in doubt. It was the program's largest win over the Big Orange in program history. 

Samir Doughty, in particular, made sure that his teammates would leave Knoxville happy. He tallied 32 points on the day (one short of his career high), including eight 3-pointers. As a team, Auburn had a commanding 42-26 lead in rebounds, and forced 11 turnovers also.  

Simply put, this romp reminded me of the 2004 and 2013 football teams who went to the same city and beat the same team in utterly dominating fashion (34-10 and 55-23, respectively). The Tigers finish the regular season at 25-6 overall, 12-6 in conference play. This win, combined with Florida's loss to Kentucky today, puts Auburn at the No. 2 seed entering next week's SEC Tournament in Nashville. Bruce Pearl's troops will play their first game next Friday evening at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. They won four games in as many days last season. 

Now, a big question remains: Can the Tigers come back down to Earth and stay focused after such a lopsided decision today? 

In other news.....

- The baseball team won the first two games in its home series with Chicago State yesterday and today by respective scores of 6-0 and 16-2. Auburn will be looking for the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. CT in Plainsman Park. The game will be available online at SECN+.

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



Thursday, March 5th, 2020

​It's been a busy day for me, so I'm going to once again be blunt on this post. Auburn's 78-75 loss to Texas A&M in Auburn Arena last night was nothing short of heartbreaking. It looked like all hope was lost when the Tigers trailed by nine with 31 seconds left, but they battled back to pull to within three and have a chance to force overtime. Unfortunately, Danjel Purifoy's game-tying trey attempt at the buzzer glanced off the back iron. He finished the evening with nine points. 

Samir Doughty led the Tiger offense with a game-high 25 points, while Isaac Okoro and Austin Wiley had 15 apiece. However, 16 turnovers hurt Bruce Pearl's squad. This was certainly not the wonderful Senior Night that they envisioned. 

While it would be impossible to pinpoint one specific reason behind this, it's clear to me that the Tigers have regressed in the past month. This season has been far from nightmarish, but the team has hit a wall in a way that certainly isn't typical of Pearl-coached teams. 

Whatever the reason, Auburn has slipped to 24-6 overall, 11-6 in SEC play. They will have one last chance for redemption in a trip to Tennessee on Saturday for the regular-season finale. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2. The Tigers will have plenty of work to do if they expect to make it very far in SEC Tournament play.  

In other news.....

- The baseball team will begin a home series with Chicago State in Plainsman Park tomorrow night. That game is set for 6 p.m. CT, while Saturday and Sunday's games are set for 2 p.m. CT and 1 p.m. CT, respectively. All of them will be available online at SECN+.

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



Monday, March 2nd, 2020

​Auburn football's annual A-Day game will ​​​​be telecast nationally on ESPN2 on April 11th. 

Auburn is one of only two spring scrimmages from the SEC to be seen on national television this year. LSU's scrimmage will also air on ESPN2 on April 2nd. The league's 12 other scrimmages will be available on SECN+, an online component of the ESPN-owned SEC Network. 

​Auburn's A-Day scrimmage has been set for 1 p.m. CT on April 11th in Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be ESPN's now-annual "Referee Game," which will feature ESPN personalities officiating the scrimmage alongside SEC officials.

​The Tigers' A-Day game will conclude a 15-practice schedule this spring. Spring practice will begin March 16th. In addition, Auburn will welcome back players and coaches to celebrate and recognize the 2010 national championship team as part of a year-long celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the team winning the BCS national title. The team will be honored on A-Day. 

In other news....

- The men's basketball team will host Texas A&M in Auburn Arena on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. 

​- The baseball team completed a sweep of Wright State with a 6-0 win yesterday afternoon. The Tigers will return to action tomorrow night at 6 p.m. CT when they host Samford in Plainsman Park. The game will be available online at SECN+.

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