The setting, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The scene, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The stars, Auburn and Missouri. The extras, 60,000+ Auburn fans and several nice folks from Missouri. The ratio was overwhelming, but, of course, Auburn is just over an hour away. These things happen.
We made the trip with our friend Sally Ann. We had lunch with Kim and Murph and Jared and more. We saw some old friends before the game. We saw friends after the game. We had a nice time visiting with Missouri folks during the game. It was a fine day.
The best sign of the day:
Yep. No miracles needed. Just a lot of offense and some situational defense. But before you get to all that, here’s an almost-fair representation of the fan ratio:
Met this genius. I asked if he left the tags on his Missouri so he could take them back to the store after the game. His son said he did. Brilliant. Not “Let me sell these tickets and get some Christmas money or a mortgage payment” but, instead, “Let me see if I can make something funny out of this.”
Well, he saw a show, for sure. (Also that picture got picked up by CBS and plenty of other folks. It was seen by more than 216,000 Twitter accounts. Crazy.)
Cassanova McKinzy and Dee Ford say hello to James Franklin. That guy is tall and statuesque. He doesn’t take a drop, and he’s capable of picking apart a defense. Also, he can run. He did all of those things today, he also met more defenders than he liked:
Tre Mason, who is a man:
Tre Mason, who ran a lot:
Cassanova McKinzy pressures James Franklin again. McKinzy had something of a breakout game, leading the team in tackles:
See? Franklin just stands there, towering over everyone and flicking the ball to whomever he likes. He’s a serious threat:
Ricardo Louis, the hero of the miracle at Jordan-Hare, just running your standard jet sweep. He picked up 43 yards on three carries:
Tre Mason, who is a man, broke Bo Jackson’s school record for total yards in a single season:
Tre Mason, who is a man, also broke Cam Newton’s school record for most touchdowns in a season. He came within four yards (four!) of breaking the single-game rushing record, which has stood for 70 yards.
These guys up front are the ones that make it all happen. No one has talked about them much, but there’s at least one eventual first-rounders in there and at least three NFL caliber players. They have been pushing defenses around all season. From top to bottom: Greg Robinson, Alex Kozan, Reese Dismukes , Chad Slade, Avery Young and, behind them, fullback Jay Prosch.
Nick Marshall was 9 of 11 for 132 yards and a big touchdown pass to Sammie Coates:
Marshall also had 101 yards and a touchdown rushing:
Four different players scored on the ground for Auburn, including speedster Corey Grant:
The wirecam is carrying the ball to Ricardo Louis:
Tre Mason scored four touchdowns, cementing his incredible argument for Heisman consideration.
Anyone that’s watched this team play this year should know by now to never sell those young men short. There are 12 seniors on the team and in their four and five years they’ve been to a championship, lost teammates, lost family, gone 3-9, changed coaches and now are celebrating in confetti.
Auburn has done all they can do. The Tigers are 12-1 and SEC champions. They wrapped their season against a resurgent Georgia, top-ranked Alabama and a top 10 Missouri squad. All of those teams had great statistical defenses and Auburn got statistically better against each one. They are on the short list of best teams in school history and easily the most entertaining squad in recent memory. The final today was 59-42. There were only fleeting moments of defense but, if you didn’t watch, the game never felt that close.
Oh, and by virtue of Michigan State downing the laughable Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. We watched that in a chain restaurant in Newnan, Ga., where we ran into more friends. Because of that game, Auburn is once again going to the BCS championship game.
We sit near people in Jordan-Hare Stadium that waited 53 years, from 1957 to 2010, to see another championship run. Now we’re going to watch Auburn chase a championship for a second time in just four years. My. Goodness. War Eagle.
