Auburn looking ahead after 36-0 Iron Bowl flop
By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: November 29, 2008
Auburn lost the Iron Bowl 36-0. If I’m the first one to let you know that, well, you may not exactly be an Auburn fan.
Because I need to get back to Auburn before the wee, wee hours, here are a few snippets from what we’ve got going in tomorrow’s big Sunday paper.
TUSCALOOSA—Deep-six The Streak. No. 1 Alabama is wagging the most powerful finger in the state now.
The expected result came in an unexpected way, as the Tigers fell disastrously flat Saturday in a 36-0 Iron Bowl blanking to the Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Tommy Tuberville’s six-game Iron Bowl winning streak, along with Auburn’s season, is over. The Tigers won’t be participating in a post-season bowl game for the first time since 1999 – Tuberville’s first season with the program.
“All good streaks have to come to an end,” Tuberville said. “And it came to a screeching halt tonight.”
And here’s the analysis angle:
TUSCALOOSA—Week by week since Tony Franklin’s dismissal, the talk about Auburn’s offense, specifically quarterback Kodi Burns, was optimistic. Improvement, coaches said, was being made every game.
Day by day since Auburn’s surprising loss at Vanderbilt, the Tigers defense has talked about getting healthy. Just wait, players said, when the whole unit is back to full strength.
After Saturday’s 36-0 Iron Bowl blanking to No. 1 Alabama, Auburn will have more than nine months to think about what could have been of a season that started with a No. 10 ranking and a projected spot in the SEC Conference game.
More importantly, though, the focus will steer toward how it can prevent 2008 from ever happening again.
“In this conference and in college football, you’re going to have up and down years,” said coach Tommy Tuberville, who lost just his third Iron Bowl and first since 2001, snapping a six-game streak. “I have total confidence that I can get this thing turned around.
“It was my fault that we got it this way in terms of our offense.”
And then what everyone is talking about. Tommy Tuberville said he’s committed to Auburn. But is Auburn committed to him? We’ll find out soon enough.
TUSCALOOSA—Tommy Tuberville said he’s young enough, plenty motivated and a few moves here and there from putting Auburn back among the elite teams in college football.
He’ll just have to wait a couple more days to see if he’ll have a chance to turn around a team whose 2008 struggles were totally his fault, Tuberville said.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville’s future at Auburn will likely become clearer in the coming weeks. Tuberville will meet with athletic director Jay Jacobs and Dr. Jay Gogue sometime in the near future, but no sooner than Tuesday, as Tuberville said he will be out recruiting.
Jacobs has said that he will take Tuberville’s entire body of work into consideration when evaluating the 10-year coach. Gogue has said he will take a recommendation from Jacobs before ultimately making his decision.
Neither has said Tuberville will return for 2009, but neither has given any indication that he will not.
Tuberville remained ambiguous when asked if a positive endorsement would ease his mind and, perhaps, the minds of potential recruits.
“I’m sure they’ll evaluate that,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville’s 5-7, 2008 season was his worst at Auburn since 1999 – his first year with the program. He is 85-40 all-time with the Tigers and has led the team to eight bowl games in 10 years, including an undefeated 2004 season where Auburn was left out of the National Championship game.
Before this season, Tuberville signed a two-year contract extension, which included a $200,000 annual raise. The extension elongated his contract through 2013 and included a buyout that currently stands at $6 million. It will drop to $5 million in 2009 and $4 million after that if Tuberville leaves for another job or is fired.
Several players, current and now former, endorsed Tuberville after Saturday’s 36-0 Iron Bowl loss to Alabama.
“I don’t know where it comes from,” senior center Jason Bosley said. “I mean, when you’re in adversity, the cream of the crop rises to the top and so do the turds. That’s just the way it is.
“People start pointing fingers real quick and it’s easy to point fingers at the head coach, but it shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion right now.”
Tuberville acknowledged the discussion by making his pitch toward how he can help the Tigers in the years ahead, while taking complete blame for this year’s tumult.
“We’ve just got to get back to being consistent in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, get a face to what we are,” Tuberville said. “Again, we just never could put a finger on what we really wanted to do and how to do it.”
Auburn’s identity crisis centered on the failed Tony Franklin experiment, which was completely Tuberville’s fault, Tuberville said.
With the hiring of a new offensive coordinator, which Tuberville expects to bring in by early January, Auburn can quickly regain its prominent standing in the SEC, Tuberville said.
“We’ve got to get back to realize who we are and what we want to be,” Tuberville said. “When you do that, then you’ve got an opportunity to go forward and have a lot more consistency.”
Tuberville also, without prompting, acknowledged the speculation that his longtime assistant coaches, particularly on the offensive side, played a major factor in Auburn’s sub-.500 season.
“I put them in a bind,” Tuberville said. “I’m the one that put their back to the wall. I thought the offensive staff did a heck of a job of overnight coming up with something to even give ourselves a chance.”
Tuberville said he will evaluate his entire staff in the upcoming months, but is in no rush to do so because Auburn’s 2008 season has come to a close.
