GRIBBLE COLUMN: More than bragging rights on the line

Walter McFadden is a junior, an everyday starter and a veteran of two Iron Bowls.

He’s fully aware of the super-sized hype that surrounds the Iron Bowl, now in its 115th year and 73rd installment. Yet his roommate, fellow junior cornerback Jerraud Powers, feels the need to kick him in the pants around this time of year, just to make sure McFadden, a Florida native, really gets it.

“We try to tell him people are going to get divorced because of this game,” said Powers, who hails from Decatur. “They’re going to lose their job because of this game, people are going to get beat up and everything.

“He doesn’t believe me. He thinks Florida-Miami or Florida-Florida State, that that rivalry is bigger, but I think he understands now.”

He understands. The non-stop reminders have drilled it into McFadden’s head. This game means much more than Auburn getting bowl-eligible and Alabama finishing the regular season undefeated.

At least that’s what the company line has been since Kodi Burns’ pass sailed just out of Ben Tate’s reach to clinch Auburn’s 17-13 loss to Georgia nearly two weeks ago.

“This is what you come to Auburn for.”

“Throw out all the records for this game.”

“This is what it’s all about.”

Tired of the clichés yet? You’re not alone, but it’s the difference in these clichés that makes the Iron Bowl that much different than the first 11 games of the season.

Before the Iron Bowl, it’s always, “this game means just as much as the next one,” or, as defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said recently:

“I know the importance of this game and the next game,” the first-year coordinator said, referring to Auburn’s final two games against Georgia and Alabama. “I also know the importance of Tennessee-Martin and Louisiana-Monroe.”

Sorry, coach, but your players, and even coach Tommy Tuberville disagree.

“You want to give your fans the opportunity to walk in to a restaurant, Wal-Mart or business and be able to brag about the game,” Tuberville said. “It is only a game; it is not life or death.

“If there is anything close to that, then it would probably be the emotions of this game.”

Translation: A win Saturday would mean a little more than the 37-20 win over the Skyhawks and a loss would be a bit more devastating than that 34-17 loss at West Virginia.

Losing this season has been far from out of the ordinary to this year’s Auburn Tigers, but losing “the game you come to Auburn for” is completely foreign.

Even nose guard Tez Doolittle, Auburn’s sixth-year senior, has yet to lose to Alabama.

As Tuberville said in an interview with ESPN Radio on Wednesday, it’s been nearly 2,600 days since Auburn lost to Alabama.

Think of it as extra motivation, and just another reason to start a cliché waterfall.

“It would mean so much,” senior wide receiver Rod Smith said. “If we get this win, it’d be like the icing on the cake. We’ve been through so much … it’d be like a reward for us.”

Yes, Smith just set the table for yet another source of motivation.

At numerous points during this woeful season, Auburn players and coaches have been asked about and discussed how the season can be salvaged.

Well, after numerous tries and all but one failure since that Sept. 27 win over Tennessee, time has run its course.

“I’m probably more excited about this one than I was last year’s game just because of the situation,” Powers said. “Bama’s got a lot at stake, they got a lot on the table playing against us. And we got a lot on the table, just not as much as they do.

“Just going in there being the underdog, and our back against the wall and everybody expecting us to lose, I’m pumped up about it.”

Andrew Gribble covers Auburn University athletics for the Opelika-Auburn News. He may be reached at agribble@oanow.com or 737-2561.