One and Three. Never before has Auburn lost three games before the end of September. But I'm happy this week! Why? Because we took on the number 2 team in the country and ALMOST beat them. We only allowed one touchdown and one field goal, and unfortunately one safety that made the difference in the game. 12-10. Wow.
This game is a perfect example of what being a fan means. Ben and I took the motor home down and spent the weekend on campus. My Dad was somewhat concerned about the welfare of his motor home because I tend to get a little, ahem, angry when my team loses. I think his exact words when I told him I was going to the LSU game were, "Oh, damn, you'll have that bus torn all to hell after that game." Like I'm some kind of psychopath or something. He and a few others made comments along the lines of, "Why would you want to go all the way down there to watch Auburn lose?" My response is that the games are played for a reason; miracles do happen; and I would hate myself if one happened and I missed it. Well, one almost happened this week, folks. And I would've been super upset if I had not been there.
Let me tell you this. Being a fan does not mean only going to the games that you expect to win. In fact, your team needs you the most when they're all but guaranteed to lose. How demoralizing would it be to take the field against a heavily favored team AT HOME with hardly anyone wearing your colors in the stands? That did not happen this week. The Auburn Family was out in full force. It was one of the loudest games I've ever heard in Jordan-Hare (or anywhere else, for that matter). You'd be crazy to think that atmosphere didn't boost our team's morale.
Our defense was masterful this week. The offense really couldn't get much going, which gave the defense very little time to rest. I was worried when the guys started to look tired midway through the first quarter. But somehow they tapped more energy and played like warriors through the entire game. At one point they disallowed NINE third-down conversions in a row. Third down has been the bane of my existence so far this season when we're on defense, but this week it wasn't so bad. This week, they answered the Under Armour call to Protect This House. The offense didn't look great (Kiehl had a couple more interceptions, which unfortunately are becoming pretty common), but I keep trying to remember that they were playing against a very good LSU defense.
My only disappointments are that (1) we had some stupid penalties and turnovers that, if even one of them hadn't happened, could've changed the outcome of this game; and (2) if our team played this well every week, we would've won our first three games. Unfortunately, it seems like we play up to our hyped-up opponents and just go through the motions with the rest. Or maybe the new defense just clicked this week and we just need the new offense to click so we can keep getting better. Who knows?
All I know is that I'm insanely proud of our team for fighting so hard, and I wish we didn't have to say we were one and three. After the effort and closeness of that game, we should at least be able to claim 1 1/2 and 2 1/2.
This week's Weagles go to every single player who played a down on defense. Excellent job, gentlemen. Also, every Auburn fan in the crowd (yes, including myself) gets a Weagle. We rocked that stadium.
Next week is an open date (whatever will I do?), then we tackle Arkansas (hopefully literally).
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