BlAUging: SEC Championship Game: December 7, 2013

So I'm sure you've been wondering if I was ever going to post this blog.  Or maybe you haven't, but I just like to imagine everyone looks forward to my post-game blogging.  Ha!  Anyway, we had a crazy December, and I just never got around to writing it.  I actually don't have time to write it now, but we leave for the BCS National Championship game in Pasadena tomorrow, and I have to get it written before that game on Monday, so here goes:

 

We, of course, had a great time in Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.  We stayed in the Perimeter Mall area, and I got to have an early lunch with some high school friends before the game.  I always love taking advantage of game travel to have mini-reunions with friends!

 

The best of JCHS: Kim, Joy, and me

 

We rode the MARTA to the stadium for the game, which actually turned out to be a better experience than I had imagined.  Of course getting there was no problem, as fans were trickling into downtown all day.  Getting back, however, everyone was leaving at the same time, and I was worried that the wait for a train would be ridiculous.  We actually did not end up waiting in line at all, though, and we were able to get on the first train that came after we got into the station.  We were packed on there like sardines with thousands of our closest friends, but we were on the train!  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

We got to the Georgia Dome area about two and a half hours before the game and headed to SEC Fanfare.  We walked around there for about an hour, and the thing I noticed the most was that we didn't see very many Mizzou fans.  There were Auburn people everywhere, but very few Mizzou folks. 

 

One of the views of the crowd at Fanfare.  The guy in front is a Mizzou fan, but do you see any others?

 

I started to think that maybe they wouldn't have a good turn-out because of the weather in Missouri.  Apparently they had a huge snow storm on Thursday and Friday before the game.  We were talking to a couple of Mizzou freshman girls on the MARTA, and they had driven down together in a Mustang (of all cars) in a blizzard.  My first thought was that their parents must have been worried sick about them, and then I realized how old I have gotten.  Laura Shoun, if you're reading this, you may remember US driving through a blizzard to get to/from Mardi Gras when we were young undergrads, and I'm sure your Mom was praying all night for us (I had decided not to inform my Mom that we were making the trip, so I'm sure she slept just fine that night - ha!).  My, how times have changed.

 

Anyway, after we had had our fill of Fanfare, we headed on into the Dome to check out our seats.  As it turns out, we were only one section away from where we sat at the 2010 SEC Championship.  As the Dome filled up, I realized that the crowd was, in fact, at least 75% Auburn; and it didn't appear to be due to bad weather in Missouri.  There were no empty seats indicating that a lot of people got stuck and were unable to come.  Of course, I realize that Atlanta is much more convenient to Auburn than to Mizzou, but I was really surprised at the lack of travel effort by Mizzou fans. 

 

These are panoramic shots I took to show the small percentage of the crowd wearing black and gold.

 

I will say this for the Mizzou fans who did show up, though.  They were very gracious, very nice people.  They were the type of fans that make football games fun, rather than a grudge match.  Several Mizzou folks came up to us after the game (even in a restaurant near our hotel where we were eating dinner), congratulated us, and complimented our team.  In general, Mizzou fans are class acts, and I look forward to visiting their campus one of these days.  I'm sure we will get some great hospitality. 

 

And speaking of class acts, we had some younger guys (probably recent Auburn grads, if I were guessing) sitting in front of us, and one of them was a bit, um, overserved.  He got a little excited at one point in the game and sloshed some of his beverage on the middle-aged lady in front of him.  She was nice about it, and I was able to hold Ben in check (you may remember that a spilled drink almost incited him to violence at the Iron Bowl - hahahahaha).  It happened again a little bit later, though.  The lady was still nice about it, and Ben still kept his wits about him, but the drink-spiller's friend (who had stopped drinking when he realized his friend was getting a little crazy) took the drink away, left his seat, went out to one of the souvenir stands in the concourse, and bought the lady a dry t-shirt.  Super proud of that guy's upbringing.   

 

Okay, back to the game.  We won 59-42, but it always felt like the game was closer than that.  It seemed like we were just trading touchdowns with Mizzou for most of the game and that the team who had the ball last would win.  We also had a couple of turnovers that gave Mizzou some points that I would rather they didn't get.  But in the end, our defense stepped up and held Mizzou to some field goals, or no points at all, on a few possessions; and our offense continued to add points.  I was awfully proud of the way the whole team played.  Auburn rushed for 545 net yards, and most commentators said we wouldn't be able to rush against the Mizzou defense (of course they said that about Georgia and Alabama, too).  I will say that our defense also gave up a lot of yards (most of them passing yards), but luckily they made some big stops when it counted, and our offense was able to keep up with Mizzou's offense. 

 

I love the fact that this picture has a shaker and a # 1 finger in it.

 

Weagles for the SEC Championship are as follows: Three to Tre Mason, who alone rushed for 306 net yards!!  Three Hundred Six Yards!  Unheard of.  One to Nick Marshall, who rushed for 115 yards and passed for another 132.  One to Sammie Coates for 94 receiving yards.  One to each of our defensive players for holding Mizzou to 2 of 12 on third down conversions, 1 of 3 on fourth down conversions, and to just two touchdowns in the four times Mizzou was in the Red Zone.  Y'all can keep bending, but please just don't break.  You make these people so happy:

 

 

 

After the game, we went to dinner and then went back to the hotel to watch the Ohio State/Michigan State game.  Obviously, since I am going to Pasadena tomorrow, you know that Michigan State beat Ohio State and knocked them out of the National Championship game.  Thanks, Spartans, and congratulations on your Rose Bowl win. 

 

I'll try to be a little more timely on my report after the National Championship game, although I will be in California until the Friday after the game, so I know I won't get it done before then.  Florida State is definitely a great team, and this is going to be a really tough game.  Their strength on offense pretty much matches up perfectly with our weakness on defense, and they have a good defense as well.  I go back and forth on whether I think we will win or not, but I would never bet against my Tigers.  Stay tuned!