BlAUging: BCS National Championship game: January 6, 2014 (part deux)

So you know about our trials and tribulations in getting ourselves to Pasadena for the game.  Now I'll tell you about the game experience itself.

First of all, the Rose Bowl is a HOLE.  Yes, it's historic, and the setting is beautiful (especially the mountains behind the stadium).  I'm glad we got to see it, but I hope I never have to go back to it. 

First, it doesn't have an upper deck, so the 30 or so tunnels around the stadium are used by all 95,000 (approximately) people who enter the stadium.  Those tunnels are about three and a half feet wide, so you pretty much have to go in single-file.  Auburn did a good job of warning us of this situation and advising us to get into the stadium early, so we didn't have any problems on our way in (we went in almost two hours before the game started). 

Get there early, and you have no problems. Until you have to leave, anyway.

People were still coming in well after the game started, however, and were complaining that the line to get through the tunnels was ridiculous.  Apparently the event staff regulates entry by letting 10 people go in at a time (I guess so they don't bog down the walkways inside the stadium?).  To make matters worse, there are no "concourses" in the stadium and, thus, no concessions stands or restrooms.  You had to go all the way outside the stadium (through the tunnels) to get to the bathrooms or food stands, and of course you had to come back in through the tunnels.  We opted not to get anything to eat or drink and make it through the game without having to go to the bathroom (not a big deal for me, as that's how I usually do football games.  Who wants to miss any of the action while you're in the bathroom?). 

In addition to the tunnel issue, the logistics of getting to and from the stadium are absolutely ridiculous.  I'm going to estimate that there are about 4,000 parking spaces within walking distance of the stadium, which seats about 95,000 people.  All of the off-site parking and the local light rail system filter people to a central location in old downtown Pasadena for shuttle pick-up.  Again, this was not much of a problem getting to the game, as we went several hours early for the Auburn Alumni Association tailgate party, and people pretty much trickled to the Rose Bowl over a period of several hours rather than all coming at once. 

The tailgate party was 7,500 strong.  Now that's a party.  And it sure beats taking your own tailgating gear cross-country, especially when you can't park on-site.

Leaving the game, however, was a different story.  Due to the tunnel situation, it took us 45 minutes to get from our seats to the outside of the stadium.  After that, it took us about an hour and a half to (1) walk approximately 1.5 miles to the end of the line for the shuttle back to our car; and (2) wait in that line to get on the shuttle.  After THAT, we were on the shuttle for an hour and 15 minutes for the trip back to our car (which only took about 15 minutes on our way to the stadium).  It was about a 20-minute drive back to our hotel, so the total time elapsed from the end of the game to getting back to our hotel was longer than the time it took for the game to be played.  Unbelievable.  If Auburn had won the game, I probably would've been a little more tolerant of this process, but it still would've been extremely maddening.  Apparently this system is used EVERY WEEK for the UCLA and USC games that are played there, and I have no idea how people do that every week.  Remember that we didn't go out for concessions during the BCSNC game, so we hadn't eaten since the tailgate party at about 3:00 that afternoon.  By the time we got back to our car that night, it was 11:30, and we were STARVING.  We couldn't find any restaurants that were open that late on a Monday night (except an In-N-Out Burger that was PACKED) until we got off at the exit for our hotel and found a Burger King that was closing in 10 minutes.  A fast food burger has NEVER tasted so good, believe me. 

But anyway, about the game itself: Man, Auburn started out on fire.  We quickly established an 18-point lead, but I never let myself get comfortable.  I remembered the Georgia game, after all, when we led by 20 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter and almost lost the game.  Just before the half, it appeared that Auburn's defense had stopped FSU yet again on third down and that we would go into halftime with that commanding lead.  I think if that had happened, FSU might've been finished.  Instead, however, FSU tried a fake punt on fourth down, which they executed very well and converted to a new set of downs.  They were able to score a touchdown before halftime, which left us with only an 11-point lead at the half.  Anybody's game.  I really think that fake punt was the turning point in the game. It gave FSU some momentum and got their crowd back in the game. 

To make your experience more real, I'm going to do a halftime for my blog and fill you in on an interesting situation that occurred during the game.  :-) This weird guy was standing in the aisle beside our seats.  He had a backpack that he kept picking up and setting back down.  He didn't have on any team colors and was just acting really weird.  So the guy in front of us (we'll call him "Homeland Security") asks him, "What's the deal with the backpack?"  The guy (who we'll call "Potential Terrorist") says, "Oh, am I bothering you?"  Homeland Security says, "Well, your backpack is."  So Potential Terrorist moves back about 10 rows and continues standing in the aisle.  We all keep an eye on him, and finally Homeland Security can't stand it anymore.  He begins the long trek to find a security officer to deal with the situation.  If you see something, say something, right?  While he's gone, Potential Terrorist sees an empty seat on the aisle a few rows below us (that person had gotten up, presumably to go to the bathroom or concessions stand, approximately 30 minutes before) and goes and sits in it.  When security finally got up to us, they just walked up to Potential Terrorist; he stood up; and they escorted him out of the stadium.  No questions, no scene, no nothing.  So weird.  But Homeland Security possibly saved our lives, so thanks for that.    

Okay, halftime's over: back to the game.  The third quarter was pretty dismal for both sides.  FSU scored one field goal (cutting our lead to 8), and we didn't score at all.  In the fourth quarter, however, FSU scored 21 to our 10.  The game was so close, though.  FSU's score to take the lead occurred with 4:31 on the game clock when they ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.  I've got to admit; I was shocked.  Our special teams have always been, well, SPECIAL.  This hardly ever happens to us.  What are the odds?!  Anyway, we came back and scored after that on a 37-yard run by Tre Mason, which gave us the lead again with 1:19 to go.  We can do this, right?  We can hold this lead!  Unfortunately, no.  Both teams were rolling pretty well in the fourth quarter, and I think that either one of us could've won the game depending on how much time was left on the clock.  Unfortunately, time ran out on us after FSU's last touchdown with 13 seconds to go, and they won by 3 points.  Of course, we made a valiant effort in that last 13 seconds, and I didn't truly believe we were going to lose the game until the clock was at 00:00.  I mean, of course we would come back in 13 seconds and take the lead again.  That's what our entire season has been like.  Let's do this!! 

Unfortunately, there was no miracle finish to this game, so the what-ifs started.  We could've had a tie if there hadn't been a missed field goal in the second quarter.  An easy 33-yard field goal that Cody Parkey makes 99 times out of 100.  Again, what are the odds?  And if we had only stopped that kickoff return.  Even if FSU had scored on that possession, if we just hadn't let them return the ball for a touchdown, we would've eaten well more than 13 seconds off the clock and not given them time for their last score.  If you look at the stats, we should've won the game!  We were 10 of 18 on third down conversions.  They were 2 of 12 (and, of course, 1 of 1 on that fateful fourth-down conversion).  We had almost 100 more rushing yards than FSU, and only 20 fewer passing yards.  Frustrating, yes, but I will never be disappointed in this team or this season. 

This team got its heart back this year.  Last year, I was so frustrated because they just seemed to give up a lot of the time.  This year, there was no giving up.  Even in the lone loss to LSU, we were down by a mile and battled back and made it a ballgame in the second half (too little too late, unfortunately, but still - they never gave up!).  I knew this season had great potential to be special when we beat Texas A&M.  I thought, you know, if we can beat them AT Texas A&M, we can beat anybody.  I said after the 2010 season that I would gladly relive the 2008 season (which was terrible) again if I could relive 2010 two years later.  Well, 2012 was worse than 2008, and I lived through it.  We ALMOST relived 2010 this year (one year early, if you're keeping count).  So I have high hopes for next year.  We will miss our Seniors and those (including Tre Mason and Greg Robinson) who left early for the NFL Draft, but we still have a lot of talent on this team, and we're recruiting to keep building for the future.  Nothing to be ashamed of or disappointed about, as far as I'm concerned. 

So I'll leave you with the Weagles for the National Championship game:  Steven Clark.  You know, I often overlook him in awarding Weagles.  He is a hell of a punter, and he helped our defense several times in this game by pinning FSU deep in their own territory, including one time on the 2-yard line from which they could not move.  I'm giving Steven Clark 5 Weagles for this game, partly to make up for previous oversights, but he had a great game nonetheless.  Nick Marshall gets a Weagle for passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns.  Tre Mason gets two Weagles for rushing for 195 yards.  He also had 42 receiving yards!  He has been such a workhorse this season, especially in the big games at the end.  Bravo, sir.  Dee Ford gets a Weagle for having 2 sacks (of Jameis Winston, you sickos).  Actually, I'm going to go ahead and give a Weagle to all of our players on defense, because they gave an excellent team effort.  Likewise, I'm giving a Weagle to all 7 receivers who caught Marshall passes in this game.  Again, a good effort by the entire team.  Can't wait for Fall.