Auburn Football: Gene Chizik Era: Off to the Bowls

I guess no person in the state of Alabama other than us fans believed a game like we witnessed was possible. Our Auburn team, one year removed from a 36-0 beating from our arch rival, Alabama, just played them to a standstill. This was the Alabama team that is better than last year's version.

This was the Alabama team that came in and played an inspired, flawless game. There was not an Alabama player that did not play their best. Our Auburn Tigers, one year removed from a 5-7 season, beat the mighty Tide in offensive and defensive statistics.

It would have been better to have won in score as well, but this is in no uncertain terms a win. Alabama fans are stunned; they are handing out kudos left and right to the great Auburn effort.

There will be no humiliating talk of domination this year! The same fans that walked into the stadium today predicting a 40-3 shellacking of our team, left saying wow!, maybe the best team did not win here. This is true and false, Alabama is the most talented team in college football.

They prepared for the same two weeks for this game as Auburn. Their own head coach even admitted this. The difference was the game plan and game coaching. Gene Chizik and staff may or may not win the SEC. Gene Chizik and staff may or may not win a National Championship. Gene Chizik and staff may or may not succeed at Auburn.

Today, Gene Chizik and staff out coached arch rival Alabama in every facet of the game.

They out coached the rookie coaches of Mississippi State, Tennessee, and the experienced staff of Ole Miss. Today, they out coached the Western Division Champion Alabama Crimson Tide staff and it was not even close.

The only alternative to this is to say Alabama played poorly. This in a game where both Greg McElroy and Julio Jones had career days. Punt returner Arenas had a banner day. Auburn was intercepted and held under their season average on offense. Alabama made no mistakes and executed flawlessly. Yet this Auburn team beat them everywhere but the scoreboard. The only thing left is coaching.

Auburn and Gene Chizik made a statement today. This statement was loud enough and clear enough to shake the Bama Nation to the core. It simply said we are injured and thin, we are young and we make mistakes, we are not loaded with talent, but we are Auburn and we will not be dominated. If you come to our house, you better come to play. We will give every play our best effort and leave it all on the field for posterity to judge.

This is what Coach Gene Chizik has said in a thousand ways since he arrived. It is a simple message. We are Auburn. We do not quit. We will never give up. We will never be dominated. We will hold our head high and be proud of who we are. If there is anyone that watched this game that did see that message ingrained in our players, they did not watch the same game as I.

I was proud of our team today. I was proud of Alabama's team today. It was a great game and a tribute to our State. It was the very essence of what is good about college football.

Auburn is now headed for a bowl game. Before today, it was looking like a lower level bowl like the Liberty. It might still wind up that way. I suspect we shall be invited to the Chick Fil-A Bowl. It does not matter what bowl we are invited to.

We are going to a bowl after missing one last year. We know our team will account well for themselves and not quit. We know we can hold our heads high. We know our fans and our team are having fun again. We know recruits are looking at our school with a positive eye again. This was a tremendous success for a first season with Coach Gene Chizik!!