Auburn Must Bounce Back After Loss—And So Must the Fans

No one was any more disappointed than me as I was leaving my seat in Jordan-Hare Stadium.  The LSU band was playing and their fans were cheering.  It was enough to make me sick, and for the most part it did.  On Sunday morning, when I woke up from what felt like a bad hangover, the loss was the first thing on my mind.

How could it happen again?  Everyone has his or her own version of how the offensive plan should have been unveiled or why the defense seemingly ran out of gas the second half.

None of that matters now.  What does matter is the Tigers have to pick themselves up and get ready to strap it on again this Saturday when the Tennessee Vols come to town.

Both teams are wounded, and both have their backs against the wall.  Both are fighting for a chance to win their respective divisions with one conference and divisional loss each.

Florida dismantled the Vols pretty solidly, while Auburn stumbled in an epic battle of the Tigers against LSU.  To make matters worse, both teams suffered a loss at home, making it tougher to get to Atlanta.

Whoever comes out of this game will have a chance to challenge for and win their division.  However, with Georgia playing very well and that matchup remaining on the horizon for Tennessee, it may be too much for the Vols to overcome.

Auburn, on the other hand, clearly has a better situation with most of their toughest games at home.

With that being said, the Tigers must travel to Alabama and face the Georgia Dawgs at home.  A more improving Vanderbilt team and a gritty Ole Miss team remain on the road, not to mention Arkansas.  Bama proved Saturday as well that no one should lose any sleep over playing the Hogs.

That brings us back to the loss suffered this past Saturday night.  Franklin stated that he "should have called 10-15 more passing plays and that could have been the difference in the game."

Well, from my perspective the answer is emphatically YES!  I believe most fans feel the same—unless some of those fans have zero faith in Chris Todd.  In that case nothing other than Kodi Burns under center will change their minds.

In part I have to agree, but I’m not earning nearly three million a year, and I have never called a single play on the Auburn sideline.  I’m sure that the fact that I am devastating to opponents on PlayStation does not qualify me to tell the coaches how to coach the team.

As a fan, do I have the right to be angry about a loss?  Sure I do, and so do you.

Look, I love everything that is Auburn.  My wife and I send our hard-earned dollars to the scholarship fund and purchase our season tickets.  I absolutely hate sitting through a loss.  I hate losing, period.

BUT!  I refuse to believe what one Auburn fan stated in his opinion after Saturday’s loss is true.  I quote: “Tuberville is running down the program a little at a time to pay back the administration for Jet Gate.  He’s waiting for the day he can sit at his lake home and count all the tiger dollars.”  I’m sorry, but this person is a complete (insert beep).

Number one, Tuberville arguably is the most powerful individual on the Auburn campus.  Two, none of the “Jet Gate” administration currently has any leadership capacity at Auburn, with the exception of trustee Bobby Lowder.

Who is he now other than a multi-millionaire lemon sucker who is watched by SACS?  Watched with virtual eagle eyes no less.

Three, why would Tuberville sabotage his own family by self-imposing damage upon his coaching career?  The aforementioned comment is one of many that gave me cause for a few chuckles as I read.

As supporters and fans of the University we love, and the team that represents heart and courage each week, it’s tough to take a close loss, or any loss.

We are Auburn, whether you graduated Auburn, or were born and raised to treasure everything Auburn, or simply moved to the state and decided you like what Auburn stands for—Honor, Attitude, Family—and wanted to be part of it.

It does not matter if we win some games or we lose some.  What matters is we love Auburn University, the athletes that fight for everything that they do, the coaches that coach them, and our leadership that leads.

Should we voice our opinions?  Sure we should.  However, we should do it with respect and not try to undermine what we all have worked hard to build.  We all have a part in it; we all own a part of it.

If you think otherwise, why did it hurt so badly to lose to LSU?  Because of what some fan of another team may say?  I don’t and won’t ever believe that!