Well, I guess it was bound to happen at some point. After 17 straight wins, most of them in a come from behind, never say die, wild fashion, the Auburn Tigers actually lost a football game on Saturday. The surprise? It wasn’t to a tough SEC foe, not at Tiger Stadium or the Swamp, in Tuscaloosa or Fayetteville.
Nope, Auburn lost to, the Clemson Tigers of all teams, falling in much the way so many of their opponents had over the last 18 months.
That’s right, dating all the way back to the 2010 Outback Bowl, through last season and into the first two games of 2011, Auburn hadn’t always been the best team, or even the best team for four quarters. But they always seemed to have an uncanny ability to make the big plays when they absolutely needed them, whether it was a score on offense, or a stop on defense. That never say die attitude led to a lot of wild, come from behind wins, including Week 3 of last year, when the Tigers fell behind Clemson 21-3 on the Plains, before coming all the way back to win the game 24-21 in overtime.
Well this time, it wasn’t Auburn that had the wild comeback in them, but instead Clemson. The Clemson Tigers trailed 14-0 after one quarter, and 21-7 early in the second, before stepping up on defense, getting a career day from Tahj Boyd on offense, and pulling off a shocking 38-24 win.
The star of the game was undoubtedly Boyd, who finished the afternoon with an incredible 386 yards on 30 of 42 passing and four touchdowns. Unlike the past, when Auburn always seemed to have an answer, it was Boyd who did instead Saturday, proving the ability to make every big throw the entire second half, squeezing passes into tight windows, and also making plays with his legs too (He finished with 30 yards rushing). Freshmen also stole the show, as wide receiver Sammy Watkins finished with over 100 yards receiving, and running back D.J. Howard finished with close to 100 yards on the ground as well. The pair (along with Mike Bellamy) proved that if anything, Dabo Swinney can identify and recruit talent. Now it’ll be interesting to see if he can coach it up beyond one afternoon.
Still, as important as the win was for Clemson (And maybe Swinney’s future as well), the real story isn’t that Clemson won, but in fact, that Auburn had lost.
Again, we knew this was going to happen eventually. But it was hard to picture it happening Saturday, especially after the visiting Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead. The second touchdown was especially spectacular, as new quarterback Barrett Trotter converted a fourth down into a touchdown thanks to a 36-yard pass to Emery Blake.
But for Auburn, all the problems that most thought they’d have coming into the year manifested themselves yesterday. That was especially true on defense, where they allowed a staggering 624 yards of total offense, including 9.2 yards per pass from Boyd.
If anything though, it was the defensive line that will be most vilified, and rightly so, as they got dominated up front, and pushed around late in the game. As I mentioned two weeks ago, the loss of Nick Fairley will likely prove to be even bigger than Cam Newton this year, as it just doesn’t seem like Auburn has anyone to plug the run against really good teams. The Tigers now rank 118th in the country in run defense, after allowing an average of over 280 yards per game on the ground.
What will be most interesting going forward though, is how each of these teams handle their current predicaments.
For Clemson, this is the biggest win the program has had for years, which might be a gift or a curse depending on how you look at things. They’ve got quite a history of never being able to build on momentum, and of taking two steps backward after they take one step forward. It doesn’t help that of every team they could possibly play next weekend, Florida State is the one which comes to town. You know the Seminoles will be hungry after nearly upsetting the No. 1 team in the country Saturday evening.
As for Auburn, well, after a game next week against Florida Atlantic, the Tigers jump full bore into conference play. Their October alone is enough to make any coach cringe, as they travel to South Carolina and Arkansas in back-to-back weeks, before hosting the “wait a second, they’re actually really good” Florida Gators, and a trip to LSU the following week too. My goodness, that’s not just a tough schedule. That’s cruel and unusual punishment!
And remember this: Besides the obvious talent mismatches that the Tigers will have in each of those games, don’t forget the sheer revenge factor going too. In the cases of South Carolina, Arkansas and LSU, all three could’ve conceivably knocked off Auburn last year on their road to the title, and are undoubtedly going to be coming for blood.
It’s as the old saying goes: Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Well, that crown is getting heavy for Auburn. And there are plenty ready to knock it off.
Follow Aaron on Twitter @Aaron_Torres
