The year of BATJAC…..and what a year it was….excerpts from the psychosis of this Auburn Fan in 2013
January- So we hired Gus back from Arky State. I’m happy. The only other candidate that was mentioned who would have made me happier was Charlie Strong but Gus is a better long term hire. It’ll take a year or two but we’ll be back. He’s made some great hires. Rodney and Dameyune coming home are inspirational. Ellis knows defense like few others. Who is this Grimes guy?
February- National signing day--- Good class. Adams and Lawson look big time. Lots of JUCOs though. Hope some of them can help. Glad Jeremy Johnson stayed true. Too bad the QB from JUCO couldn’t get here in the spring. Wish Lemonier had hung around but that’s the way it goes.
March/April- Spring training----Damn, everything sounds good but who really knows. A few defections, a few naysayers and we still don’t have a definitive QB. Wallace and Frazier are good kids but they won’t win many games for us. Hope for a quiet summer. Hope the JUCO QB is all he’s supposed to be.
May-August- Well… most of them qualified. Looks like we’ll be at nearly full strength. We ought to be able to compete anyway. Injuries hurt in fall practice. Whittaker and other injuries do not raise expectations. Guess the JUCO QB is the best we have.
WSU and the season begins----At my UGA grad cousins lake house for Labor Day. Washington State and the Pirate. I know we should win. You know we should win. They know we should win. But damn of it didn’t go down to the wire. Holy Crap we had three INTs. I forgot you could catch the other team’s passes. Great win
Arky State- Penalty for uniform violation against ASU? Doesn’t contrast enough???? Hell, Oregon should be penalized to the Stone Age for just ugly….great game….. Gus says "I think this team has potential." We’ll see.
Miss State- No-neck and the Bulldogs come to town. We’re killing them and then we’re not. We’re gonna lose this damn game. Ball on our 12 with, what, two minutes to play. Hey, wait a minute this is looking better!!! Still gotta score, and there it is. Wow. Nick Marshall doesn’t suck. Suddenly we are “others receiving votes” in the polls.
Red Stick…Corn Dogs…freakin’ rain….here we go. Uhh Ohh. Man this sucks. Can’t stop ‘em. Can’t run or pass. Can we call it even now and go home? Gotta give the boys credit. They didn’t quit and neither did Gus. We’ll win a few more. Suddenly we aren’t “others receiving votes” in the polls.
Ole Miss- God I hope we beat these guys. I have grown to hate them because they spell backwards and are like kudzu. Nick Marshall and Tre Mason are MEN. We’re killing them. Oh wait. Now we’re not. Way to go Defense. "We're going to get better each week," Malzahn said, "and I think we have a chance to continue that." Great win… maybe reservations in Shreveport are in order.
Western Carolina- OK, we’re supposed to win this one. Why the hell did Gus take the redshirt off the Johnson kid. Ya know, that Johnson kid looks pretty good. Maybe he should be starting…. "I'm proud of the team at the halfway point of the season. We've done some good things. We've not arrived," Malzahn said. Let’s see that’s five wins. FLA Atlantic would make six. Arky and UT are sucking. That would make eight wins. Hell, we might be in Nashville in December.
Texas A&M- Damn Johnny football. When we let these guys in they sucked and now all of a sudden they don’t. Glad they beat the turds last year but now we have to man up. I really want to make these guys believe we can play football at AU, but we’re in their place with their damn dog, and they just lost to bammer. They’re the #7 team in the nation, this could get ugly. Here we go. Up and down, up and down. Somebody shoot that Evans kid. We’re still in it….can’t let it get out of hand…Manziel’s hurt….We’re ahead…they scored. Here we go again…. Nick and Tre…Nick and Tre….gotta hold ‘em. Dee Ford… Dee Ford …Dee Ford…..Wow. Nashville my a$$. We’ll be in Florida on New Years. Just hope it’s not Tampa. I’d have to stay with my brother if it is.
FAU- we were supposed to go to this one but too many other things got in the way. Good news is the boys took care of business. Better news is I promised the family we would go to the UGA game no matter what. That Johnson kid still looks pretty good by the way. This is how we are supposed to win these games…not overtime against LAMO.
Arky----OK..from barely being in the “others receiving votes” a couple of weeks ago we are somehow #8 in the nation. I have never ever really hated Arky, even when Fred Talley ran through my bedroom but now I do. Someone needs to shut that fatbastage Bulemic up. Good job Gus. Passes??? We don’t need no stinkin’ passes!!!!!! By the way, that Grimes guy Gus hired, I think he’ll do.
Tennessee- I still don’t hate these guys. Except for them letting that fat bastage Cody block field goals they’re maybe my second favorite SEC team. Once again, we don’t need no stinkin’ passes and we kill the Vols. Thinking New Orleans. Uga is down….bammer is not out of reach. Too many in front of us to dream of other things.
UGA-UGA-UGA-----well I spent $500 on tickets and have already told my story here before. Suddenly we’re #7 and the teams in front of us are dropping like flies. Bottom line---Murray didn’t score and the tip was just God setting things right. I have never heard such an explosion in crowd noise as I did when Ricardo caught that pass. You could feel the stadium give up….then explode. We’re # 7 and the fates, and losses by lesser teams, push us to #4 before we play another down.
Bammer- I was back at my cousin’s Smith Lake house for Thanksgiving. We all know what happened. I will carry it to my final days. “Gotta Second” and “Punt bama Punt” will live forever. Loved watching the nicktator trying to explain it. I was out on the cousin’s deck yelling when he asked me to come in so the local bammers wouldn’t burn the house down.
Mizzou- We be bad. Six inches my a$$. I don’t care how tall your receivers are, you still have to stop us. Perhaps the greatest quote from a losing coach ever “I’m the wrong person to ask because if I could have stopped them I would.” And somehow over the last three weeks everyone else has lost. I like to think that the ghost of 1983, 1993, and 2004 intervened in those other games.
So now here we are. Tonight’s the night as Rod Stewart once sang. I’ll tell you what. I will be using every piece of mojo I have and screaming as loud as my den will allow, but boys, we’re playing with house money. In August I would have been overjoyed with a Music City Bowl win. In October I was thinking Outback or Gator. After UGA I was thinking Sugar. To be in the big dance, after what we suffered last year, is so hard to fathom that I just can’t put it into words. Good Lord Almighty I don’t deserve this but if you give it to me I will be forever grateful.
Let’s go boys. War Eagle!!!!
