Alabama Notes (03).Qxd
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AUBURN TIGERS 2003 FOOTBALL AUBURN (6-5, 4-3) VS. ALABAMA (4-7, 2-5) GAME 12 JORDAN-HARE STADIUM (86,063) • AUBURN, AL NOVEMBER 22, 2003 • 6:45 P.M. CT • TV: ESPN THE GAME Auburn hosts Alabama in the 68th edition of the Iron Bowl. The Tigers hold a 4-2 series advantage over Alabama in Jordan-Hare Stadium and will be looking for their first win over the Crimson Tide at home QUICK FACTS since 1997. COACHES: AUBURN HEADLINES Tommy Tuberville (Southern Arkansas, 1976) ` Saturday’s game against Alabama will mark the final home game for 13 Auburn seniors. The Tiger Auburn Record 36-23 (5th year) seniors have guided Auburn to a 31-18 overall mark during the last four seasons, including a 20-11 con- vs. Alabama 2-2 Overall Record 61-43 (9th year) ference mark, a 20-5 record in Jordan-Hare Stadium and three SEC Western Division Championships. vs. Alabama 2-6 ` The visiting team has won the last four Iron Bowls. The last time home team to win was Alabama in 1998 at Birmingham’s Legion Field. Auburn’s last Iron Bowl victory at home was in 1997 (18-17). Mike Shula (Alabama, 1987) ` This will mark just the third time since 1980 that both teams, will be absent from the Associated Press UA Record 4-7 (1st year) poll when they meet. Both teams were unranked in the 1982 and 1998 Iron Bowls. A total of 20 of the Overall Record 4-7 (1st year) last 23 meetings have featured at least one of the teams ranked in the AP poll. ` The team leading at halftime of the Iron Bowl has won 73.1 percent of the time (49-of-67). ` Both Auburn (USC, UT, UGA, LSU) and Alabama (OU, UT, UGA, LSU) have played four games this sea- SERIES: UA leads, 38-28-1 at Auburn AU leads, 4-2 son against teams current ranked among the Associated Press’ top nine teams. at Tuscaloosa, AL AU leads, 4-0 ` The Tigers are a win shy of their fourth consecutive year with at least five conference victories, which at Neutral Sites UA leads, 30-19-1 would mark the second time in school history that the feat has been accomplished. Auburn won at least Last Meeting AU 17, UA 7 five SEC games in four consectutive years from 1969-72 under coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan. Nov. 23, 2002 in Auburn, AL ` Junior quarterback Jason Campbell is 16-9 (.640) as a starter, which is fourth among SEC signal callers (min. 10 starts) in victories and winning percentage. Campbell is 11-5 as a starter in SEC games. ` The Tigers have won 33 consecutive games (21 under Tuberville) when scoring 30 or more points. RANKINGS: Auburn is not ranked ` Auburn has rushed for two or more touchdowns in 16 of its last 24 games. Alabama is not ranked ` Auburn has made 175 consecutive PAT kicks dating back to 1999, which is the second longest in SEC history behind Alabama’s 199 (1981-87). ` In the last two years, Auburn has played nine games against teams ranked in the AP’s top 10. Since TV: ESPN (Live) 1990, only Florida State (1990-91), with nine games, has had as tough a two-year stretch. Ron Franklin (play-by-play) ` The Tigers are 6-3 all-time in games played on November 22, including a 1-0 mark against Alabama. Mike Gottfried (color) Auburn’s last game on November 22 was an 18-17 win over Alabama in 1997 at Jordan-Hare Stadium Adrian Karsten (sideline) that clinched a berth in the SEC Championship game for the Tigers. RADIO: The Auburn Network provides radio coverage to over AUBURN (6-5, 4-3) ALABAMA (4-7, 2-5) 60-plus stations that cover the Southeast. Rod Bramblett (play-by-play), Stan White (color), Quentin Date Opponent Score/Time Date Opponent Score/Time Riggins (sideline), Paul Ellen (studio) and Andy Burcham Aug. 30 #8 USC [CBS] L 0-23 Aug. 30 SOUTH FLORIDA [BHAM] W 40-17 (locker room) provide gameday analysis. Sept. 6 at Georgia Tech [ABC] L 3-17 Sept. 6 OKLAHOMA L 13-20 Sept. 13 at Vanderbilt [JP] W 45-7 Sept. 13 KENTUCKY W 27-17 Sept. 20 NORTH ILLINOIS L 16-19 Sports USA Radio will provide national coverage. Larry Sept. 27 WESTERN KENTUCKY W 48-3 Sept. 27 ARKANSAS [2 OT] L 31-34 Kahn (play-by-play), Gino Torretta (analyst) and Troy Oct. 4 #7 TENNESSEE [ESPN] W 28-21 Oct. 4 at Georgia L 23-37 West (sideline) will call the action. Oct. 11 at #7 Arkansas [JP] W 10-3 Oct. 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE W 45-13 Oct. 11 SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI W 17-3 Oct. 18 at Ole Miss L 28-43 Oct. 25 at #9 LSU [ESPN] L 7-31 Oct. 25 TENNESSEE [5 OT] L 43-51 INTERNET: Nov. 1 LOUISIANA-MONROE W 73-7 Nov. 8 at Mississippi State W 38-0 Live audio & stats www.auburntigers.com Nov. 8 #20 OLE MISS [CBS] L 20-24 Nov. 15 LSU L 3-27 Nov. 15 at #7 Georgia [CBS] L 7-26 Nov. 22 at Auburn 6:45 p.m. Nov. 22 ALABAMA [ESPN] 6:45 p.m. Nov. 29 at Hawaii TBA TIGER WALK: 4:30 p.m. CT All times central All times central www.auburntigers.com 2003 AUBURN FOOTBALL AUBURN-ALABAMA SERIES NOTES The team leading at halftime has won 73.1 percent of the time (49-of-67) ... There have been 22 STATISTICAL COMPARISON shutouts in the rivalry, with the Tigers winning eight ... The most recent shutout was a 9-0 Auburn vic- tory in 2000 ... The visiting team has won the last four games after the home team had won the pre- AUBURN VS. ALABAMA vious ten ... The game has been tied at the half on seven occasions, with Alabama winning six of those ... Since 1993 (last nine meetings), the team leading at the half has won five times--Alabama in ‘94 AU UA and ‘01, Auburn in ‘95, ‘00, and ‘02 ... The losing team has scored less than 10 points in the last three Total Offense . 365.3 350.7 meetings ... Since 1980, with the exception of 1982, 1998, and 2003, at least one of the two teams Points Scored . 26.0 25.4 has been ranked in the AP poll ... The winner of the last five meetings has won outrushed the losing First Downs . 19.1 18.6 squad ... 12 of the last 15 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less. Rushing Yards . 176.9 164.1 Passing Yards . 188.4 186.6 Time of Possession. 31:17 30:40 AU-UA: THE 41-YEAR BREAK 3rd Down Conversion Pct. 35% 35% Auburn and Alabama did not play for 41 years, from 1908 through 1947. There are two common Points Allowed. 15.9 24.4 misconceptions about the reason for the 41-year lapse. The first is that a fight broke out after a 6-6 Yards Allowed . 282.6 341.4 tie in 1907 and caused both schools to discontinue the series. The second is that the state legislature Rushing Yards Allowed . 94.1 121.7 got the two schools back together. Neither is true. Passing Yards Allowed . 188.5 219.6 Auburn and Alabama quit playing because of money and officiating. Auburn wanted a northern umpire for the 1908 game, Alabama wanted a southern umpire. Auburn wanted to bring 22 players and allow $3.50 per day for expenses. Alabama wanted to bring 20 players and allow $3 per day for expenses. The two schools could never reach an agreement on these items and they became the STATISTICAL LEADERS bone of contention for years. After a period of time, scheduling became a problem. The two schools quit playing in all sports. They renewed their athletic rivalry - the rivalry off the RUSHING YARDS field never quit - in 1948 after actually “burying the hatchet” in Birmingham’s Woodrow Wilson Park. In the winter and spring of 1948, Auburn president Dr. Ralph B. Draughon and Alabama presi- AUBURN ALABAMA dent Dr. John Gallalee decided the disagreement had gone on long enough and agreed the series C. Williams. 1,035 S. Williams . 1,169 B. Jacob . 446 R. Hudson . 405 should be renewed after doggedly fighting what they considered interference into their internal affairs R. Brown. 341 K. Darby . 189 by the state legislature. Several cities, including Montgomery and Mobile, were considered for the game site. Birmingham was chosen because it had the largest stadium in the state, 44,000-seat Legion Field. PASSING YARDS Alabama won that renewal game, 55-0, in 1948. The Tide was a prohibitive favorite the next year too, but Auburn pulled off one of its biggest upsets ever, 14-13, and one of the nation’s great football AUBURN ALABAMA rivalries was reborn. J. Campbell . 1,859 B. Croyle . 1,876 J. Sullivan . 213 S. Pennington. 159 PUNT BAMA PUNT To Auburn people, one of the most incredible Auburn-Alabama games came on Dec. 2, 1972. A RECEPTIONS few days before the game, Alabama head coach Bear Bryant incited the rivalry when he told reporters that he would rather, “beat that cow college once than beat Texas 10 times.” That set the stage as AUBURN ALABAMA second-ranked Alabama brought a 10-0 record into Legion Field to meet the ninth-ranked Tigers, who J. McIntyre . 36 T. Luke . 31 C. Taylor . 26 D. Fulgham. 27 were 8-1.