LSU Atlanta

Mike A. Tiger’s Weekly Game Blog

Game 4:

LSU Fighting Tigers
vs.
Auburn Tigers/Plainsmen/War Eagles/Whatever

Is this our true rivalry game? It’s a fair question if part of the definition is based on competitive challenge. Tulane and Ole Miss are traditional rivals, but compared to modern history with Auburn, they are merely annoyances, like the weird geeky cousins you only see once a year during the holidays and you “accidentally” hit in the face with a Nerf football. Arkansas is still a recent addition to the schedule and The Boot is an ugly contrivance. And thanks to the two-decade bomb crater Da Bahr blew open in his heyday, Bama is everyone’s SEC rival.

So when you look at the records, the game stories and understand that the Auburn-LSU game always seems to determine whether the REAL Tigers win the West, we humbly submit that the War Beagles may be the closest thing we have to a true rival. And considering all the names and mascots they claim, we get a lot of value out of the deal.

Auburn is arguably the second best team in the West, but with a new spread offense and their culture of thuggary passed off as “toughness” I really don’t think they have the chemistry to make a serious run past LSU and on to the BCS. Be patient Teagles. While you are waiting for the crystal ball we share your joy in thumping the Tide for six straight years.

The LSU-AU games are so, ummm, unusual that many carry a special name. The 1988 Earthquake Game is the stuff of legend, where Hodson-to-Fuller sealed an LSU victory and the crowd noise registered on the seismograph on campus. And consider these other examples:

1994 – Oh No, Not Again
LSU led the Plain Eagles 23-9 entering the fourth quarter. Inexplicably, instead of running the ball Coach Curley Hallman orders QB Jamie Howard to keep throwing the ball, even as interceptions mounted. In the last 15 minutes, Howard threw THREE of his five interceptions, all of which were returned for TOUCHDOWNS. LSU loses, 30-26. We were just Curly about Crazy.

1995 - The Whistle Game
Howard and the real Tigers make some atonement and beat the fifth-ranked War Tigers 12-6. It is referred by Auburn fans as the Whistle Game because WB Patrick Nix was sacked for a safety when he stopped play after they claimed a fan in the stands blew a whistle. However, the Sporting News reported that the LSU crowd "was so loud that Auburn quarterback Patrick Nix, standing in his end zone, thought he heard a whistle and mistakenly thought the play was dead. He was sacked for a safety." Even though a whistle could be heard in the broadcast, Nix was the only player on either team to quit playing during that play.

1996- The Barn Burner
The Auburn Sports Arena, affectionately known to the Plain Tigers folk as “The Barn,” went up in flames as the ball was teed up at Jordan-Hare stadium. LSU won 19-15 in a true barn burner. Fingers were pointed at LSU fans in the stadium as arsonists, but it was later discovered that an Auburn tailgater’s portable BBQ was the culprit.

1999 - The Cigar Game
Auburn gives Tommy T a birthday present with a 41-7 beatdown culminated by the team posing with lit cigars on the field at Tiger Stadium. That one spelled the beginning of the end for Gerry DiNardo. (Hell, should we thank them for that?)

2001 – The Stomp
In a typical showing of class, and with LSU already hell-bent for revenge for the stogie incident, Auburn’s entire team stomped on the eye logo at midfield in Tiger Stadium, drawing a 15 yard penalty before the first tick of the clock. Smart move. The Tigers made a surprise onside kick and recovered the ball. LSU won 27-17. The reaction of Coach Tuberville captured on ESPN was priceless, evoking memories of the surprised expression of Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby came calling.

2003 – The Tiger Tale
An AU fan’s decked out van parked along Nicholson Extension was burned to a crisp, ostensibly when an LSU fan set fire to the tiger tail hanging from the tow ball. The allegation was never proven.

2004 – High-way Robbery or The Second Chance Game
A last-minute personal foul flag was thrown on Ronnie Prude for leaping to block and falling on a defender during a missed extra point kick late in the game. The Faux Tigers got another kick and made it, and we lost 10-9. (Note it was a new rule and it was the ONLY time that the rule was enforced before it was taken out of the books after that season. Hmmm.)

2005 – The DOINK! Game
Kicker Vaughn should have never tried to bully the brass section of Tiger Band at the end of halftime two years earlier. Five missed kicks and the last bounced harmlessly off the right upright in overtime and the Aubies go down. Karma is a you-know-what, dude. The number of photo farks created in your honor are legendary.

2006 – Grand Theft Auburn
It wasn’t just the phantom pass interference call on the last play. It was EIGHT questionable calls, FIVE of which took place in within 25 yards of the goal line. Don’t get us started.

In 2007 we witnessed perhaps the most thrilling ending in a season full of heart-stopping finishes, when Matt Flynn checked off and threw a TD pass to Demetrius Byrd in the waning seconds. Most LSU fans call this The Chop Block Game due to the Glenn Dorsey mugging that punctuates Auburn’s penchant for sportsmanship, but because of the last minute heroics and our everlasting desire for revenge for the cigar smoking incident on the hallowed ground of Tiger Stadium, Mikey’s name for the 2007 game will always be Close But No Cigar!

So now we return to the unfriendly confines of Jordan Hare Stadium with the battle cry of “Whoa Damn Eagle!” Will there be 17 lining up against 11 yet again in the ultimate home advantage, with the refs wearing orange stripes?

Will pyrotechnics again play a role? Will the Faux Tigers sustain multiple injuries running through the pregame smoky fog and tripping over Tubby’s enormous ears? Stay tuned, this one could have more names than Auburn has mascots.

Prediction: LSU breaks the current eight-year streak of the home team winning in this series and emerges 4-0 and poised for an SEC run of the table. And we will post up enough points that the referee margin and other psychic phenomena won’t matter. Recent games have been close, but this one won’t be and tongues will wag about LSU maybe having what it takes to ThreePeat on the ESPN GameDay set after the game. LSU 28, Auburn 3, Orange Zebras 10.

Your Pal,

Mike A. Tiger

LSU Faithful in the ATL: Please join us at one of our two view-in locations to watch Tiger Football this fall= Rio Grande Cantina in Buckhead or Buffalo Wild Wings in Alpharetta. We promise you won’t find a better viewing party with your fellow fans!