On Tap for the Tigers:
September 15, 2001
8 p.m. CDT
Tiger Stadium ? Baton Rouge, LA
ESPN2
AUBURN Tigers
Location: Auburn, Alabama
Founded: 1856
Enrollment: 21,500
Conference: Southeastern (SEC West)
Colors: Navy Blue and Burnt Orange
Home Stadium: Jordan-Hare Stadium (85,612)
Head Coach: Tommy Tuberville (Southern Arkansas ?76)
3rd Year as Head Coach at Auburn
2001-02 Record: 2-0
2001-02 SEC Record: 1-0
Last Year:
2000-01 Record: 9-4
2000-01 SEC Record: 6-2 (1st West)
2000-01 Final Ranking: 18
2001 Bowl Appearance: Florida Citrus Bowl (Lost to Michigan, 31-28)
Lettermen Lost: 22
Starters Lost: 12
(6 Offense, 5 Defense, 1 Specialist)
Starters Returning: 16
(5 Offense, 6 Defense, 5 Specialists)
Returning Offensive Starters:
Lorenzo Diamond (TE, 6-3, 248, Jr.)
Kendall Simmons (OT, 6-3, 319, Sr.)
Hart McGarry (OG, 6-5, 289, Sr.)
Ben Nowland (C, 6-3, 306, Jr.)
Mike Pucillo (OG, 6-4, 315, Sr.)
Returning Defensive Starters:
Javor Mills (DE, 6-5, 271, Sr.)
Demarco McNeil (DT, 6-1, 301, So.)
Reggie Torbor (DE, 6-3, 238, So.)
Tevarreus Pounds (LB, 6-1, 245, Sr.)
Rashaud Walker (ROVER, 5-9, 206, Jr.)
Stanford Simmons (FS, 6-2, 198, Jr.)
Players to watch:
*stats from last week?s game vs. Ole Miss
| Rushing |
No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Class |
Attempts |
Yards |
|
|
23 |
Ronnie Brown |
RB |
6-1 |
226 |
RS Fr. |
25 |
84 |
| Passing |
No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Class |
Comp-Att-Int |
Yards |
|
|
17 |
Jason Campbell |
QB |
6-5 |
213 |
RS Fr. |
15-19-1 |
142 |
| Receiving |
No. |
Name |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Class |
Catches |
Yards |
|
|
86 |
Deandre Green |
WR |
6-2 |
210 |
So. |
5 |
57 |
The 2001 NFL Draft:
|
Name |
Pos. |
Team |
How Acquired |
|
Heath Evans |
FB |
Saettle Seahawks |
3rd Rd. Draft |
|
Rudi Johnson |
TB |
Cincinnati Bengals |
4th Rd. Draft |
|
Alex Lincoln |
LB |
SanFrancisco 49ers |
7th Rd. Draft |
Auburn Tigers in the NFL
*through the 2000 season
|
Name |
Pos. |
Team |
|
Willie Anderson |
T |
Cincinnati Bengals |
|
Karsten Bailey |
WR |
Seattle Seahawks |
|
Robert Baker |
WR |
Miami Dolphins |
|
Fred Baxter |
TE |
Chicago Bears |
|
Fred Beasley |
RB |
San Francisco 49ers |
|
QB |
Carolina Panthers |
|
|
Demarcus Curry |
T |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
|
Ronney Daniels |
WR |
New England Patriots |
|
Stephen Davis |
RB |
Washington Redskins |
|
Wayne Gandy |
OT |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
|
Chris Gray |
G |
Seattle Seahawks |
|
Jaret Holmes |
PK |
Chicago Bears |
|
John Hudson |
G |
Baltimore Ravens |
|
Calvin Jackson |
DB |
Miami Dolphins |
|
Jeno James |
OG |
Carolina Panthers |
|
Kendall Mack |
OT |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
|
Kevin McLeod |
RB |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
|
Harold Morrow |
RB |
Minnesota Vikings |
|
Anthony Redmon |
G |
Arizona Cardinals |
|
Quinton Reese |
DE |
San Diego Chargers |
|
Tony Richardson |
RB |
Kansas City Chiefs |
|
Victor Riley |
OT |
Kansas City Chiefs |
|
Frank Sanders |
WR |
Arizona Cardinals |
|
Colin Sears |
OT |
Dallas Cowboys |
|
Mark Smith |
DL |
Arizona Cardinals |
|
Takeo Spikes |
LB |
Cincinnati Bengals |
|
Ryan Taylor |
LB |
Cleveland Browns |
|
Gary Walker |
DE |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
|
Marcus Washington |
LB |
Indianapolis Colts |
|
Willie Whitehead |
DE |
New Orleans Saints |
The Series
Overall: LSU leads 18-16-1
At LSU: LSU leads 9-5
At Auburn: AU leads 6-5
At Neutral Sites: AU leads 5-4
Last Meeting: LSU 17, AU 34
at Auburn, Sept. 16, 2000
First Meeting: LSU 0, AU 28
at LSU, Nov. 20, 1901
Seven of the last 11 Auburn-LSU games have been decided by less than a touchdown. And, like all good Southern football series, recent games have earned memorable titles. Examples:
1988: LSU scored with 1:41 remaining to down fourth-ranked Auburn, 7-6. The noise from the Tiger Stadium crowd registered on a campus seismograph, thus earning the contest the title of ”Earthquake Game.”
1994: Auburn returned three of its five fourth-quarter interceptions for touchdowns to rally from a two-touchdown deficit and win 30-26. Auburn and LSU fans alike still recall the ”Interception Game.”
1995: Wearing the traditional white jerseys at home for the first time in 13 years, LSU stunned fifth-ranked Auburn, 12-6, when Troy Twillie intercepted Patrick Nix’s 11-yard pass into the endzone with no time remaining. The 1997 LSU media guide referred to this game under the heading ”Bring Back The Magic.”
1996: ”The Night The Barn Burned” will long be remembered on the Plains. As the old Auburn Sports Arena burned just outside Jordan-Hare Stadium, LSU defeated Auburn 19-15. After missing three field goals and an extra point, Auburn cut LSU’s lead to 17-15 with :38 remaining, but Jon Cooley’s two-point pass attempt was picked off by Raion Hill, who returned it the other way for two points.
1997: Dameyune Craig led Auburn on an 80-yard, 10-play drive in the game’s final three minutes to deliver a 31-28 upset of 10th-ranked LSU in ”The Comeback.” Rusty Williams capped the drive on a one-yard touchdown plunge with :30 remaining. LSU attempted a 65-yard FG on the game’s final play, but Quinton Reese blocked it to seal the Auburn win.
In all, 16 of the 34 games played between the two schools since 1901 have been decided by a touchdown or less, with LSU holding an 8-7-1 advantage in those games.
About the Game:
LSU Head Coach Nick Saban:
“Auburn obviously has a very good team. I think that they are a lot better team than what people thought coming into the season. Sometimes it goes that way, you lose a couple of your star players early to the draft and I think that sometimes people assume that the team is not going to be that good.
“The core of their defensive team has returned this season and they have an outstanding defensive team. Statistically, they’ve proven that in their first two ball games by the way that they have played. I mean people have a hard time getting past the 50 yard line on them until the second half of the Ole Miss game. So, they have a very dominant front seven. They are very physical and a dominant defensive line.
Tommy Tuberville:
”Right now, all I can tell you is everything is a go and we are getting ready to play our second conference game. It is going to be a tough one, it is our first road game. We will get a pretty good idea of where we stand after this week. Last year we played a pretty good football game here. They played well and we were fortunate to win the game, but it was a home game for us. We have lost quite a few of our players from last year and they have most of theirs back so we are going to have a bunch of our players playing in this game that did not play last year.”
”It will be a tough challenge going to Baton Rouge, it is always a tough place to play especially when you play at night. Our team is starting now to get focused on our game plan on what we are going to do and how we are going to handle the situation. They have some good players on both sides on the ball. Nick Saban has done a outstanding job putting new faces as well as old faces together and being successful in his first year and now going into his second year. It will be a challenge; our guys are looking forward to it.”
What?s In A Name?
*as explained by the 2001 AU media guide
Auburn?s nickname is the TIGERS.
Auburn?s battle cry is “War Eagle!”
Through the years, these two Auburn terms have often been used interchangeably and incorrectly. There are hats and T-shirts with Auburn War Eagles on them. Even the news media has been known to refer to an Auburn team as the War Eagles or to an Auburn player as a War Eagle.
In fact, when the Tigers play a game on the road, there is often an article written in the local paper wondering why Auburn has three nicknames ? the Auburn Tigers, the Auburn War Eagles, and the Auburn Plainsmen.
To set the record straight, Auburn has only ONE nickname ? THE AUBURN TIGERS.
“War Eagle” is a battle cry, used by Auburn fans in the same manner Alabama fans yell “Roll Tide!” and Arkansas fans yell “Sooie Pig!” You never hear Alabama referred to as the Alabama Roll Tides or Arkansas as the Arkansas Sooie Pigs, and to call Auburn teams the Auburn War Eagles would be just as incorrect. The battle cry “War Eagle” should never have an “s” on the end of it.
The nickname “Tigers” comes from a line in Oliver Goldsmith?s poem, “The Deserted Village,” published in May 1770, “where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey?”
The term “Plainsmen” comes from a line in that same poem, “Sweet Auburn, loveliest (sic) village of the plain?” Since Auburn athletes were, in the early days, men from the Plains, it was only natural for newspaper headline writers to shorten that to “Plainsmen.”
It may be confusing to an outsider, but to Auburn people, it is very simple. That?s why War Eagle VI, Auburn?s golden eagle mascot, is named Tiger!
At a Glance:
Auburn University
With 13 schools and colleges, nearly 22,000 students and more than 1,200 prominent faculty members, Auburn is Alabama?s largest and most comprehensive university. U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Auburn University 42nd overall among its annual quality rankings for 2001. Auburn is the only college or university in Alabama listed.
Auburn?s beautiful main campus ? graced by greenery and open spaces and highlighted by historic Samford Park ? is made up of 200 buildings spread across 1,875 acres bordered on two sides by farms and woodlands. Auburn is located in the Southeastern United States in east-central Alabama ? about 30 miles from the Georgia border.
Auburn, Alabama
One of the state?s fastest growing cities, Auburn has a population of about 45,000. Geographically, the city of Auburn and Auburn University meet at what is known as “Toomer?s Corner.” Here the flourishing community and expanding university create a warm, friendly spirit that can only be described as “Auburn”.
The bond between the city and the university is exemplified along the streets of downtown Auburn where tribute is paid to AU?s greatest athletes, coaches, and administrators. Known as Tiger Trail of Auburn, this walk consists of 38 granite plaques bearing the names of those honored along the Trail.
Information courtesy of : 2001 Auburn media guide, 2001 LSU media guide, lsusports.net, nicksaban.net