30 Days Until Kickoff

With 30 days left until kickoff, it’s time to look back on some of the Auburn football moments involving the number 30.

2013 - Auburn 30, Ole Miss 22

This was really the first game that sent Auburn on the tear that led all the way to the SEC Championship. After the Tigers lost at LSU, they were afforded a rebound game immediately afterward against a ranked Ole Miss team led by Bo Wallace. As Auburn has done during its last two SEC Championship seasons, it took a few games for the offense to find its footing, and that happened against the Rebels on the Plains.

Nick Marshall took control on the ground, running for 140 yards against a pretty good Ole Miss defense, and Auburn jumped out to a 27-9 lead before two late touchdowns made it a one-score ballgame again. All it took to end the threat from the Rebel scum was a little sack magic from a stellar Auburn freshman.

Auburn won 30-22, the first of nine straight victories on the year.

1994 - Auburn 30, LSU 26

Auburn had won thirteen straight since the beginning of the 1993 season, but things weren’t coming along as swimmingly in Patrick Nix’s first full season as a starter. LSU came into Jordan-Hare Stadium with a mind to end the winning streak, and they’d capitalize early, taking a 23-9 lead into the final period of play. That’s when one of the wildest quarters in college football history took place, leading to a landmark Auburn victory.

Auburn picked off five fourth quarter passes, taking three for touchdowns. You’d think after the first one, Curley Hallman would’ve kept the ball on the ground and out of the arm of LSU quarterback Jamie Howard, but that’s why he’s no longer employed as a head football coach. Auburn gained just one first down in the second half, but scored 27 points in the frenzied comeback win.

1989 - Auburn 30, Alabama 20

“The First Time Ever” is what they called it when Alabama played at Jordan-Hare Stadium on December 2nd, 1989. The Tide had never set foot in the city of Auburn and what can only be described as a legendary and watershed moment occurred that day as the Tigers ended Alabama’s national championship hopes and drove Bill Curry out of Tuscaloosa with his fourth straight Iron Bowl defeat.

Reggie Slack hit Alexander Wright on a long pass on Auburn’s first scoring drive, and James Joseph launched over the top of the pile in a goal-to-go situation (with 12 men on the field, oops) to give Auburn the early lead.

The win spawned Pat Dye’s famous “wrestlin’ with them angels” speech in the locker room, and sent Auburn to a Hall of Fame Bowl victory over Ohio State.

30 Years Ago - 1987

Auburn began 1987 ranked in the top five in the country, and ended up with a bizarre 9-1-2 record that saw them finish 7th in the land. After rolling to a 7-0-1 start with the only blemish being a tie at Tennessee, Auburn would fall heavily at home against Florida State and one of Bobby Bowden’s best Seminole teams 34-6. However, wins over Georgia and Alabama at Amen Corner to finish the regular season gave Auburn a Sugar Bowl berth where they met an undefeated Syracuse team looking for a share of the national championship.

Auburn and the Orange battle to a 16-16 tie during which Pat Dye elected to kick a field goal late rather than going for a touchdown, a move which spawned Syracuse students to send Dye ties in the mail. It also pushed the Orange out of the national title picture and opened the door for Miami to take the crown after the Hurricanes beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Auburn’s zero losses in the SEC gave them their first of three straight SEC Championships.

Next Up: 29 Days Until Kickoff