Countdown to Kickoff: 84 Days

Hey look, I’m finally bringing up a game that Auburn wins! That’s fun!

Bear Bryant went 19-6 against Auburn during his tenure. That is not a fun stat. What is a fun stat is in 1969 the Tigers handed Bryant his worst loss, point-wise, in his career when they beat the Tide 49-26. And it had the most amazing exclamation mark an Auburn fan could want, an 84 yard fake punt for a touchdown.

This was not a called play but Coach Jordan, in fact, he was looking around trying to figure out where the ball had gone.

Gene Lorendo, the offensive coordinator, was in charge of the punting game. And Lorendo had no love for the team on the other side of the field.

”As the game progressed, Connie told Coach Lorendo they were not respecting a fake punt,” Bresler said. “As the game moved on, he would tell him each time he came off. We were ahead 42-20 and it was fourth down. Lorendo said `You can do it, but don’t tell Coach Jordan I told you you could do it.’ Sure enough, he did it. The funny thing is Coach Jordan was looking in the air for the ball.”

Really looking forward to our new Australian punter pulling this off in Tuscaloosa this year....

BONUS PLAY

It’s Super Regional Saturday so obviously we need to celebrate by not talking about just one but TWO plays that went 84 yards.

There was a time that Auburn did in fact win games in Baton Rouge, LA. I know that sounds like an urban myth but I have video evidence as you will see below. Tommy Tuberville’s Tigers took it to the Bayou Bengals in 1999, beating them down 41-7. In celebration of this fact along with it being Tubs birthday, Auburn broke out the cigars and forever cursed Auburn’s chances of winning in Death Valley again...

What might have been the play of the game though came late in the 2nd quarter. Auburn already held a 17-0 lead thanks to a Damon Duval fake FG TD (Les Miles stole this beautiful play from Tubs) and a long TD pass to Ronney Daniels. Ben Leard would connect with Daniels again for well.... An unconventional 84 yard touchdown pass....

Just like they draw it up....

If you would like to remember what it’s like to watch Auburn actually win a game in Death Valley check out this awesome highlight package below. I should warn you, it might make you start thinking about Auburn’s recent trip to Baton Rouge and I am not to be held responsible for your actions as a result of these thoughts...

84 days till kickoff! War Eagle!