Refreshing Your Memory of Why We Need Revenge on the Plains

The buildup to the Auburn game in the summer of 2012 reached it’s crescendo when the Bulldogs finally broke the glass ceiling (at the time) and beat the Tigers 28-10. That win relieved a lot of frustration among MSU fans against Auburn, but not all of it. You could say that one was for the 2010 game. This year we must avenge what happened in 2011.

That day was sheer agony. I only re-live it because to truly have an the proper motivation for this game we must have the back story fresh in our minds. We need revenge. We need to spill Tiger blood on the plains.

Going into the game: Cam Newton, defending national champs, MSU 7 point favorite. Before kickoff the eagle flew into the pressbox window. Then it nearly landed in the crowd. It was weird.

The game got off to an inauspicious start- punt, Auburn TD, pick-6 and BAM: 14-0 just four minutes in. State came back though, ending the first quarter tied at 14, and then a Johnthan Banks pick-6 of our own made it 21-14 Dawgs. But they went into the half with a 31-24 lead.

Headset-gate: Dan Mullen notifies the officials that his headsets aren’t working properly, meaning Auburn will not be able to use them either. Rumor still remains that Auburn coaches could hear the play calls and that is why Mullen claimed they were not working. Would a fine program like Auburn dare cheat and hack into someone else’s communication system? Who knows but it just adds to the oddity of this game.

Late in the 3rd quarter, Auburn is up 34-27, it’s 4th & 1 from the MSU 31 yard line. Michael Dyer gets the carry and looks to be stopped for a turnover on downs but the men in stripes inexplicably give him the first down. Dave Neal even commented that it was “a little home cooking for Auburn”.

It looked like all hope was lost with under 10 minutes left. Auburn had a 41-27 lead and 1st & 10 from midfield. However, Cam Lawrence pushed them back with a sack and they were forced to punt. Chris Relf, LaDarius Perkins and Vick Ballard proceeded to march down the field and score a touchdown making it 41-34.

After another Auburn punt State got the ball back again and ran it on 7 out of 8 plays all the way to the Auburn 8 yard line. Vick Ballard looked to have scored a touchdown on the next play as he dove for the corner of the endzone but he was called out at the one. Still I am confused on why this was not a touchdown – perhaps a rule was changed in the offseason regarding the extension of the plane of the endzone?

So now it’s 1st & Goal at the one yard line. Ballard carries it again but this time for a one yard loss. The clock is running. The officials don’t look over to the MSU sideline to see if we’re interested in calling a timeout so Mullen has to run onto the field and get in the ref’s face to get the timeout called. Then we all know what happened. :10 left – a chance to run two plays but we only got one in. Chris Relf with the option and he took it himself.

MSU should have won that game. Not only did the Dawgs out-gain Auburn by 150 yards, we held Malzahn’s hurry-up offense to just 59 plays. Despite the last play, Relf had one of his best games throwing for 195 and running for 106. But Auburn had great field position all day and caught a handful of breaks.

Weird things happened, bad calls, you name it. It was a gut-wrenching defeat that came on the heels of the bitter Cam Newton ordeal. This is why we need revenge on the plains. Now is the time for payback.