My Biggest Mistake, Turning off the 1999 Auburn Game

Dec 1, 2013; Auburn, AL, USA; View of the Alabama Crimson Tide benches the day after the game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan Hare Stadium. The Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 34-28. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

This year marks the 15th anniversary of one of the most memorable Mississippi State games, “The Comeback on the Plains” (This game, as far as I can find, has no special name, I just made that one up). If you were alive and old enough to remember it, this one is probably a favorite amongst most Mississippi State fans, and they can tell you just about everything about this game. I can as well, except for the last half of the 4th quarter. Why can’t I tell you about it?

I turned the game off in frustration.

Just to set the stage, Mississippi State was off to a 5-0 start in 1999 as they traveled to Auburn to take on the Tigers. Wayne Madkin was in his sophomore season and had taken over as the starting quarterback, replacing Matt Wyatt the previous year. The offense was struggling, and the hopes of Mississippi State keeping their perfect record in tact looked dim because Madkin left the game at halftime with an injury to his throwing hand, and Mississippi State trailed.

The offense looked stagnant for much of the second half. The Bulldogs weren’t moving the ball well at all, and the defense was doing everything they could to keep the team in the game. About halfway through the last quarter, Mississippi State trailed the Tigers 16-3. At some point, and I don’t remember exactly when, either after a turnover or a failed 3rd down conversion, I got so frustrated with what I was watching that I turned the game off. I was a junior at State and had to go home that Saturday, but decided to wait until the game was over before I left. I was getting so mad that I decided to go ahead and turn the game off and leave. I do remember there were less than 6 minutes in the game when I decided to do that. I lived about 2 1/2 hours away from Starkville, and after about an hour of driving, I decided to turn on the radio to see how mad people were going to be on the call in portion of the post game show.

When I turned the radio over to the broadcast, I was really confused. It sounded like Jack Cristil and Jim Ellis were describing the game like Mississippi State had won. This was before the time of smartphones, so I couldn’t just look it up. Sure enough, before they went to a commercial break, they said the final was Mississippi State 18, Auburn 16.

My jaw probably hit my steering wheel it dropped so much. As soon as I got home, I got on the Internet (this was dial up so it took a while) and began frantically searching for recaps of what in the world happened during the final few minutes. The best I could tell and just assume to this day based off of what I read is that Matt Wyatt turned into Joe Montana or John Elway during the last  four minutes of the game. He led an offense that had done nothing all game long to two touchdowns with less than four minutes in the game. To make the game that much sweeter for State fans, Tommy Tuberville had said during the week that our season hadn’t even started yet because we hadn’t played anyone that was very good. It’s a favorite for Mississippi State fans, and I missed it.

Because of this game, I am very hesitant to turn off a game or leave it early. I missed out on one of the best games ever involving Mississippi State because I got so mad and frustrated. I don’t want to have that happen again.

Here is a ten minute video that you should watch about the last four minutes of that game. It hurts too much for me to watch it, but you might enjoy it.