Auburn Tigers football represents Auburn University in NCAA Division I-A college football. The team is currently coached by Tommy Tuberville. Past coaches include John Heisman, Mike Donahue, Ralph "Shug" Jordan, Pat Dye and Terry Bowden. Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium has a capacity of 87,451, ranking as the ninth-largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA. The Tigers played the first football game in the Deep South in 1892, with the program's first bowl appearance coming the 1936 season in the sixth Bacardi Bowl played in Havana, Cuba. As of 2005, AU Football has had 76 winning seasons, 33 bowl appearances, eleven 10+ win seasons, eleven undefeated seasons and ten conference championships. Auburn has played in the Southeastern Conference since its inception in 1933 and have won six SEC Conference Championships, and since the division of the conference in 1992, six Western Division championships (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005)^[1] and three trips to the SEC Championship game (1997, 2000 and 2004).

Historical ranking

The College Football Research Center lists Auburn as the 14th best college football program in history^[2], with eight Auburn squads listed in Billingsley’s Top 200 Teams of All Time (1869-2006).^[3] The Associated Press poll statistics (1936-2005) show Auburn with the 13th best national record of being ranked in the AP poll (ranked 443 times out of 938 polls since the poll began in 1936). Since the Coaches Poll first released a final poll in 1950, Auburn has 32 seasons where the team finished in the top 20 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.^[4]

In terms of winning percentage, Auburn ranks as the 8th most successful team in the past 20 years with a 70.6% win rate (167–68–5)^[5] and 10th over the last 50 years with 68.8% (387–172–10).^[6] Of the 47 current I-A football programs that been active since Auburn first fielded a team 115 years ago, Auburn ranks 11th in winning percentage over that period.^[7]

Heisman links

Two Auburn players, Pat Sullivan in 1971 and Bo Jackson in 1985, have won the Heisman Trophy. The Trophy's namesake, John Heisman, coached at Auburn from 1895 until 1899. Auburn is the only school where Heisman coached (among others, Georgia Tech and Clemson) that has produced a Heisman Trophy winner.

National champion teams

There have been a total of seven Auburn teams that have been awarded some form of "National Champions" title. The NCAA's website states that "the NCAA does not conduct a national championship in Division I-A football and is not involved in the selection process", but goes on to state that "a number of polling organizations provide a final ranking of Division I-A football teams at the end of each season". The NCAA website then lists four Auburn squads that have been named National Champions by at least one organization.^[8] Here is the complete list of the Auburn teams ranked No. 1 and some of the organizations that recognized them as National Champion:^[9]

• 1913 undefeated 8–0 team (Billingsley, James Howell)
• 1914 undefeated 8–0–1 team (James Howell)
• 1957 undefeated 10–0 team (Associated Press, Billingsley, Fleming, Football Research, Helms, James Howell, Massey Ratings, National Championship Foundation, Nutshell Sports, Poling, Sagarin, Sorensen, Williamson, David Wilson)
• 1958 undefeated 9–0–1 team (Montgomery Full Season Championship)
• 1983 11–1 team (ARGH, Billingsley, DKC, Eck, FACT, Fleming, Football Research, James Howell, Massey Ratings, New York Times, Nutshell Sports, Sorensen, Sparks Achievement, David Wilson)
• 1993 undefeated 11–0 team (Harry Frye, National Championship Foundation, Nutshell Sports, Sparks Achievement, David Wilson)
• 2004 undefeated 13–0 team (Darryl W. Perry, EFI, FansPoll, GBE, Hank Trexler, M Cubed)

The AP Poll did not begin selecting a champion until 1936 nor the AFCA Coaches Poll until 1950, so many national champion titles previous to those date were awarded retroactively. However during the 1910's, it is difficult to dispute the legitimacy of the Auburn titles. The undefeated 1913 and 1914 teams coached by Mike Donahue were some of the best defenses in Auburn history. In fact, the 1914 squad allowed zero points all season, outscoring opponents 193-0. The 1983 team featuring Bo Jackson went 11–1 and finished the season by beating Michigan 9-7 in the Sugar Bowl. The undefeated 2004 squad (13–0) finished second in the AP and Coaches Top 25 polls, but the team was awarded the 2004 Fanspoll.com People's National Champion title.^[10] Auburn University officially only claims the Associated Press (AP) National Championship of 1957^[11] (although the school does acknowledge the 1913, 1983, 1993 and 2004 titles in their media guide).^[12]

Head coaches

†Defensive coordinator Bill Oliver coached the last five games of the 1998 season after Terry Bowden's resignation.

Seasons

2006 season

Auburn entered the 2006 season as a consensus Top-5 team based in part on the return of key offensive starters including tailback Kenny Irons and quarterback Brandon Cox.[1] The 2006 season marks head coach Tommy Tuberville's eighth season with the Tigers. He was assisted by third-year offensive coordinator Al Borges and first-year defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. The Tigers finished the season second in the SEC Western Division behind the surprising Arkansas Razorbacks. With signature wins over the eventual BCS champion Florida Gators and the final-ranked #3 LSU Tigers, Auburn was the only team that could claim victories over two BCS and top five teams. The Tigers finished the regular season with a win over rival Alabama, garnering an invitation to play Nebraska in the 71st annual Cotton Bowl Classic on New Year's Day. Auburn beat the Cornhuskers 17-14, finishing the season with an impressive 11–2 record which garnered the squad a #8 final poll ranking.

2004 undefeated season

Auburn completed the 2004 football season with an unblemished 13–0 record winning the SEC championship, their first conference title since 1989 and their first outright title since 1987. However, this achievement was somewhat overshadowed by the Tigers being left out of the BCS championship game in deference to two other undefeated, higher ranked teams, USC and Oklahoma. The 2004 team was led by quarterback Jason Campbell, running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown, and cornerback Carlos Rogers, all subsequently drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. The team hired a new offensive coordinator, Al Borges, who led the team to use a modified West Coast offense (which he calls the Gulf Coast offense) to maximize the use of both star running backs. It proved quite effective, as the 2004 squad scored the second most points in a season ever by an Auburn team (outscoring opponents 417-147).

Rivals

Auburn has two primary rivals, Alabama and Georgia. Alabama is the most heated rival and considered to be "the most intense intrastate college football rivalry in the country". In fact, ESPN recently ranked the rivalry as #8 in all of sports history[2]. The game is known as the Iron Bowl, with the first meeting coming in 1893. After a dispute in 1907 over where officials should be obtained, the teams did not play for over 40 years before a 1947 resolution by the Alabama House of Representatives encouraged the schools to "make possible the inauguration of a full athletic program between the two schools".^[13] After a pair of meetings between the Auburn president Dr. Ralph B. Draughon and Alabama president Dr. John Gallalee, the two schools agreed to host the games at the "neutral" Legion Field in Birmingham (although the fact that Alabama played most of their "home" games at Legion Field before 1990 calls this neutrality into question), which continued until Auburn hosted the first on-campus meeting in 1989. Alabama holds the all-time edge at 38–32–1, although the Tigers have won the last five meetings and lead the series 15–11 since Pat Dye arrived at Auburn in 1981.[3] Arguably the most famous Auburn victory in the rivalry is the 1972 victory by Auburn over the #2-ranked and heavily favored Alabama team. Auburn linebacker Bill Newton blocked two Alabama punts in the final ten minutes of the game which were both returned for touchdowns in near identical fashion by David Langner to give Auburn the 17-16 win in a game that became known as Punt Bama Punt.

Georgia and Auburn compete in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, dating back to 1892. The game was played in Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia. The series is extremely close, with Auburn holding a 53–49–8 record. Auburn had only outscored Georgia by two points, before the 110th meeting that saw Georgia beat the Tigers 37-15. The matchup is one of the longest running and most played series in the NCAA.

Auburn also has a very competitive football rivalry with the LSU Tigers, see Auburn LSU rivalry; the last three games have been settled by eight total points. The two share more than just a nickname, as they have both enjoyed success in the SEC's Western Division. Auburn or LSU have won at least a share of the SEC Western Division championship for the last six years. Auburn won it outright in 2000 and 2004, LSU tied Auburn and then went on to the SEC Title Game in 2001 and 2005. LSU also won the tiebreaker over Ole Miss in 2003 to go to the SEC Title game. The only time Auburn or LSU did not go to Atlanta in the last six years was 2002 when Arkansas won the three-way tie breaker with the two Tiger teams. Auburn won the 2006 clash 7-3 in a defensive battle at Jordan-Hare (the home team has won this game every year since 1999). While the series has no formal name, many of the games themselves have been named by the media such as the Earthquake Game in 1988, the Interception Game in 1994, The Whistle Game in 1995, the Barn Burner in 1996, Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em in 1999, the Extra Point Game in 2004, the Doink Game in 2005, and the Interference Game in 2006. Since the SEC split into separate divisions in 1992, Auburn is 9–6 versus LSU, although they still trail in the series overall 19–21–1.

Former rivals

Before the Southeastern Conference expanded and split into Eastern and Western divisions, Auburn had annual rivalries with SEC East powers Florida and Tennessee. Since the split, Auburn only plays each of these two teams four times every ten years unless they meet in the SEC Championship game. The Tigers lead both teams all-time with a 41–38–2 edge over Florida and 25–21–3 series with Tennessee. Auburn also had a heated rivalry with Georgia Tech before Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers lead this series as well, 47–41–4.

Traditions

Tiger Walk

Before each Auburn home football game, thousands of Auburn fans line Donahue Avenue to cheer on the team as they walk from Sewell Hall (the athletes' dormitory) to Jordan-Hare Stadium. The tradition began in the 1960s when groups of kids would walk up the street to greet the team and get autographs. During the tenure of coach Doug Barfield, the coach urged fans to come out and support the team, and thousands did. Today the team, led by the coaches, walks down the hill and into the stadium surrounded by fans who pat them on the back and shake their hands as they walk. The largest Tiger Walk occurred on December 2, 1989, before the first ever home football game against rival Alabama—the Iron Bowl. On that day, an estimated 20,000 fans packed the one block section of road leading to the stadium. According to former athletic director David Housel, Tiger Walk has become "the most copied tradition in all of college football," although there are older pre-game walks at Stanford and Williams College [4].

Toomer's Corner

The intersection of Magnolia and College streets in Auburn, which marks the transition from downtown Auburn to the university campus, is known as Toomer's Corner. It is named after Toomer's Drugs, a small store on the corner that has been an Auburn landmark for over 150 years. Hanging over the corner are two massive old-growth oak trees, and anytime anything good happens concerning Auburn, toilet paper can usually be found hanging from the trees. Also known as "rolling the corner," this tradition is thought to have originated in the 1950s and until the mid 1990s was relegated to only to celebrating athletic wins. However, in recent years it has become a way to celebrate anything good that happens concerning Auburn.

"War Eagle"

There are many stories surrounding the origins of Auburn's battle cry, "War Eagle." The most popular account involves the first Auburn football game in 1892 between Auburn and the University of Georgia. According to the story, in the stands that day was an old Civil War soldier with an eagle that he had found injured on a battlefield and kept as a pet. The eagle broke free and began to soar over the field, and Auburn began to march toward the Georgia end-zone. The crowd began to chant, "War Eagle" as the eagle soared. After Auburn won the game, the eagle crashed to the field and died but, according to the legend, his spirit lives on every time an Auburn man or woman yells "War Eagle!" The battle cry of "War Eagle" also functions as a greeting for those associated with the University. For many years, a live golden eagle has embodied the spirit of this tradition. The eagle was once housed on campus in The Eagle's Cage (which was the second largest single-bird enclosure in the country), but the aviary was taken down in 2003 and the eagle moved to a nearby raptor center. The eagle, War Eagle VI (nicknamed "Tiger"), is trained to fly around the stadium before every home game to the delight of fans.

Wreck Tech Pajama Parade

The Wreck Tech Pajama Parade originated in 1896, when a group of mischievous Auburn ROTC cadets, determined to show up the more well-known engineers from Georgia Tech, sneaked out of their dorms the night before the football game between Auburn and Tech and greased the railroad tracks. According to the story, the train carrying the Georgia Tech team slid through town and didn't stop until it was halfway to the neighboring town of Loachapoka, Alabama, The Georgia Tech team was forced to walk the five miles back to Auburn and, not surprisingly, were rather weary at the end of their journey. This likely contributed to their 45–0 loss. While the railroad long ago ceased to be the way teams traveled to Auburn and students never greased the tracks again, the tradition continues in the form of a parade through downtown Auburn. Students parade through the streets in their pajamas and organizations build floats. This tradition has recently been renewed with Georgia Tech returning to Auburn's schedule after nearly two decades of absence.

Award winners

A number of Auburn players and coaches have won national awards, including 62 players being named as college football All-Americans. The Tigers also have eleven coaches and players that have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

Hall of Fame

National Awards

All-Americans

Tigers in the NFL

There have been 237 Auburn players drafted into the National Football League, with 15 earning 30 All-Pro honors and 23 playing in Super Bowls. Auburn linebacker Mike Kolen was a member of the 1972 "No Name Defense" that led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in NFL history. More recently, Auburn had five players picked in the 2005 NFL Draft with four going in the top 25. Ronnie Brown went 2nd to the Miami Dolphins, while his running mate, Carnell Williams went 5th to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carlos Rogers went 9th and Jason Campbell went 25th - both were picked by the Washington Redskins. Jay Ratliff was picked in the seventh round by the Dallas Cowboys. The 2006 NFL Draft saw four Auburn players selected. Highly touted offensive tackle Marcus McNeill went to the San Diego Chargers in the second round. Stanley McClover was picked in the seventh round by the Carolina Panthers, as were receivers Devin Aromashodu by the Miami Dolphins and Ben Obomanu by the Seattle Seahawks. A third receiver, Anthony Mix, was also signed as a free-agent by the New York Giants. The 2007 NFL Draft saw five more Tigers join the NFL ranks, including the Irons brothers (Kenny Irons selected in the 2nd round by the Cincinatti Bengals and David Irons selected in the 6th round by the Atlanta Falcons). Ben Grubbs was the first offensive guard taken, selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round. Rounding out the Tigers in the Draft, Will Herring was taken in the 5th round and Courtney Taylor in the 6th, both selected by the Seattle Seahawks. Auburn is tied (with Miami) for second most Top 5 NFL Draft picks this decade. The Plains have produced 25 first round draft picks over the years. The Dow Jones College-Football Success Index ranked Auburn as the eighth best program in the nation, with the second highest Draft Value which indicate "that a school's players perform better than NFL scouts seem to expect".^[14]

Runningback U

Auburn has a reputation of being one of the premier runningback factories in the nation, with many former Tigers currently playing that position on Sundays in the NFL: Kenny Irons (Cincinnati Bengals RB), Ronnie Brown (Miami Dolphins RB), Cadillac Williams (Tampa Bay Buccaneers RB), Brandon Jacobs (New York Giants RB), Heath Evans (New England Patriots FB), Rudi Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals RB), Fred Beasley (Miami Dolphins FB), Stephen Davis (St. Louis Rams RB), Harold Morrow (Arizona Cardinals FB) and Tony Richardson (Minnesota Vikings FB). They carry on a long legacy of top NFL backs from Auburn such as Tucker Frederickson, William Andrews, Joe Cribbs, James Brooks, Lionel James, Brent Fullwood, Tommie Agee and Bo Jackson. Over the last 20 years (1987-2007 Draft), there have been 15 Tiger running backs drafted into the NFL, with several more successfully signing as undrafted free-agents. This tradition of outputting successful NFL backs looks to continue as Auburn continually recruits top-rated backs, with several current Auburn runners (such as Brad Lester and Ben Tate) looking to continue on the history of success of Auburn running backs in the near future.

Current NFL players

There are a number of former Auburn players currently listed on NFL rosters. These players include ten running backs, eight linebackers, six wide receivers, two tight ends, three cornerbacks, one quarterback, two placekickers and nineteen linemen including one center, six guards, seven tackles and five defensive ends.

Hall of Fame

Awards

Pro Bowl

There have been 25 former Tigers selected to the NFL Pro Bowl over the years.

Bowl history

Auburn football teams have been invited to participate in 33 total bowls and have garnered a record of 18–13–2.

Miscellaneous facts

• Auburn's largest win came November 17, 1894 against Georgia Tech (94-0) in Atlanta.
• The most points scored against a current SEC team came November 3, 1917 against Florida (68-0).
• Auburn has had 57 games in which they have scored over 50 points, with the most recent on September 17, 2005 against Ball State (63-3).
• The last time Auburn shut out an opponent came November 4, 2006 with a 27-0 win versus Arkansas State.
• The last time Auburn shut out Alabama came November 18, 2000 in a 9-0 win in Tuscaloosa.
• Auburn has defeated rival Alabama five consecutive times from 2002-2006.
• Auburn currently holds the best record in SEC play since 2000, and have won 23 of their last 26 SEC matchups.
• Auburn enjoys a 14–7 record versus top-10 opponents since the 2000 season, and have won 8 of their last 9.

References

External links

• Auburn Tigers football