As promised, I can't let this week get away without giving some special mention to the Auburn-LSU meeting, which rarely fails to deliver the goods.
This game in 1988 turned into a very important night in my life, since in the process of watching I managed to stab myself with a blue-lead pencil (ultimately resulting in my first major surgery).
That game, amazingly, not the most famous in the history of the series. There was, for example, this moment at Jordan-Hare in 1994.
I actually remember hearing the first INT on the radio and thinking, "Great ... two more of those and they're right back in this thing."
(Sorry about the music, by the way.)
Amazingly, I couldn't find any video anywhere of the famous "Fire Game" in 1996, when LSU defeated Auburn 19-15 at Jordan-Hare.
Ten years after that crazy interception game in Auburn, the two teams played another incredible contest -- the defending national champs against a team that eventually finished undefeated.
(Again, you'll have to ignore the music.)
Not only was that Jason Campbell's coming-of-age moment (after only 19 short years at Auburn), it also marked the end of one of the weirdest games ever played -- seriously, LSU should've put that game away at least a dozen times in the fourth quarter and didn't.
But it's not even the weirdest moment in the series. The very next season, poor John Vaughn had the reverse of Jason Campbell's 2004 game.
Incredible.
Then there was 2006.
Comparisons between that game and last week's Auburn-Mississippi State game are somewhat peurile -- the defenses may have been comprable, but those two teams matching up in '06 were quality offensive squads as well. The fact that the game ended 7-3 with LSU only three yards short of a potential victory was pretty incredible.
And, finally, there was last year, as Les Miles continues to give us the question, "Is it still a stupid idea even if it works out?"
Simply stunning.
All that sets up this Saturday. Logic says LSU has the advantage -- just as good a defense as State, with more playmakers on offense. But expect it to at least be fun to watch.
wlh
2 comments:
i think we need more details about how on earth you managed to stab yourself with a lead pencil!!
Sadly, much like the story of my broken leg, the story of the pencil is less-than-stellar: I was seven at the time, my parents were hosting a dinner party (principally to watch the game) and my seven-year-old self was attempting to craft something on construction paper with a blue lead pencil. For whatever reason, this same genius was running down the hall, carrying the pencil haphazardly, took my eyes off what I was doing, ran into the wall, broke the pencil and wound up with pieces of it in my right hand.
We thought it was fine at first, but after a few days a teacher friend of my mom's noticed a red streak snaking its way up my arm. Called a doctor, got a shot, eventually went to the hospital and got surgery to remove the pencil shards (though it didn't work entirely -- you can still see the blue in my hand where the injury occurred).
The lesson here: little boys break things; also, don't pander to Auburn fans, ever.
wlh
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