The Bodda Getta

News was not instant like it is today in 1971. I don't really remember hearing anything about both teams meeting undefeated until 2 weeks before the game. Oklahoma and Nebraska were easily the 2 best teams in the country that year. They played a #1 vs #2 matchup in November that year that was billed the "game of the century" which was won by Nebraska 35-31 in a thriller. Those two teams combined for 17 of the 22 All Big 8 spots that season. Nebraska was on a 30 game unbeaten streak when they played bammer in the Orange Bowl in a driving rainstorm. I still get chills thinking about that game. They absolutely destroyed bammer. To this day I have not seen them beat worse than that. Nebraska featured future Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers at wingback and he ran wild. The bad news is bammer throttled us that year. We went 3 and out and they drove for a TD on their first possession. We were really never in the game, but the Amazins sure nailed them in '72. The Sooners were just a lot better than us too that year and they beat us 40-22 in another game we were really never in.

Good question and good responses. The 1971 AU team was similar to this one in a way. It was a fairly average team with a few superstars mixed in. We played our best game of the season against GA and won 35-20 and that performance won the Heisman for Sully. The team came out very flat in the IB and never had a chance. AL's wishbone just moved the ball against our defense and there was nothing we could do about it. They used a safety blitz several times with success and our offense never got going. The whole game was much like the first 20 minutes of the Clemson game. 3 and out for us, and then AL would have a 14 play drive.

The Sugar Bowl was even worse. OK also used a wishbone and just methodically moved the ball on our D and we could not stop them. It was 34-0 at halftime, and final score was in no way indicative of how bad it really was.

I have the feeling that this edition of the Auburn Tigers is capable of beating anyone on a given night, but I'm also afraid that there are a number of teams that could abuse our D the way OK and AL did in 71 and really embarrass us. It will be exciting to see what happens. War Eagle!

First let me say there was no one in the country as good as Nebraska that year (or a lot of years since). That was a great team. As far as Bama and Oklahoma goes, both had just converted to the wishbone, which was still a novelty offense at the time. It had only been in use, primarily by Texas (they won the MNC in 1970 running that offense), for a couple of years. As with most fad offenses, it takes the defenses a few years to catch up. Both Auburn and bama were loaded with good solid players, but few real big name players. We had Beasley and Sullivan and they had Musso. I think the teams matched up pretty well, but the difficulty in trying to defense a new triple option offense like the wishbone, playing two huge games a week apart, and the distraction of the Heisman award was just to much for us.

People just didn't follow it back then as closely as they do now. You didn't have nearly as many TV games and virtually no radio or TV sports talk shows. Most of the information came from the newspaper. That's not to say people weren't passionate about their teams, they just weren't as 24/7 (take it as a pun if you want to) about it.

I was 15, but my memories are of the Georgia game being as big as the Alabama game. It effectively won the Heisman for Sullivan. I was fortunate enough to be at that game, thanks to my father. It was a heckuva game. Roger Mitchell actually did block a kick that day, a PAT by Georgia that kept us ahead 21-20. Sullivan and Beasley then shut the door. I remember David Housel getting my father and me into the press box in Athens after that game and I got to meet Furman Bisher. I also attended the Alabama game. We only trailed 14-7 at the half, but Alabama completely outplayed us that day. Oklahoma and Nebraska were in a league of their own that year and neither Auburn nor Alabama were a match for them in the bowls. In the climate of 1971, schools such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and Alabama could stockpile talent without the scholarship restrictions of today. For Auburn to have been in a that heady company was certainly reason for pride. And to this day, I get goose bumps just remembering watching Pat Sullivan play.

For those of us on the younger side of things (a few years short of being born at the time of that game), it's a real privilege to hear these stories. Thanks for sharing. It gives us that care, a much deeper understanding of the history of our program.

One incident worth mentioning about the Auburn-Georgia game in Athens was the night before the game. The Auburn team stayed in am Athens hotel (Holiday Inn I believe) and few were able to sleep as Georgia fans continuously drove through the parking lot blowing their car horns. I seem to recall that some more daring types ran across the roof of the hotel during the night. My dad and I got there early that morning just as the team was leaving for the stadium and I distinctivly remember a very quiet and extremely angry team loading up. My recollection is also that Coach Jordan was as mad as a hornet. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with a glorious ending.

I was too young to remember the game but there is a story about Coach Jordan and Friday's walk through at the stadium, iirc:

The team had finished their preparations and Coach Jordan called them up. Those that played for him said that He always had a knack for saying the right thing at the right time and so it was this day.

A soft spoken gentleman that always seemed to maintain his composure, Coach Jordan supposedly said to the team:

"Lo, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil.......for I am the meanest SOB in the Valley"

and on that Saturday they sure were.

(my apologies if this is an incorrect memory.......but it sure is a dadgum good story)

ps: good stories on the hotel (junior ace) and the UT story OldNewby.......D. Housel referred to the '71 UT game in last weeks program as it was played on Coach Jordan's birthday.

"M-Dubya" that was a good thread you started...I love stories from the early '70's when I was a mere tiger cub.

TigerLily...thanks for sharing...I have fond memories of time well spent with my Father many fall Saturdays on the Plains.

Seraph...I'm glad this thread "miraculously" reappeared for our viewing pleasure...great story about Coach Jordan as well.