Hope & Question

game 3

AUBURN, Ala. -- In a series that obsesses over assigning nicknames to its most epic clashes, how should this -- the meeting of LSU and Auburn in which their combined ranking had never been higher -- go into the annals of SEC history?
First, a contextual cram-session: They dubbed the 1996 LSU-Auburn game at Jordan-Hare Stadium "The Night the Barn Burned," when the tar roof of the nearby Sports Arena caught on fire during the contest. They labeled 1999 "The Cigar Game," after Tommy Tuberville and his boys sparked celebratory stogies. And the most famous Tigers-squared tilt of all, in 1988, is referred to as "The Earthquake Game," because LSU fans' celebration of a game-winning touchdown registered a spike on a campus seismograph.
So what to call this one? The stakes -- No. 3 vs No. 6, the SEC West lead and national-title contention -- were seismic, and yet, for 60 minutes, hardly anything was willing to budge. Not the scoreboard, which as the clock expired was reading, Auburn 7, LSU 3. Not the defenses, which put on a stunning display of physical, SEC-style football, holding both teams to less than two yards per carry, the home Tigers to 182 yards and one touchdown, and the road Tigers to just 311 yards and one measly field goal.
And so, when Auburn safety Eric Brock, who smothered LSU wideout Buster Davis at the 4-yard-line as the clock expired, was asked to coin the battle of 2006, he thought for a moment and delivered the goods:
"I'd have to call it," Brock said, "The Grudge Match."
It should stick. The Grudge Match. A black-and-blue affair -- of which Auburn wideout Courtney Taylor was willing to say, "It was ugly. Ugly. But we'll take it" -- in which the Plainsmen could surely find plenty of beauty. Such as the fact that they're not only in the SEC West driver's seat, but, thanks to Notre Dame's upset loss to Michigan, in a position to move up to No. 2 in both the AP poll (they're 3 now) and the coaches (they're 4). If the coaches have any sense, they'll leap Auburn over USC come Sunday. This is a Tigers team that looks every bit as good as its 2004 brethren who ran the table but were excluded from the Orange Bowl, and deserves a shot at the BCS title game should it stay undefeated.
Tuberville was disinterested in talking rankings ("Notre Dame lost?" he said in the press conference, toying with the reporter who posed the question. "No they didn't. Tell me they didn't.") and reminded everyone that the Tigers (now 3-0, 2-0) still "have a long ways to go."
But when the rest of that schedule includes two pushovers (Buffalo and Tulane) and nary a road game against an SEC juggernaut (they have South Carolina, Ole Miss and the Iron Bowl left) the Auburn-in-Arizona-come-January-8 discussion is now officially open. And very reasonable.
"We're one of the best teams in the nation," Taylor said. "We're playing with that swagger now."
For Taylor, who entered the game as one of the nation's star wideouts but left with just three catches for 22 yards, and the rest of the Auburn offense, it took a while on Saturday to find that swagger. LSU's D, which coming into Saturday ranked No. 3 in the nation in both yards and points allowed, had not given up a touchdown all season. It forced the Tigers to three-and-outs on three of their first four series, an interception on the other, and just 17 rushing yards and zero points in the first half.
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posted by Loren @ 3:43 PM