We arrived the day before. The weather was o.k., clear, a bit breezy. It was really hard to tell where downtown was. We drove 70 miles from the Pittsburg airport to get there.
Our hotel was beside the interstate. It was late afternoon when we arrived, and we were hungry. We ate dinner at a chicken-wing type bar that seemed more suited for the NASCAR crowd than for a college town. Thank goodness we decided to drive around and find the stadium. Had we not done this, I don’t know if we ever would have found it the next day. It was hidden between two “almost heaven” mountains.
I can’t help but remember that weekend last year as this Saturday’s game approaches.
My son, my dad and I made the trip to Morgantown last year to see the Auburn/West Virginia game. And that weekend sticks in my mind, my craw and my gut as the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back for the 2008 Auburn Tigers. It was a Tiger team that fell apart that night.
It was cold. My son had on two shirts, a sweatshirt and a heavy coat. He was still cold. I had on a long sleeve shirt, a coat and gloves, and I was cold. Sitting high in the endzone facing the wind with the stadium down in a holler between two hills didn’t help, because the wind shot directly toward us as though we were in a wind tunnel.
The following January, I had a conversation about that night with Mark May. Yes, that Mark May from ESPN. I was in the concierge lounge at the Marriott East in New York, just across the street from the Waldorf, the night before the College Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Mark May was staying at the same hotel as me. He came into the concierge lounge, and we struck up a conversation. It centered around Auburn, because I had on my orange and blue “AU” cap.
May told me that he was at the West Virginia game, and knew something wasn’t right when he looked at the Auburn sideline. Although at the time Auburn was ahead, the players NOT on the field were huddled around the jet heaters trying to get warm. They weren’t paying attention to the ballgame. He said that Coach Tubs got so mad about it that he had the heaters turned off at halftime, not to be turned on again during the game. He said that coaches were yelling at each other, players were shivering, and everyone seemed to be confused. I didn’t recall seeing any of this, but I was a part of 3 generations of Lanes being frozen by a Big East windstorm at the time.
What I DID see in the second half was heat from the other sideline. Heat in the form of Noel Devine. I saw him zip around, through and over Auburn’s defense for 207 yards rushing. I saw an Auburn defense coming apart at the seems. I saw an Auburn offense that never could find the seems. Mark May saw a football team on the sideline falling apart right before his eyes. A national television audience saw a Tuberville coached team quit late in the fourth quarter…giving up a meaningless touchdown because the team was already defeated.
Fast forward to this week. Auburn is favored in the game. It won’t be cold. Both offenses have big play potential. This will NOT be an easy game for Auburn. It will be even more difficult for West Virginia.
For all the hype of both these offenses, and all that hype is deserved, this game will be won by the defense. The defense that can put the other offense in 1st and long. The defense that can keep the other offense off the field. The defense that can put fast, speed rush on the quarterback. And the defense that can stop two potentially potent rushing games.
I do predict a high score. But when the dust from the Plains settles (and it may be mud, according to the weatherman), it will be Auburn 34- West Virginia 24.
WJLaneSR
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