Guerry Clegg: Iron Bowl results resonates whole year
When one lives in the heart of North Carolina's Research Triangle, it's hard to imagine any sports rivalry could match -- let alone exceed -- Duke-North Carolina basketball.
That is, unless you move there after growing up in the Auburn-Alabama rivalry. That was Curtis Howard's experience. He had served as a manager for the Crimson Tide under Bear Bryant. His father Sammy, the legendary high school coach, played for Bryant at Alabama. His grandfather played for Auburn.
When Howard and his wife at the time took jobs at Duke, where they stayed for six years, he discovered the passion for Duke-UNC was close to that of Alabama-Auburn.
"When we moved in, my neighbor came over and said, 'What color blue are you?' " Howard said. He tried to play it down the middle. "You can't like both," his neighbor said. "You have to choose sides."
That sounds familiar, doesn't it?
When Duke and UNC meet next February at the Dean Dome, it will be every bit as intense as the Iron Bowl will be Saturday at Jordan Hare. But here's the difference. The day after the Iron Bowl, the fans of the winning team will be able to gloat for a full year. Duke and UNC will tip it off again 17 days later at Camden Indoor Arena. And quite possibly the following week in the ACC tournament.
"If we beat Auburn Saturday, that one is good for 52 weeks," Howard said. "I can run my mouth for 52 weeks. There, it's tempered by the fact that you're going to play them again."
Alabama won last year 55-44 and is nearly a two-touchdown favorite to win Saturday. Bama holds a 43-35-1 series lead and the national championship comparison, by any measure, is even more one-sided. But Auburn fans will always have two words that they can throw down and sting their Alabama friends.
"Kick Six."
Few rivalries in any sport can evoke such passion and memories over the utterance of a simple phrase. Chris Davis's 109-yard touchdown off a missed field goal on the final play of the 2013 Iron Bowl is arguably the most stunning play in college football history.
Yeah, the Cal-Stanford "Don't Fall With The Ball" kickoff return was crazy. But Kick Six ended Alabama's hopes for a third consecutive national championship and ultimately set the Tigers up for a place in the national championship game. It also punctuated Auburn's dramatic return from its worst season in more than half a century.
It's highly unlikely there will be any drama this year. This Auburn offense has struggled mightily against even ordinary defenses. And Alabama's defense is far from ordinary.
Only two teams have run for more than 100 yards on the Tide -- Georgia (193) and Tennessee (132). Only two teams have passed for more than 300 yards -- Ole Miss (341) and Mississippi State (304). They made State pay for those yards with nine sacks of Dak Prescott and four turnovers.
The Tigers are not going to be able to throw on Bama and won't be able to run the ball. Pretty much a dooming combination.
The Tigers' only hope of making a game of it will be if their defense can come up with some big plays.
Otherwise, it could be a long day for Auburn -- but not as dreadful as the next 52 weeks.
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Iron Bowl results resonates whole year ."