Almost, but not quite. It's been the story of Auburn football this season.
A year with high hopes and championship expectations, right on the heels of the greatest comeback in college football history, arguably in sports history, has ended in disappointment. Disappointment that mirrors the dissatisfaction of the season as a whole.
Even with the desire to finish strong in the Outback Bowl, to prove that they were better than their 8-4 record, the Tigers simply couldn't overcome their own mistakes.
Even the added motivation of new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp watching couldn't cancel out the devastating consequences of poor tackling, and boneheaded penalties on both sides of the ball.
Despite plenty of opportunities, Auburn couldn't take care of business, a strange phenomenon that has been occurring since mid-October.
It's been a disturbing trend, a mind-boggling inability to finish football games, compounded by the memories of so many thrilling finishes from the year before.
The 2014 Auburn Tigers were supposed to be an improved, modified version of their 2013 counterparts who fell 13 seconds short of winning a national championship.
The return of Nick Marshall and several key defensive contributors, arrival of Duke Williams, with momentum and looming unfinished business carried over from last season gave every indication of a second straight special season.
But as Auburn has learned the hard way that you're only as good as you'll allow yourself to be. And this year, Auburn's greatest enemy has been Auburn.
Playing what most consider to be the nation's most difficult schedule, the Tigers' final 8-5 mark isn't terrible. There are plenty teams who would love to finish a Power Five conference schedule with an 8-5 record.
But when you were playing in the national championship the year before, you're not supposed to go 8-5 the next year. When you return your starting senior quarterback and give him another dynamic receiver, you're supposed to be better.
This was not how the 2014 season was supposed to go.
This year, Auburn was supposed to finish what it had started a year ago, complete the journey to a national title. The Tigers were hungry, motivated, even angry. They believed themselves to be capable of making it to and winning the national championship.
The last season Auburn played after playing in the national title game prior to this season was 2011, months after reaping the benefits of Cam Newton’s freak-of-natureness.
Their record that season? 8-5. The 2012 season was next up, and we all know how that went down.
But just as no two football games are exactly alike, no two seasons are totally the same. In 2011, it felt as though Auburn somehow snuck its way into eight wins.
Close shaves with Utah State, Mississippi State, and South Carolina were the difference between finishing 7-5 or 4-8 in the regular season. In a sense, the Tigers overachieved that season, especially considering the loss of Newton, Nick Fairley, and twenty-something seniors from the year before.
But 2014 was different.
This year, close calls against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Wisconsin were the difference between a strong 11-2 finish and its very modest, real-life 8-5 mark. Take away two early turnovers against Mississippi State, and you might even be looking at 12-1, not counting the probable SEC championship berth in that scenario.
Time after time, Auburn just came up short. This year felt like a massive underachievement in comparison to last season.
Still feeling the pain of the worst season in school history, the 2013 Auburn Tigers banded together under a dynamic new head coach, united by a common theme: “it’s a new day.” Eager to bounce back in a huge way, these Tigers spent all of last season proving literally everyone wrong.
This year, there was no one to prove wrong, only expectations to live up to.
2013 was a special season no matter which way you spin it, but it becomes more glorified when set next to its pedestrian expectations beforehand.
No one expected Auburn to become that good again, that fast. 2013 was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
Wouldn’t it make more sense for the 8-5 season to come after 2012, then the spectacular 12-2, SEC championship-winning season next?
But that’s not how the cards fell. Auburn did (very improbably) make it to the national championship game last year, and levied championship expectations on themselves this season.
And it turns out they might not have been ready for them.
The glaring problems didn’t seem nearly as prevalent in the early going, when Auburn started the season 5-0, a run capped by a surprising and satisfying blowout win over LSU.
But from the Mississippi State game on, the Tigers suddenly lost their ability to finish games; in fact, they seemed determined to undermine themselves.
Penalties, missed tackles, blown coverages, foolish turnovers, and missed field goals became the subject of discussion after all of Auburn’s last eight games. Even the victories left some sort of bad taste in the mouths of the Auburn family, as the head-scratching, self-inflicted errors were just as present.
But it wasn’t just the mistakes that made this season frustrating; it was the fact that a very good football team was sinking themselves with those mistakes.
Simply put, Auburn has always been better than their mistakes.
Their wins over Ole Miss, LSU, and Kansas State were not accidents. The fact that they played Alabama so close, controlling the game for at least two quarters, proves that Auburn can, in fact, compete with anyone on the football field.
But the difference between this season and last season was the motivation.
Last year, Auburn was fighting to prove itself after being the laughingstock of the SEC. This year, Auburn was expected to maintain the level of success that took them to the championship game, but without quite as strong a sense of inspiration as in 2013.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Auburn was slacking off all year. I’m not saying they weren’t motivated.
I have complete confidence that it hurt them more than it hurt any Auburn fan to see a notch in the loss column.
But for whatever reason, the Tigers weren’t as laser focused; the penalties and unforced errors prove that. And this year, they didn’t get better as the season wore on.
Part of that can be attributed to the worst schedule I’ve ever seen a college football team play through.
But no matter the reason, Auburn just couldn’t get over their own mistakes, and it was never more evident than down the stretch.
There are no excuses anymore for Auburn; there have been none this season. From here on out, the Tigers will be expected to compete in an increasingly brutal SEC West, no matter what schedule they’re playing.
In a way, that’s encouraging. Despite the ultimate disappointment of this season’s finish, Auburn fans should take pride in the fact that the Tigers have now earned the respect of the rest of the conference and the nation.
However, Auburn can’t keep shooting itself in the foot. They will have to become more disciplined and repossess their killer instinct if they hope to repeat their success in 2013, and build on the success they had at many times this season.
We all know they’re capable of more. They’re capable of winning championships.
A year with high hopes and championship expectations, right on the heels of the greatest comeback in college football history, arguably in sports history, has ended in disappointment. Disappointment that mirrors the dissatisfaction of the season as a whole.
Even with the desire to finish strong in the Outback Bowl, to prove that they were better than their 8-4 record, the Tigers simply couldn't overcome their own mistakes.
Even the added motivation of new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp watching couldn't cancel out the devastating consequences of poor tackling, and boneheaded penalties on both sides of the ball.
Despite plenty of opportunities, Auburn couldn't take care of business, a strange phenomenon that has been occurring since mid-October.
It's been a disturbing trend, a mind-boggling inability to finish football games, compounded by the memories of so many thrilling finishes from the year before.
The 2014 Auburn Tigers were supposed to be an improved, modified version of their 2013 counterparts who fell 13 seconds short of winning a national championship.
The return of Nick Marshall and several key defensive contributors, arrival of Duke Williams, with momentum and looming unfinished business carried over from last season gave every indication of a second straight special season.
But as Auburn has learned the hard way that you're only as good as you'll allow yourself to be. And this year, Auburn's greatest enemy has been Auburn.
Playing what most consider to be the nation's most difficult schedule, the Tigers' final 8-5 mark isn't terrible. There are plenty teams who would love to finish a Power Five conference schedule with an 8-5 record.
But when you were playing in the national championship the year before, you're not supposed to go 8-5 the next year. When you return your starting senior quarterback and give him another dynamic receiver, you're supposed to be better.
This was not how the 2014 season was supposed to go.
This year, Auburn was supposed to finish what it had started a year ago, complete the journey to a national title. The Tigers were hungry, motivated, even angry. They believed themselves to be capable of making it to and winning the national championship.
The last season Auburn played after playing in the national title game prior to this season was 2011, months after reaping the benefits of Cam Newton’s freak-of-natureness.
Their record that season? 8-5. The 2012 season was next up, and we all know how that went down.
But just as no two football games are exactly alike, no two seasons are totally the same. In 2011, it felt as though Auburn somehow snuck its way into eight wins.
Close shaves with Utah State, Mississippi State, and South Carolina were the difference between finishing 7-5 or 4-8 in the regular season. In a sense, the Tigers overachieved that season, especially considering the loss of Newton, Nick Fairley, and twenty-something seniors from the year before.
But 2014 was different.
This year, close calls against Texas A&M, Alabama, and Wisconsin were the difference between a strong 11-2 finish and its very modest, real-life 8-5 mark. Take away two early turnovers against Mississippi State, and you might even be looking at 12-1, not counting the probable SEC championship berth in that scenario.
Time after time, Auburn just came up short. This year felt like a massive underachievement in comparison to last season.
Still feeling the pain of the worst season in school history, the 2013 Auburn Tigers banded together under a dynamic new head coach, united by a common theme: “it’s a new day.” Eager to bounce back in a huge way, these Tigers spent all of last season proving literally everyone wrong.
This year, there was no one to prove wrong, only expectations to live up to.
2013 was a special season no matter which way you spin it, but it becomes more glorified when set next to its pedestrian expectations beforehand.
No one expected Auburn to become that good again, that fast. 2013 was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
Wouldn’t it make more sense for the 8-5 season to come after 2012, then the spectacular 12-2, SEC championship-winning season next?
But that’s not how the cards fell. Auburn did (very improbably) make it to the national championship game last year, and levied championship expectations on themselves this season.
And it turns out they might not have been ready for them.
The glaring problems didn’t seem nearly as prevalent in the early going, when Auburn started the season 5-0, a run capped by a surprising and satisfying blowout win over LSU.
But from the Mississippi State game on, the Tigers suddenly lost their ability to finish games; in fact, they seemed determined to undermine themselves.
Penalties, missed tackles, blown coverages, foolish turnovers, and missed field goals became the subject of discussion after all of Auburn’s last eight games. Even the victories left some sort of bad taste in the mouths of the Auburn family, as the head-scratching, self-inflicted errors were just as present.
But it wasn’t just the mistakes that made this season frustrating; it was the fact that a very good football team was sinking themselves with those mistakes.
Simply put, Auburn has always been better than their mistakes.
Their wins over Ole Miss, LSU, and Kansas State were not accidents. The fact that they played Alabama so close, controlling the game for at least two quarters, proves that Auburn can, in fact, compete with anyone on the football field.
But the difference between this season and last season was the motivation.
Last year, Auburn was fighting to prove itself after being the laughingstock of the SEC. This year, Auburn was expected to maintain the level of success that took them to the championship game, but without quite as strong a sense of inspiration as in 2013.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Auburn was slacking off all year. I’m not saying they weren’t motivated.
I have complete confidence that it hurt them more than it hurt any Auburn fan to see a notch in the loss column.
But for whatever reason, the Tigers weren’t as laser focused; the penalties and unforced errors prove that. And this year, they didn’t get better as the season wore on.
Part of that can be attributed to the worst schedule I’ve ever seen a college football team play through.
But no matter the reason, Auburn just couldn’t get over their own mistakes, and it was never more evident than down the stretch.
There are no excuses anymore for Auburn; there have been none this season. From here on out, the Tigers will be expected to compete in an increasingly brutal SEC West, no matter what schedule they’re playing.
In a way, that’s encouraging. Despite the ultimate disappointment of this season’s finish, Auburn fans should take pride in the fact that the Tigers have now earned the respect of the rest of the conference and the nation.
However, Auburn can’t keep shooting itself in the foot. They will have to become more disciplined and repossess their killer instinct if they hope to repeat their success in 2013, and build on the success they had at many times this season.
We all know they’re capable of more. They’re capable of winning championships.
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