Tuberville takes the Iron Bowl blame

TUSCALOOSA, Nov 30, 2008 (The Decatur Daily - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- BPTTF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville stood at the podium Saturday evening to accept blame for the season as well as his team's 36-0 loss to rival Alabama.

It was a season that began with lofty expectations of playing in next week's SEC Championship Game in which Alabama will face Florida.

Instead, Auburn finished the season by seeing its six-game win streak over the Crimson Tide expire with Auburn's worst loss since 1996 and its worst Iron Bowl defeat since 1962.

The Tigers (5-7, 2-6) also will wake up Sunday with the realization that its off-season already is under way.

"(It's) just been a tough year," Tuberville said. "I put them in a very tough situation in what I did this year starting out with offense. It's totally my fault. I made that mistake. It's not theirs. We just never recovered from it as the season went on offense.

"I tried to force something on us, I tried to do it for the right reasons. It put us in a tailspin we've never really come out of."

The mistake Tuberville referenced was perhaps a pair of mistakes -- the decision to hire offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and the subsequent decision to fire him five games into the season.

Auburn's offense struggled under Franklin.

As it proved Saturday, the offense downgraded to stagnant after his departure.

Tuberville knows some blame will fall on his assistants.

"I put them in a bind," Tuberville said. "I know everybody's pointing fingers at them and (saying) 'They're not getting it done. They're not getting it done.'

"I'm the one that put them in that situation. I'm the one that put their back to the wall. I thought the offensive staff did a heck of a job of overnight coming up with something to even give ourselves a chance.

"I just want to say that those guys really worked hard, did the best they could do in the circumstances, they worked long hours. They'll take a lot of hits for all this but the buck stops with me. I'm the one that put them in that situation."

Sources have said this week that Tuberville would likely return in 2009. Taking such a beating from Alabama will surely lead to re-examination, but there is still a strong likelihood he will keep his job.

However, Tuberville will likely face significant pressure to fire assistant coaches.

Assistant coach Steve Ensminger, who called Auburn's offensive plays during the second half of the season, said he doesn't know whether he'll return in '09.

"I'm getting on the road (recruiting) tomorrow," Ensminger said. "I don't know. I guess they'll tell us something."

Even defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, whose job is seemingly safe despite his defense's dismal performance Saturday, has been linked to the head coaching job at Utah State.

Rhoads did not comment specifically on the Utah State situation, but certainly understands the instability of the coaching profession.

"I grew up the son of a coach, and I was sitting on my mom's lap back when I was a baby and a pumpkin came smashing through the window," Rhoads said. "So, I know what it feels like to be a coach and to be a coach's son. I've grown up with that. You don't even worry about it. You don't even listen to it.

"We've got to go recruit tomorrow. We're going to go out and talk about Auburn and 2009 and how special we got a chance to be. We do what we always do, we go back to work again."

Some of the assistant coaches will likely be recruiting for a program of which they will no longer be a part next season.

Tuberville said there wouldn't be a rush to judgment with his assistant coaches -- five of whom have been with Tuberville for 14 years.

"I'm not going to make any quick decisions; there's no reason to," Tuberville said. "We're not playing in a bowl game. I'll sit down and evaluate. I've got to go out and do recruiting and also get on the road and start interviewing people."

Whoever accepts Auburn's vacant offensive coordinator position inherits a unit with several flaws that proved fatal in 2008. The Tigers had one of the worst offenses in the nation, the worst red-zone offense in the country and also lose their top receiver, Rod Smith.

Tuberville has already compiled an extended wish list for next year's offense.

"We've got to figure out where we want to be, what we want to do, who's going to do it," said Tuberville, who has said repeatedly that he wants to run the spread going forward. "I've got a lot of guys in mind, lot of interest. We've got to recruit some guys that can make big plays. We don't have that. We've got to get a few more offensive linemen. We've got to get back to being more physical; we weren't a very physical football team this year."

Despite his team's record, Tuberille is convinced his team simply didn't play up to potential for whatever reason.

"We just found ways not to win a couple of games," Tuberville said. "We found ways not to push forward."

The heat disappeared from Tuberville's seat recently. After Saturday's blowout defeat, though, pressure for Auburn to fire Tuberville might resurface.

Auburn president Jay Gogue and athletics director Jay Jacobs have maintained that any decision on Tuberville's future would be reserved until after the season.

Tuberville said after the game that he wanted the task of turning the program back around.

"I'm committed to getting it done. I'm looking forward to the challenge," Tuberville said.

"If I didn't think I couldn't do it, I'd be the first one to tell the Auburn people. Ten years, I'm still fairly young. It's hard to take what we went through

this year but sometimes it makes you even hungrier when you go through something like this."

Living on the field

TUSCALOOSA -- A long, long time ago, when Auburn could beat Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, the defense's ability to get opposing offenses off the field factored prominently.

During Alabama's 36-0 win over the Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, the Tigers defense couldn't get off the field.

Alabama made several drive-preserving plays, helping to build a decisive time of possession advantage -- 35:37 compared to Auburn's 24:23.

It also helped the Crimson Tide earn its most lopsided victory since 1962.

"They made some good third-down conversions in the first half that gave them the opportunity," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said after taking the worst defeat of his 10-year tenure with the Tigers.

The Crimson Tide converted 6 of 15 third downs -- as well as a pair of fourth-and-shorts -- and kept the ball away from Auburn.

The Tigers' offense, meanwhile converted two of its last 12 third-down attempts.

Several times, Alabama's third-down conversions led directly to points.

Alabama receiver Julio Jones, making his Iron Bowl debut, didn't have an overwhelming day with three receptions for 36 yards. However, all three of his receptions came on third-down attempts.

"I think there were a number of things that were the difference and you can't pinpoint one thing," Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads said. "There was the zone that wasn't squeezed off here. There was man coverage that just wasn't precise enough. There was a pass rush that didn't exist enough to get any pressure on him."

Two of Jones' catches picked up a first down, prolonging drives. His first reception -- a 15-yard gain on third-and-11 -- set up a Glen Coffee 41-yard touchdown run on the next play. Jones' final grab came on a third-and-6 from the 18. Jones caught the pass before getting pushed out of bounds at the Auburn 3-yard line.

Alabama scored two plays later.

Jones' other third-down catch set up a fourth-and-inches during the second quarter. Quarterback John Parker Wilson converted the fourth-down try with a quarterback sneak, setting up an Alabama field goal.

"You're not going to like it, especially when you pride yourself on getting off the field on third downs and not only do they get it on third down, but they get it on fourth down," Auburn defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks said.

As Alabama kept its field on the offense, any Auburn hopes of extending the win streak evaporated into the dark, cloudy sky.

Marks said he was embarrassed by Auburn's defensive performance up front. All night, the Alabama offensive line pushed Auburn's offensive line around.

By game's end, the Crimson Tide racked up 234 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

The consistency produced by Coffee, Mark Ingram and the behemoths that make up Alabama's offensive line meant Wilson frequently faced third-and-short situations.

Those situations allowed Alabama to move the ball with ease and eventually accumulate 21 first downs. Conversely, Auburn earned eight first downs.

Wilson performed best on third downs Saturday. He converted three third downs with passes -- two to Jones and another to Ingram.

"They're physical, they're big, (their) fifth-year senior quarterback made some amazing third-down throws, second-down throws, and that's what it takes to win championships," Tuberville said.

Lester's efforts

TUSCALOOSA -- Tailback Brad Lester didn't play on offense last week because of coaches' decision.

He did play this week, but was not especially effective.

On Lester's first run of the second half, he took a handoff and quickly burst upfield where he saw a pack of Crimson Tide defenders. Instead of trying to maximize his gain, Lester sprinted for the sidelines.

Lester again got the ball on the next play, but fumbled the ball as a defender approached.

Decatur High grad Rolando McClain recovered for Alabama. The Crimson Tide scored on the next play when John Parker Wilson hit Hartselle grad Nikita Stover for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

Auburn turned the ball over on the next drive as well when Kodi Burns fumbled the snap.

Alabama scored again on the ensuing drive, helping the Crimson Tide turn the Iron Bowl into a rout.

Missing you

Wes Byrum missed Saturday's Iron Bowl with his injured right knee.

With Byrum out of the game, walk-on sophomore kicker Morgan Hull, an Austin High grad, made his first career start.

Hull handled both kickoff and field goal duties.

He got just one attempt -- a 40-yard field goal just before halftime.

Hull initially made the kick, but only after Alabama coach Nick Saban called timeout to ice the inexperienced kicker.

Minutes later, Hull had his 40-yard attempt blocked, allowing Alabama to carry its 10-0 lead into halftime.

"I thought the blocked field goal at the end of the half was pretty key," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We moved the ball and moved it down the field and made some plays."

The blocked field goal also gave the Crimson Tide even more momentum heading into intermission. It proceeded to score 19 third-quarter points, effectively putting the game away.

Questionable returns

Moments after the Iron Bowl, Auburn defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks didn't sound as confident about returning to the team next year as he did last week.

Marks said he would explore his options of entering the NFL draft next year and would strongly consider it if he was likely to go in the first round.

Many NFL draft experts project Marks as a first-round selection.

"We'll have a (few) guys that will have a chance to look at it," Tuberville said. "I've talked to ... them. We'll continue to talk to them. They don't have to make any drastic decisions. The thing that they want to do is make the best decision for them. We'll have them evaluated, I'm one of the ones I'll tell them if I think that's what they need to do."

Defensive end Antonio Coleman and cornerback Jerraud Powers, a Decatur High grad, also were asked about their potential to forego their senior seasons. Neither player gave a committal answer.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Coleman said. "I have a lot of thinking to do. I'll submit my papers and test the waters and see where they project me. I'm looking at coming back."

Sitting out

Receiver Chris Slaughter was not at Auburn's game against Alabama on Saturday. Auburn media relations director Kirk Sampson said Slaughter was not suspended, but he did not travel with the team.

Slaughter served a three-game suspension earlier in the year for violating team rules.

Grading The Tigers

Decatur Daily Sports Writer Luke Brietzke grades Auburn's performance in Saturday's 36-0 loss against Alabama, giving the Tigers a letter grade from A+ to F in four categories.

OFFENSE: D

Auburn threatened to score only once because the offense never showed any ability to maintain drives against the Alabama defense. The Crimson Tide overmatched the Tigers so badly that the visitors struggled just to move the football. Auburn knew it couldn't overcome turnovers -- it committed three -- and knew it had to be precise in the passing game -- Kodi Burns completed just 9 of 23 passes. The Tigers couldn't run the ball either. Mario Fannin led the team in rushing with 28 yards on eight carries. As a team, the Tigers managed just 57 rushing yards and 170 total yards.

DEFENSE: D

The Crimson Tide dominated the Tigers upfront, as evidenced by its 234 rushing yards. Auburn rarely pressured quarterback John Parker Wilson, allowing him to convert critical third downs. The Tigers were outclassed on the defensive side of the ball as well. Alabama averaged 4.7 yards per carry and seemingly moved the ball at will throughout the second half.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B-

Auburn's return game never got on track despite the fact the Tigers had several opportunities to return kickoffs. Tristan Davis' longest return came on the final kickoff of the game, but it was negated by a blocking penalty away from the ball. Punter Clinton Durst was a rare bright spot, averaging 42.6 yards per punt despite shanking a 20-yarder during the second quarter. He effectively kept the ball away from Javier Arenas, who returned just two of the nine punts and finished with just 20 return yards. Kicker Morgan Hull had his only field-goal attempt blocked.

THE BIG PICTURE: D

There was little doubt as to which coaching staff more effectively used the two weeks of preparation for Saturday's Iron Bowl. Alabama seemingly had an answer for everything Auburn tried whereas the Tigers seemed clueless. The Crimson Tide pressured Burns all evening, but the Tigers never found a way to slow the defensive ambush. Defensively, nothing the Auburn coaches tried kept Alabama from accumulating 234 rushing yards.

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