Auburn - Decatur Daily

The Decatur Daily
Iron Bowl
2008
No. 1 Alabama chases national title dream
___________________________
Auburn seeks 7th straight win over rival
What’s Inside
Page 2: Daily Sports Editor Mark
Edwards says history favors Alabama this year.
Page 2: The Iron Bowl essentials:
Who, what, when, where and a
quick historical look.
Page 3: The teams’ rosters.
Page 4: Daily Sports Writer Luke
Brietzke gives his seven reasons
why Auburn will win. One reason is
it has nothing to lose.
Page 4: Daily Sports Writer Josh
Cooper says Alabama will win because of head coach Nick Saban.
He gives six other reasons.
Page 5: Jim McElwain left Fresno
State to take the reins as the Alabama offensive coordinator. His
work has paid immediate dividends for the Tide.
Page 6: Auburn’s experiment with
the spread offense failed.
Page 7: Despite having a strong defense, Auburn has fallen victim to
an offense that has been out of
sync all season. The lagging performance also cost first-year coordinator Tony Franklin his job. A look
back at Auburn’s path to its 5-6
season record.
Page 8: Head coach Nick Saban
and the Alabama players have surprised even the staunchest of Tide
fans. Alabama finds itself at 11-0
and ranked No. 1 in the nation. A
look at how it gained its lofty status, beginning with the season
opener in Atlanta against Clemson.
A S PEC I A L SE CT I O N
■
W E D N E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 0 8
Iron Bowl
2 The Decatur Daily
www.decaturdaily.com Wednesday, November 26, 2008
History favors Alabama this year
Sorry, Auburn.
History is working against
you in this year’s Iron Bowl.
The better team almost always wins this game, and this
year, you aren’t the better team.
In a review of the AlabamaAuburn game since the two
schools started the modern series in 1948, only twice has one
team been reasonably better
than the other and not won the
Iron Bowl.
It happened
in 1949 when
an Alabama
team with a
young Athens
High grad
named Tom
Calvin at fullback lost 14-13
to Auburn on
Mark
a missed extra
Edwards
point. Alabama finished
the year 6-3-1 with early losses
to Tulane and Vanderbilt and a
tie against Tennessee. Auburn
was 2-4-3 with its only other
win coming over a winless Mississippi State team.
It happened again in 1984
when Alabama beat Auburn 1715 when in the closing minutes
the Tigers failed on fourth-andgoal and missed a field goal.
Alabama finished the year 56, its first losing season in 27
years, while Auburn was 9-4
with wins over Tennessee,
Florida State, Georgia and
Arkansas and road losses to
Miami, Texas and Florida.
Keep in mind we’re not talking about underdogs here.
Alabama was an underdog in
2001 before winning 31-7 at
Auburn.
Both teams finished 7-5 with
the Tide winning its last four
and the Tigers losing four of its
past five.
In 1989, Alabama was a slight
favorite but lost 30-20 to
Auburn. Both teams finished
with two losses, and the Tigers
placed sixth in the final Associated Press rankings, while Alabama was ninth.
Auburn was better that year
and deserved to win.
But where else in the history’s series has the better team
lost?
There are a few games where
it’s awfully close to call, and in
each case, it probably would be
fun to debate which side was
better in that particular year.
Take 1963 when Auburn won
10-8. The Tigers finished fifth
in the final AP rankings, while
the Tide was eighth, but back
then, the polls closed before the
bowl games.
Auburn lost to No. 6 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, while
Alabama handed No. 7 Ole
Miss its only loss of the year in
the Sugar Bowl. Both teams finished 9-2.
Then there’s 1972. Alabama
rolled into the game unbeaten
and ranked No. 2, while
Auburn was ninth after suffering a 35-7 loss six weeks earlier
to LSU, which finished with
nine wins.
But Auburn won 17-16 after
David Langner returned two
blocked punts for touchdowns
late. Alabama finished 10-2 after losing to Texas in the Cotton Bowl, while Auburn was 101 with a win over Colorado in
the Gator Bowl. The AP poll
concluded voting after the
bowls that year and finished
with Auburn fifth and Alabama seventh.
Which team was better that
year? It’s not a simple argument.
By the way, for any Alabama
fan who is wondering if any
Daily file photos by Gary Cosby Jr.
Last year’s Iron Bowl in Auburn saw John Parker Wilson (14) throw for 113 yards on 12 of 26 passes. The Tide senior quarterback is expected to lead No. 1-ranked Alabama
to a win in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The Tigers sacked Wilson twice in their 17-10 victory. Auburn has won the past six games with Alabama.
Iron Bowl essentials
■ What: The 73rd football game between Alabama and Auburn, commonly known as
the Iron Bowl. The game gets its name from the iron ore deposits surrounding Birmingham, the
former annual site of the contest.
■ Where: 92,138-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
■ When: Kickoff is 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
■ TV: WHNT-19
■ Alabama radio: AM-1400, AM-730, AM-770, FM-92.5 and FM-93.9.
■ Auburn radio: FM-98.5 and AM-1450.
■ Odds: Alabama by 14
■ Records: No. 1-ranked Alabama is 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the Southeastern Conference. It has a
date with No. 2 Florida on Dec. 6. in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Unranked Auburn is
5-6 and 2-5.
■ History: Alabama leads the all-time series 38-33-1. Auburn has won the past six Iron Bowl
games and has never lost in Tuscaloosa since Alabama moved its home game there in 2000.
Auburn won last year’s game 17-10 in Auburn.
■ Auburn coach: Tommy Tuberville is 7-2 as Auburn’s coach against Alabama.
■ Alabama coach: Nick Saban is 0-1 in the Iron Bowl and 2-4 overall coaching against Auburn.
MICHAEL WETZEL, DAILY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
On the cover
Daily photographer
Gary Cosby Jr. captured images of Crimsonettes
squads, flags and area players in action for both teams.
At the bottom left, Auburn
junior defensive back Jerraud Powers (8) played his
high school ball at Decatur
High. No. 9 at the right is
Hartselle High graduate and
speedy wide receiver for the
Crimson Tide Nikita Stover.
No. 25 is Rolando McClain.
The Decatur High grad and
middle linebacker is the
leading tackler for the Tide.
Hartselle High grad Nikita Stover, left, blocks Decatur High grad
Jerraud Powers during a running play in the 2007 Iron Bowl.
Powers, a junior, has never lost to Alabama.
other team had to endure
watching the same guy score
on two blocked punts for the
other team in the same game,
it’s happened one other time in
major college football.
According to the NCAA
record book, in 1997, Air
Force’s Frank Staine-Pyne returned two for touchdowns in
the first half against Hawaii.
Air Force won 34-27.
It’s a tough call who was better in 1953 when Alabama won
10-7. It’s tough in 1960 when Alabama beat Auburn 3-0.
the
Perfect
Gift!
It’s the same in 1974 when Alabama won 17-13. Or 1986 when
Auburn won 21-17. Or 1995
when Auburn won 31-27.
Or 2002 when Auburn began
its current six-game win streak
with a 17-7 victory over the
Crimson Tide.
That’s one of only four instances in which the Iron Bowl
loser wound up ranked higher
in the final AP poll than the
winner. The Tide was No. 11,
while the Tigers were 14th.
It also happened in 1984, ’90
and ’95. Auburn was No. 19 in
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1990, while the Tide finished
unranked. In 1995, Alabama
placed No. 21, while Auburn
was No. 22.
So, if Auburn wins this year,
it will go down in this series as
one of the few true upsets. No
matter what happens in the
Iron Bowl or the rest of the season, it will be hard to argue
that Alabama isn’t the better
team — unless you’re looking
through blue-and-orange-colored glasses.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 www.decaturdaily.com
The Decatur Daily 3
Auburn defensive
back Walter
McFadden (6) and
linebacker Craig
Stevens celebrate
making a big play
against
Mississippi State
in Auburn. The
Tigers are
expecting to make
more big plays
when they play
their cross-state
rival Alabama on
Saturday. Kickoff
is 2:30 p.m. on
WHNT-19.
ALABAMA FOOTBALL ROSTER
Daily photo
by Brennen Smith
AUBURN FOOTBALL ROSTER
No. Player Pos. Class
1 Brad Lester RB Sr.
2 Aairon Savage DB Jr.
3 Robert Dunn WR Sr.
4 Zac Etheridge SS So.
5 Tommy Trott TE Jr.
6 Walter McFadden DB Jr.
8 Jerraud Powers DB Jr.
9 Tristan Davis RB Sr.
9 Neiko Lipscomb DB Fr.
9 Matthew Sample DB RFr.
10 Tray Blackmon LB Jr.
11 Mike Slade DB RFr.
12 Chris Todd QB Jr.
13 Tim Hawthorne WR So.
14 Barrett Trotter QB Fr.
14 Harry Adams WR Fr.
15 DeRon Furr S Fr.
16 James Swinton WR Sr.
17 Josh Bynes LB So.
17 Jonathan Vickers DB Sr.
18 Kodi Burns QB So.
18 Wes Byrum K So.
19 Neil Caudle QB So.
19 Ryan Burse DL RFr.
20 Drew Cole DB Fr.
20 Nicholas Patterson DB RFr.
21 Ryan Shoemaker P So.
21 Charles Olatunji WR Sr.
22 Patrick Tatum P So.
22 T’Sharvan Bell DB Fr.
23 Chris Slaughter WR So.
24 Reggie Hunt RB Fr.
25 D’Antoine Hood DB Fr.
25 Ryan Williams DB So.
26 Mike McNeil S So.
27 Mario Fannin WR So.
28 Da’Shaun Barnes LB Fr.
29 Jeremy Flowers DB RFr.
30 John Douglas RB RFr.
31 Adam Herring LB RFr.
32 Eric Smith RB Fr.
33 Christian Thompson DB Fr.
35 Brent Slusher So.
36 Michael Gibson RB RFr.
36 Marcus Jemison DBFr.
36 Wade Christopher LB So.
37 Morgan Hull K So.
37 Brett Carr DB Jr.
38 Jason King FB So.
39 Spencer Pybus LB Fr.
40 Bo Harris LB So.
41 Darrell Roseman DL So.
42 Ryan Hastie RB Sr.
43 Raven Gray DE Jr.
44 Ben Tate RB Jr.
45 Antoine Carter DE So.
46 Craig Stevens LB So.
47 Jomarcus Savage DL Fr.
48 Bailey Woods TE RFr.
48 Davis Hooper RB RFr.
49 Michael Goggans DE So,
50 Ryan Pugh OL So.
52 Antonio Coleman DE Jr.
53 Bart Eddins OL So.
54 Andre Wadley DL Fr.
55 Merrill Johnson LB Sr.
56 Courtney Harden LB Sr.
56 Jacob Shirey LB Jr.
57 Byron Isom OL So.
59 Chris Evans LB Sr.
60 Robert Shiver DS Sr.
61 Josh Harris DS RFr.
63 Rick Cherry DS So.
64 Luke Farmer DE RFr.
65 Jackson Timmerman OL Jr.
66 Mike Berry OL So.
68 Jason Bosley OL Sr.
69 Rudy Odom OL Jr.
71 Tyronne Green OL Sr.
73 Lee Ziemba OL So.
75 Andrew McCain OT Jr.
76 Chaz Ramsey OL So.
77 Jermaine Johnson OL Fr.
79 Jared Cooper OL RFr.
80 Rodgeriqus Smith WR Sr.
81 Terrell Zachery WR So.
82 Philip Pierre-Louis WR Fr.
83 Gabe McKenzie TE Jr.
84 Montez Billings WR Jr.
85 Quindarius Carr WR RFr.
86 John Cubelic WR So.
86 Nick Padgett WR So.
87 Derek Winter WR Fr.
89 Vance Smith TE Fr.
89 Darvin Adams WR Fr.
90 A.J. Greene DE RFr.
91 Jake Ricks DL Jr.
92 Cameron Henderson DL Fr.
93 Mike Blanc DL So.
94 Sen’Derrick Marks DL Jr.
95 Dax Dellenbach DS Fr.
96 Clayton Crofoot DS Jr.
97 Derrick Lykes DL Fr.
97 Clinton Durst P RFr.
98 Zach Clayton DL So.
99 Tez Doolittle DL Sr.
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51 Michael DeJohn LB Fr.
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61 Carson Tinker ST Fr.
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63 David Williams OL Fr.
66 Brian Motley OL So.
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68 Taylor Pharr OL So.
70 Evan Cardwell OL Jr.
71 Andre Smith OL Jr.
72 Tyler Love OL Fr.
73 William Vlachos OL So.
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76 Marlon Davis OL Sr.
78 Mike Johnson OL Jr.
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80 Mike McCoy WR Jr.
81 Andrew Friedman PK Jr.
82 Earl Alexander WR So.
83 Travis McCall TE Sr.
84 Colin Peek TE Jr.
85 Preston Dial TE So.
86 Chris Scott WR So.
87 Drew Bullard LB RFR
87 Chris Underwood TE Fr.
88 Nick Walker TE Sr.
89 Michael Williams TE/DE Fr.
90 Milton Talbert DL So.
91 Alex Watkins LB Fr.
92 Damion Square DL Fr.
93 Bobby Greenwood DL Sr.
94 Undra Billingsley DL Fr.
95 Colin Gallagher PK RFR
95 Brandon Deaderick DL Jr.
96 Luther Davis DL So.
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97 P.J. Fitzgerald P Jr.
98 Heath Thomas P Jr.
98 Brandon Fanney LB Jr.
99 Josh Chapman DL So.
99 Leigh Tiffin PK Jr.
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1 B.J. Scott WR Fr.
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3 Kareem Jackson DB SO
4 Mark Barron DB Fr.
4 Marquis Maze WR RFR
5 Roy Upchurch RB Jr.
5 Jerrell Harris LB Fr.
6 Demetrius Goode RB Fr.
7 Will Oakley WR Sr.
8 Chris Rogers DB Jr.
8 Julio Jones WR Fr.
9 Nikita Stover WR Sr.
10 Morgan Ogilvie QB Fr.
11 Brandon Gibson WR Fr.
12 Greg McElroy QB So.
13 Cory Reamer LB Jr.
13 Robert Ezell WR Fr.
14 John Parker Wilson QB Sr.
15 Darius Hanks WR So.
15 Alonzo Lawrence DB FR
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17 Brad Smelley TE Fr.
19 Chris Jackson WR Fr.
20 Tyrone King DB Jr.
21 Prince Hall LB Jr.
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23 Robby Green DB Fr.
24 Marquis Johnson DB Jr.
25 Rolando McClain LB So.
26 Ali Sharrief DB Jr.
27 Justin Woodall DB Jr.
28 Javier Arenas DB Jr.
29 Terry Grant RB So.
30 Dont’a Hightower LB Fr.
31 Ivan Matchett RB Fr.
32 Eryk Anders LB Jr.
33 Hampton Gray DB So.
34 Jeramie Griffin RB Fr.
35 Charlie Kirschman LB So.
36 Chris Jordan LB Fr.
37 Robert Lester DB Fr.
38 Glen Coffee RB Jr.
39 Kyle Pennington WR Fr.
40 Baron Huber RB Jr.
41 Courtney Upshaw LB Fr.
42 Jennings Hester LB Fr.
43 A.J. Walker WR Fr.
44 Corey Smith K/P Fr.
45 Sam Snider P/WR Fr.
45 Charlie Higgenbotham LB So.
46 Wesley Neighbors DB Fr.
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49 Rashad Johnson DB Sr.
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Iron Bowl
4 The Decatur Daily
www.decaturdaily.com Wednesday, November 26, 2008
7reasons each team will win
More on the line for No. 1 Tide
Daily photo by Brennen Smith
Auburn players will be holding up seven fingers if the Tigers beat Alabama on Saturday. Auburn has
won the past six Iron Bowls. Last year, Auburn won 17-10 in Tuscaloosa.
Tigers’ best defensive players
— cornerback Jerraud Powers
of Decatur, defensive tackle
Sen’Derrick Marks and defensive end Antonio Coleman —
missed a big chunk of the season.
With all three in the lineup,
Auburn held Georgia to 17
points.
AUBURN — This shouldn’t
4. History: The last time
be too difficult.
Auburn was considered a
The assignment here is to
heavy underdog in this series
come up with seven reasons a
was in 2002 when both Carnell
5-6 Auburn team will pull off a
Williams and Ronnie Brown
road upset of
were out with injuries. That
No. 1 Aladay, little-known tailback Tre
bama, which
Smith came out and rushed for
has six years
126 yards.
of pent-up ag5. The records: Yes, Alabama
gression and
(11-0, 7-0) appears to get the
Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr. check mark in this box over
frustration to
take out on its Auburn coach Tommy
Auburn (5-6, 2-5).
arch-nemesis. Tuberville is 4-2 against Nick
Not necessarily.
Saban.
Alabama’s
The game will be played in
ascension
Tuscaloosa. That sounds like it
Luke
back to the top Auburn entered the 2004 Iron
should be a significant indicaBrietzke
of the college Bowl undefeated and charged
tor Alabama should win. Not
football world with the task of impressing
so in this series.
voters.
coincided directly with
The Tigers are 6-0 all-time in
Auburn kept its perfect
Auburn’s free fall from SEC
Tuscaloosa.
record, but failed to sway votes
West favorite to, in all likeliAuburn has won all four
with its 21-13 victory.
hood, home for the holidays.
meetings since Alabama chose
Alabama carried a 6-0 lead
Suddenly, a six-year losing
to move its home games in the
streak not only feels like some- into halftime in Tuscaloosa.
series from Legion Field to
thing the Crimson Tide will re- The Tigers bounced back in the Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2000.
second half with 21 unanverse, but like something the
6. Another record: Auburn
Tide will inevitably leave in its swered points, but still had to
also has won the past six Iron
survive a late scare.
rearview mirror. It seems AlaBowls. No current Auburn
Alabama will face similar ex- player has lost to Alabama. No
bama might even dawn its own
pectations Saturday. The Crim- current Alabama player has
day of Iron Bowl dominance.
The mission here, though, is son Tide will be expected to
beaten Auburn.
to find seven reasons why poor win in a romp. The Crimson
7. One more record: Tommy
Tide won’t just play the Tigers, Tuberville is 4-2 against Nick
ol’ Auburn will win.
No. Shouldn’t be too difficult it also will play against the
Saban.
court of public appeal — which
at all. …
What does that have to do
is currently in Alabama’s corwith Auburn winning this year
1. Alabama has all the presner.
in Tuscaloosa?
sure: Undefeated Alabama has
An ugly win could sway perFrankly, not much.
its eyes set on the SEC ChampiYou try to come up with sevonship Game and, beyond that, ception of what has been a
magical season in T-town.
en reasons Auburn will win
a national championship.
Auburn is playing for pride
2. Two playmakers: It took 11 this game.
and perhaps a trip to Shreveweeks, but Auburn now has
port, La. — not exactly what
found two offensive playmakthe Tigers were thinking when ers in tailback Mario Fannin
the season opened.
and quarterback Kodi Burns.
Adding to the pressure,
Fannin made his first career
imagine the statewide reaction start last week, scoring two
if Auburn extended its win
touchdowns on 12 touches and
streak with a seven-finger
accounting for 108 yards of ofsalute while also erasing Alfense.
abama’s title hopes.
Now if only the Tigers would
The Tigers know how diffiplay Fannin during critical mocult this rivalry game can be
ments. …
when one of the teams enters
3. Auburn’s defense is getwith lofty expectations.
ting healthy: Three of the
Auburn has
nothing to lose
but the game
TUSCALOOSA — It used to
be hard to come up with seven
reasons Alabama would beat
Auburn.
For the past few years,
Auburn came
into the Iron
Bowl with
more talent
and playing
better football.
Alabama
had a chance,
but it was alJosh
ways somewhat slim.
Cooper
Not so anymore.
The Crimson Tide enters
Saturday’s matchup as the No.
1 team in the country and a 14point favorite. Auburn is suddenly the team with less skill
and a lack of identity.
Of course, anything can happen on any given Saturday, but
here are seven legitimate and
strong reasons that Alabama
will prevail after six straight
losses to the Tigers.
1. It’s time: We have said this
the past few years, but after six
straight losses to Auburn, the
Crimson Tide is due for a victory.
Before, when we have said
this, Auburn had more talent,
and much of the argument
was based on the emotional aspect of the game. Not now. Alabama is a better team with
more talent than Auburn. The
Tide should win this game.
2. The game means more to
Alabama: So if Auburn wins,
its prize is to go to (insert lame
low-level SEC tie-in bowl here).
If Alabama wins, it heads to
the SEC Championship Game
with a chance to make it to the
national title contest.
The only argument against
this is that Auburn is playing
to salvage its season. But what
is left to salvage when you’re
already so far below expectations?
3. Alabama’s defense: In
three of its last four games, Alabama’s defense has allowed
fewer than 200 yards. This is
not a good sign for Auburn,
which ranks 99th in the country in total offense.
Furthermore, Alabama
leads the SEC in rushing defense. Running the ball is
Auburn’s strength, and if it
can’t do this against Alabama,
then it has no chance.
Also, it will be interesting to
see how Saban increases the
pressure on Tigers quarterback Kodi Burns.
4. Alabama’s offensive line:
This is one of the best units in
the country. The Crimson Tide
brought back everyone from
AP file photo by Butch Dill
Second-year Alabama head football coach Nick Saban has an
18-6 mark with the Tide. He is 0-1 as an Iron Bowl coach.
last year’s line, and added
Drew Davis at right tackle, who
has been one of the best players in the group over the last
two games.
This is the Tide’s main
strength on offense, and
though Auburn has a strong
defensive line, Alabama’s men
up front have been able to push
around better defensive lines
than Auburn’s throughout the
year.
5. Confidence: The Tide is
brimming with belief that it
can beat any team it plays.
Auburn, on the other hand,
hasn’t beaten an SEC team
since Tennessee on Sept. 27.
The old cliché says that
sports is 90 percent mental and
10 percent physical. If this is
the case, then the Crimson
Tide has a major edge on the
Tigers. Auburn even had trouble with Tennessee-Martin. If
that doesn’t scream trouble,
then I don’t know what does.
6. Nick Saban: I’ll admit that I
have drunk the Kool-Aid on Sa-
ban. For what he has done this
year with this Alabama team,
he has easily proved he is
worth the $4 million the Tide
paid him.
Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville
is an excellent coach, but this
year Saban seems to be on another level. His ability to produce rock-solid game plans
with his defense gives Alabama an edge.
7. John Parker Wilson’s improvement: He’s not exactly
statistically prolific, but he
doesn’t make the kinds of mistakes that have killed the Tide
in the past.
Wilson has turned into a
smarter quarterback, one you
want to have the ball in tough
situations. He’s not as great a
player as his various records at
Alabama indicate, but we
haven’t seen any big, gamechanging turnovers from him.
In a game like the Iron Bowl,
you want a senior mistake-free
quarterback, and Wilson
brings that for Alabama.
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Iron Bowl
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 www.decaturdaily.com
The Decatur Daily 5
McElwain finds instant success
On Jan. 30,
Alabama hired
Fresno State
offensive
coordinator Jim
McElwain to direct
its offense. This
season, McElwain
has made Alabama
senior John Parker
Wilson a more
efficient
quarterback.
He was unlikely
choice as Tide’s
offensive boss
By Josh Cooper
[email protected]
340-2460
UA photo
by Kent Gidley
They’ve got to put an extra guy
down, so there’s not as many
guys in coverage.”
Alabama’s yardage numbers
have dropped from almost 374
yards a game to 367. But the
Tide has improved its effectiveness, scoring 31.7 points a game,
in comparison to 27.0 points a
game last year. Alabama knows
year before, we struggled a little
bit on offense, putting the ball in
the end zone, scoring points,
and we’ve been doing a good job
with that this year.”
that a lot of this is a reflection
on McElwain.
“He’s been able to put up
points and that’s really what we
needed,” Caldwell said. “The
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TUSCALOOSA — When Alabama football coach Nick Saban
looked for an offensive coordinator in January, he bucked a
popular trend.
He saw traditional powers
such as Auburn and Michigan
turn to the spread offense. The
Tigers hired Tony Franklin to
install the spread, and the
Wolverines brought aboard a
new head coach in Rich Rodriguez, who used that offense
to win at West Virginia. But Saban wanted to keep his plays
simple and easy.
“We’ve always tried to stay
with the pro-style,” Saban said.
“That’s how we kind of tried to
build our program in terms of
what we try to do.”
So, after former offensive coordinator Major Applewhite
bolted for Texas to be its running backs coach, Saban looked
to Fresno State, where Jim
McElwain served as offensive
coordinator.
McElwain did not have a fancy playbook filled with complicated schemes or books or DVDs
explaining the virtues of his offense. He was not a so-called
“guru.”
Instead, McElwain had a plan
for a meat-and-potatoes style attack that resonated with Saban,
and so far this year, his underthe-radar hire has made one of
the biggest differences in the
No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide’s undefeated season.
“I don’t think there could
have been a better pick in the
country than McElwain,”
Tide center Antoine Caldwell
said.
“He has come in and done
everything we could hope as an
offense. We do a lot of the same
things but we do it out of six,
seven, eight formations. We do
lot to confuse teams we’re playing. He’s just a brilliant mind.
He really is.”
When McElwain was hired
Jan. 30, he was not the likeliest
of choices.
He had been the offensive coordinator at Fresno for one season, and before that, the quarterbacks coach for the Oakland
Raiders for one season.
But coaching pipelines run
deep, and Saban heard about
McElwain from Bulldogs coach
Pat Hill.
When Saban served as defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns, Hill was on the
staff there, too.
Hill told Saban about the
progress his offense made under McElwain. Hill pointed out
how quarterback Tom Brandstater improved his yards (1,490
to 2,654), lessened his interceptions (five to 14) and increased
passer efficiency (106.7 to 140.5)
in McElwain’s one year. The
Bulldogs also averaged 419.5
yards a game in 2007 compared
to 338.2 the previous year.
“I told him if he wants a football coach that can do a great job
to complement the defense and
the philosophy of the program,
you couldn’t find a better person,” Hill said. “I hated losing
him, but I mean, it was a giant
raise.”
The move has been well
worth it for Alabama. McElwain worked with Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson to
make him a more efficient quarterback. During the spring, Saban often harped on Wilson and
how he needed to make better
“business decisions.” So far, that
has been the case.
While Wilson hasn’t thrown
as much as last year, he has cut
down on his mistakes. He has
thrown five interceptions
through 11 games this year compared to 12 in 13 games last season.
McElwain recognized that
Wilson didn’t have to win games
by himself, not when he has a
rushing attack who ranks 23rd
nationally with 198.6 yards a
game.
“Last year and the year before, teams knew we were going
to throw, so it was kind of like
‘Here it comes,’ ” Wilson said.
“When you don’t have to throw
as much and when you can run
the ball, it’s just so much easier.
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Iron Bowl
6 The Decatur Daily
www.decaturdaily.com Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Spread offense experiment fails
Franklin says AU
assistants weren’t
behind system
By Luke Brietzke
[email protected]
340-2460
AUBURN — A year that began with Auburn earning
praise as the favorite to win the
SEC West is coming to a close
with a sputter.
No championships await the
Tigers. Instead, they need to
beat No. 1-ranked Alabama just
to get eligible for a bowl.
How did this happen?
Auburn’s story begins with a
realization head coach Tommy
Tuberville reached last season
during Al Borges’ final year as
offensive coordinator: The
Tigers needed a new-age, passfriendly offense to win titles.
Sure, Borges’ run-first, run-often philosophy won games. It
got the Tigers to 51 wins during
his tenure.
Auburn struggled to land bigname talent at wide receiver
and quarterback, though.
Additionally, every year since
the undefeated 2004 season, the
Tigers watched their win tally
drop.
Tuberville decided it was
time for a change by the time
Auburn wrapped up an 8-4 regular season in 2007.
Tuberville found that change
fewer than two hours down the
road in Troy offensive coordinator Tony Franklin
Franklin, a spread offense
guru, was hired only a day after
Borges resigned under pressure.
That Tuberville acted quickly
to hire Franklin as the Tigers offensive coordinator, though, is a
misperception.
The wheels were in motion
long before Borges was officially out.
Franklin estimated that
Auburn running backs coach
Eddie Gran first called Franklin
in late November to find out if
the Tigers’ coordinator job interested him.
Tuberville and Franklin
spoke about the job about a
week later. Franklin said Tuberville had watched one of
Troy’s games that year. The two
also watched film during
Franklin’s interview.
To this day, Franklin is not
convinced Tuberville fully understood the offensive system.
“He never understood it completely,” Franklin said. “That’s
not his M.O. He’s not a hands-on
guy who’s going to get involved
with it — until something goes
wrong.”
Franklin asked for two concessions during the interview.
First and foremost, he wanted
complete autonomy to run his
own offense.
Second, Franklin wanted to
bring two assistants with him to
Auburn.
Tuberville granted the first
request, and he said he would
take the second request into
consideration.
When Tuberville offered
Franklin the job, Franklin
asked again about the assistant
coaches.
Tuberville has now coached
with offensive assistants Eddie
with the entire forward pass
era of football — during
Auburn’s 3-2 win over Mississippi State.
Auburn’s offense was struggling to score, while the passing
game hadn’t improved much
over the previous season, and
the run game had declined dramatically.
Despite the struggles, many
in the Auburn program remained confident the offense
would thrive.
“I thought we were going to
have problems,” Auburn receiver Rod Smith said. “You always
have problems early in the beginning of the season. Mississippi State — that was an early
game, so I didn’t really think too
much about it. I just thought,
‘Hey, we’ve got a whole lot more
games to get better.’
“Things really didn’t get better.”
Auburn lost the next game to
LSU. The Tigers bounced back
with a 14-12 win over Tennessee,
but the offense scored just one
touchdown.
When Auburn’s offense
stalled for a fourth straight
week during the Tigers’ 14-13
loss to Vanderbilt, the situation
came to a head.
Tuberville initially stood behind his coordinator, claiming
the team remained committed
to
running
Franklin’s
offense during a Sunday teleconference and a Tuesday news
conference.
On Wednesday, just three days
before
Auburn
played
Arkansas, Tuberville fired
Franklin.
Auburn’s offense has only
plummeted from there, as has
the team’s record.
The Tigers enter the Iron
Bowl having won just one of five
games since Franklin was fired,
and that was against FCS opponent Tennessee-Martin.
“I’m still a big believer in
what it could be if everyone
stuck with me,” Franklin
said.
“But it was obvious that
everyone wasn’t in because, No.
1, the head coach wasn’t in. If
the head coach isn’t in, nobody
else will be in.”
On Saturday, when Auburn
plays Alabama, Tuberville will
watch his defense try to stop a
familiar-looking offense.
That’s because the Crimson
Tide offense is virtually identical to the one Tuberville abandoned — because he no longer
believed it could win championships.
“It’s kind of like what we’ve
done in the past,” Tuberville
said last week.
“Running game first, play-action, passing game. Their passing game is not one of the tops
Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr.
in the league, but what they do,
Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was dismissed after the Tigers’ 14-13 loss to Vanderbilt.
they’ve done it well. They’re not
very complex. Their running
“That’s the way I set our phi- Southern Mississippi, but took game is what has gotten them to
Gran, Hugh Nall and Greg Knox Chick-fil-A Bowl at the end of
losophy up and our coaching an enormous step back — along this point.”
for 14 years, and he refused last season.
Franklin’s candor teamed staff and our team: to give us
Franklin’s request.
That, Franklin said, should with the exciting brand of foot- the best chance to win in Athave been enough to decline the ball his offense promised made lanta,” Tuberville said in
him an immediate favorite with April.
job.
“Last year, I made a change at
“That’s not his fault,” fans, reporters and analysts.
Auburn’s 23-20 overtime win offensive coordinator because I
Franklin said. “It’s my fault. I
We have security cameras and recorders.
preach it at seminars and every over Clemson only increased just didn’t think we were going
Don’t pay a monthly fee. Monitor your home yourself.
place I’ve ever done it: If every- Franklin’s momentum in the in the right direction to do that.”
Once fall arrived, though, that
one doesn’t buy in, everyone new job.
All our cameras and recorders are
The victory quieted talk momentum had vanished.
gets fired. The only problem
plug and play. Simple to operate.
Auburn’s offense wasn’t imwas I was the only one that was about Franklin’s rough five2125 Beltline Rd. SW, Suite B, Decatur
game opening stretch during pressive during its 34-0 seasonall-in.”
301-0300 • [email protected]
opening win over LouisianaFranklin still accepted the job his first season at Troy.
Wed.-Fri. 9-5 Sat. 9-12
It also renewed Tuberville’s Monroe.
and had installed most of his ofIt was better in a win over
fense for Auburn’s trip to the confidence in his hire.
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Iron Bowl
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 www.decaturdaily.com
The Decatur Daily 7
Missing offense
has Auburn 5-6
Tigers’ trouble scoring surprises fans, pollsters
No. 9 Auburn 27,
Southern Mississippi 13
By Luke Brietzke
[email protected]
340-2460
recovered a fumble in the end
zone for his first career touchdown and Todd connected with
Robert Dunn for a first-quarter
touchdown.
Those
were
Auburn’s only two scores.
Burns out-played Todd in relief, re-igniting the quarterback
competition.
AUBURN — Todd completed
21 of 31 passes for 248 yards during the win, establishing himself as Auburn’s starting quarterback.
Daily photo by Brennen Smith
Auburn (2-0) could have won
Auburn’s
Montez
Billings,
left,
and
Rod
Smith
congratulate
each
other
after
the Tigers edged
by an even larger margin if it
State
3-2
on
Sept.
13.
The
win
improved
Auburn’s
record
to
3-0.
The
Tigers have gone 2-6
Mississippi
19
Vanderbilt
14,
No.
hadn’t turned the ball over
since the victory.
twice inside the USM 20-yard No. 13 Auburn 13
NASHVILLE — Auburn’s ofline.
The Tigers didn’t surrender fense disappeared in the second
their first points of the season half for the fourth time in as
many conference games. The
until late in the third quarter.
Tigers (4-2, 2-2) led 13-0 at the end
No. 9 Auburn 3,
of the first quarter, but couldn’t
Mississippi State 2
hold the lead.
Kicker Wes Byrum missed an
STARKVILLE, Miss. — For a
third
consecutive
game, extra point, and it turned out to
Auburn’s defense turned in a cost Auburn.
spectacular performance. The
Tigers (3-0, 1-0) held Mississippi
Please see Auburn, page 8
State to 116 total yards and 0-of14 on third-down conversions.
Lights flickering?
The Bulldogs’ only points came
on a fourth-quarter safety.
Outlets not working?
The defense’s effort again
bailed out an anemic Auburn atCALL 256.353.0143
tack that produced 315 yards,
but just a second-quarter field
goal.
AUBURN — Questions surrounding the Auburn program
were plentiful when the season
began.
The Tigers had two new coordinators and a first-year starting quarterback. Auburn didn’t
even know who that starting
quarterback was — Chris Todd
won the job initially — until the
third game of the season.
Still, the media elected to disregard the warning signals. The
media picked Auburn to win the
SEC West. The Tigers also
opened the season ranked 10th
in The Associated Press poll.
New offensive coordinator
Tony Franklin was part of the
allure. His uptempo, pass-oriented attack drew headlines and
had the Auburn faithful expecting a high-scoring offense.
It didn’t work out that way.
Auburn fired Franklin while
the Tigers prepared for their
seventh game. Auburn proceeded to lose four of its next five.
Now, the Tigers need a win
over top-ranked Alabama to No. 6 LSU 26,
No. 10 Auburn 21
make a bowl game.
Here’s a look back at how
AUBURN — LSU quarterAuburn got to its 5-6 record.
back Jarrett Lee threw a gamewinning touchdown pass to
No. 10 Auburn 34,
Brandon LaFell with 1:03 reLouisiana Monroe 0
maining in the game. The game
AUBURN — The Tigers (1-0) didn’t start well for Lee, who
entered the season opener with- threw a bad interception that
out a true starting quarterback. Gabe McKenzie returned for a
Neither candidate — Todd or second-quarter touchdown, but
Kodi Burns — emerged as the he bounced back to throw for a
starter during the lackluster pair of touchdowns.
Todd threw for 250 yards and
passing performance.
The offense sputtered at first, a touchdown but was also interbut the defense and special cepted twice in defeat. Auburn
teams bailed it out. Both units (3-1, 1-1) led 14-3 at halftime.
produced first-quarter touchdowns. Ultimately, Auburn re- No. 15 Auburn 14,
lied on its run game, which pro- Tennessee 12
duced 321 yards, to move the
AUBURN — The Tigers’ ofball.
fensive struggles resurfaced, but
The passing struggles turned the defense allowed Auburn (4-1,
out to be an omen for season- 2-1) to steal another win.
long trouble.
Defensive tackle Jake Ricks
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Iron Bowl
8 The Decatur Daily
www.decaturdaily.com Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Pleasant surprises
have Tide at No. 1
Cody, freshmen help Alabama stay perfect
By Josh Cooper
[email protected]
340-2460
TUSCALOOSA — Through
11 games of the 2008 football season, Alabama has not lost and is
ranked No. 1 in the country.
Read that again — it’s not a
typo.
Before the season, few believed that Tide could even
reach a double-digit win total.
Now. as Alabama (11-0, 7-0
SEC) prepares to face Auburn
(5-6, 2-5), it is the nation’s lone
undefeated team from a Bowl
Championship Series conference. If the Tide beats the
Tigers, it will head to the SEC
Championship Game with a
chance to make it to the national championship contest.
The Tide’s road to this point
has been full of surprises. First
came the blowout victory over
Clemson in the season opener.
Then the Tide put together the
impressive 41-30 defeat of Georgia. Also, don’t forget the Tide’s
SEC West-clinching overtime
thriller against LSU.
During that span, Alabama
has seen nose tackle Terrence
Cody emerge as a dominant
force, running back Glen Coffee
turn into its most prolific offensive weapon, and freshman
wide receiver Julio Jones live
up to his lofty hype.
Here are all the steps in Alabama’s season-long journey:
No. 24 Alabama 34,
No. 9 Clemson 10
ATLANTA — The Crimson
Tide previewed its powerful
running game against the
Tigers with 96 yards from freshman Mark Ingram and 90 from
Coffee.
The Tide held onto the ball for
41 minutes, 13 seconds as it beat
up Clemson on both sides of the
line of scrimmage. Tigers running backs James Davis and C.J.
Spiller gained a combined 20
yards on just eight carries.
Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson played a mistake-free
game, completing 22 of 30 passes for two touchdowns.
“We got whipped every way
you could get whipped, defensively and offensively,” thenClemson coach Tommy Bowden
said.
“I don’t think we’ve been beat
that bad physically in the last
three years.”
No. 13 Alabama 20,
Tulane 6
TUSCALOOSA — The Crimson Tide struggled without left
tackle Andre Smith, who hurt
his knee against Clemson, and
right guard Marlon Davis, who
hurt his hamstring early in this
game.
Wilson was hurried often and
threw for just 73 yards. Even the
Tide’s rushing game had its
troubles, gaining just 99
yards.
But the defense stuffed Tulane three times in the red zone,
allowing only two field goals.
Cornerback Chris Rogers
scored after picking up a
blocked punt by running back
Roy Upchurch, and Javier Arenas ran through Tulane for an
Auburn
From page 7
Vanderbilt
quarterback
Mackenzi Adams threw a pair
of touchdown passes to engineer the comeback.
Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville fired Franklin four days
later.
Arkansas 25,
No. 20 Auburn 22
AUBURN — Three days after
Franklin was fired, the Tigers
(4-3, 2-3) managed just 193 yards
of total offense. The 22 points
were the most Auburn scored
against a conference opponent,
but the Tigers got a safety, a
kickoff return for a touchdown
and a pair of turnovers that allowed them to kick a field goal
without picking up a first down.
Michael Smith rushed for 176
yards, including a 63-yard touchdown run that gave Arkansas a
87-yard punt return for a touchThe Rebels out-gained Aladown.
bama 359 yards to 326 and had
the ball late in the fourth quarNo. 11 Alabama 41,
ter before quarterback Jevan
Western Kentucky 7
Sneed’s final pass fell short with
TUSCALOOSA — This was a 1:01 remaining.
nice bounce-back game for Alabama offense. The Tide gained No. 2 Alabama 29,
557 yards and allowed 158 to the Tennessee 9
overmatched Hilltoppers.
KNOXVILLE — Head coach
Wilson found his groove Nick Saban called this game Alagain, completing 17 of 27 pass- abama’s most complete of the
Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr.
es for 215 yards, and Coffee, Up- season. The Tide got out to a 13- Alabama nose tackle Terrence Cody (62) was a force on the defensive line throughout the season.
church and Ingram gained 97, 3 halftime lead and closed out The 6-5, 365-pound, junior college transfer missed a couple of games because of a knee injury.
53 and 51 yards, respectively.
the Vols in the second half.
Alabama allowed 173 yards to
No. 9 Alabama 49,
Tennessee, while the Tide,
Arkansas 14
once again, ran up the rushing
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ala- yards.
bama passed its first SoutheastThis time it was Upchurch’s
ern Conference road test of the turn to lead Alabama. He finseason in easy fashion.
ished with 86 yards on 14 carArenas and safety Justin ries, all in the second half.
Woodall picked off passes by
After the game, an emotional
Arkansas quarterback Casey Saban called his team “blue colDick for touchdowns, and Coffee lar.”
rambled for an 87-yard touchdown. Upchurch got into the act No. 2 Alabama 35,
with a 62-yard touchdown run, Arkansas State 0
as Alabama barely needed its
TUSCALOOSA — In a tunepassing game.
up to its game at LSU the followThe Tide intercepted Dick ing week, the Tide avoided an
three times and backup Tyler upset with another powerful
Wilson once.
performance by its defense at its
homecoming.
No. 8 Alabama 41,
Safety Rashad Johnson had
No. 3 Georgia 30
his first interception for a touchATHENS, Ga. — It was sup- down in his career and led the
posed to be a funeral for Ala- Tide with 13 tackles.
Ingram gained 113 yards on 12
bama as the Bulldogs dressed in
black in honor of their biggest carries, while Red Wolves quarterback Corey Leonard was limgame of their season.
Instead, it was the Tide that ited to 48 total yards.
sent Georgia 6 feet under. In the
game that re-cemented Ala- No. 1 Alabama 27,
bama as a national power, the No. 15 LSU 21
Open everyday at 10:45
Tide went up 31-0 in the first
BATON ROUGE, La. — The
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half and prevented a late come- biggest game in recent years for
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back attempt.
Alabama turned into an epic
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Wilson completed 13 of 16 contest between the two teams.
passes for 205 yards for one
Saban arrived in Baton Rouge
touchdown, while the Tide de- in his first game as Alabama’s
fense sacked Georgia quarter- coach and was booed lustily by
back Matthew Stafford twice the Tigers’ fans for the whole
and limited running back game.
Knowshon Moreno to 34 rushIt didn’t matter to the coach,
ing yards on nine carries. The or his team.
victory moved Alabama to No. 2
Johnson picked off Tigers
in the polls the day after the im- quarterback Jarrett Lee three
pressive win.
times, including once in the end
zone in overtime, which set up
No. 2 Alabama 17,
Alabama’s winning score.
Kentucky 14
The victory for the Tide
TUSCALOOSA — A late clinched the SEC West champitouchdown by the Wildcats onship and Alabama’s first
made the game appear closer berth in the SEC Championship
Game since 1999.
than it really was.
It was also the Tide’s first win
The Tide jumped out to a 14-0
first-quarter lead and a Leigh as the No. 1 team in the country
Tiffin 24-yard field goal with 2:12 since 1980.
remaining sealed the win. Coffee overcame two fumbles, one No. 1 Alabama 32,
of which Alabama lost, to finish Mississippi State 7
the game with 218 yards rushTUSCALOOSA — Arenas set
ing, the highest total for an Ala- an Alabama record for punt rebama running back since turn yards in a game with
Shaun Alexander ran for a 153.
school-record 291 yards in 1996.
His 46-yard return to the MSU
2-yard line in the second quarter
No. 2 Alabama 24,
set up Alabama’s first offensive
Ole Miss 20
touchdown against the Bulldogs
TUSCALOOSA — The game since 2004, and his 80-yard reappeared in hand with Alabama turn for a touchdown in the
ahead 24-3 at halftime. Then third quarter helped nail down
nose tackle Terrence Cody hurt the win.
Coffee and Ingram combined
his knee at the start of the secShow someone special how much you truly care
ond half. The Rebels scored 17 for 149 rushing yards between
with a gift they are sure to treasure for a lifetime.
straight points to make it close them as Alabama’s defense allowed 167 total yards to the Bullin the end.
The Tide’s rushing game dogs.
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Linebacker Rolando McClain,
lacked traction with 107 yards,
but Wilson was effective again, a Decatur High grad, led the
qualified service people to serve you when
completing 16 of 25 passes for Tide with 11 tackles and two
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A reputation for going
that extra mile
fourth-quarter lead. The Razor- consecutive game.
backs held on for their first conAuburn 37,
ference win of the season.
West Virginia 34,
Auburn 17
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Tennessee-Martin 20
AUBURN — The Skyhawks
gave Auburn (5-5) a scare late in
the third quarter when they
scored to tie the game.
However, Burns rushed for
158 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading Auburn to a
much-needed victory.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —
Auburn (4-4) stormed out to a 173 lead to open the game with a
rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown from Burns,
whom Tuberville established as
the starting quarterback.
West Virginia, behind tail- No. 13 Georgia 17,
back Noel Devine, scored 31 Auburn 13
AUBURN — The Tigers (5-6, 2unanswered points. Devine
gashed the Tigers’ defense for 5) failed to score on four posses207 rushing yards and a touch- sions inside the Georgia 25-yard
line, including on their final two
down.
possessions while trying to take
Ole Miss 17, Auburn 7
a lead.
Auburn’s defense held the
OXFORD, Miss. — Burns
passed for 319 yards, but threw Bulldogs’ dangerous offense to
three costly interceptions in Ole 17 points, but that was enough
for Georgia to escape with a
Miss territory.
Jevan Snead threw a pair of win.
Mario Fannin finished with
touchdown passes, Ole Miss
compiled 233 rushing yards and 108 yards of total offense and a
Auburn (4-5, 2-4) lost its fourth pair of touchdowns.
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