Not any more. I have lost respect for the Auburn football program but even more so its fans. Here are the reasons.
1. Georgia fans are mad at Nick Fairley for his reckless play on the field. Yes, we understand that there other personal fouls called in the game. Yes, there are dirty plays that take place on the line. But if anyone has a history of dirty chop blocks, its Auburn (any one remember Glenn Doresy?) This was an emotional game and I know there were plenty of cheap shots. But the hits by Fairley were blatant. Fairley has been known for these types of plays, this was not an isolated incident of a player being made for being chop blocked. The hit to Murray's back may have been the dirtiest play I have ever seen on a football field.
***UPDATE - At Least one Auburn fan agrees about the Fairley hit on Murray. This from "Track'em Tigers":
"Having said that, we also saw one of the dirtiest quarterback hits of the year out of our own Nick Fairley. It was not the play that injured Murray, though. It was the helmet hit in the back that negated a stop by the defense in the 3rd quarter. It was a brutal, dangerous, needless play. Either player could have been paralyzed on the play. I would not be surprised to see the NCAA adopt a "Nick Fairley" rule next year, and start handing out suspensions for big hits on "defenseless" players. I'd also look for the refs to be quick with the laundry in the Iron Bowl."
Also, the Auburn arguement that Fairley was blocked into Murray on the last hit is ridiculous. Here is the sequence of the hit:
A. As Murray releases the ball, Cordy Glenn pushes fairley to the right (in the picture) away from Aaron Murray:
B. Next, Glenn is behind Fairley still pushing his back away from Murray.
C. Fairley is now past Glenn and starts to dive toward Murray.
D. Fairley hits Murray, you can see his head on the other side of Ben Jones.
2. Trooper Taylor's reaction to the scuffle. Trooper Taylor runs after Fairley, but instead of grabbing him and pulling him to the side, lets him go on doing his little celebration. The refs were too busy dealing with other players, or this would have surely been an ejection. Remember, AJ Green got flagged for simly walking towards the crowd after a TD catch. Standing all alone 30 yards away from anyone else and doing the "belt sign" is pathetic.
3. Auburn fans booing Reuben Faloughi when he was injured. This was disgusting. I understand Auburn was running a hurry up offense and wanted to snap the ball fast, but booing Faloughi and saying he was faking the injury was ridiculous. Go back and watch the replay. Faloughi got hit on a block (a legal form of a chop block, mind you) at the ankles and fell to the ground. He tried to get up but after taking a few steps, he fell back to the ground. The trainers had to come out and help him off the field. This kid is a WALK-ON who has earned playing time and has a reputation as a hard worker. Faking injury does not fit the bill and clearly he was hurt. No one should ever boo a kid who is down on the field with an injury, regardless of the desire to run a hurry-up offense.
4. The hate and defensiveness coming from the Auburn fans since the game. Auburn fans, YOU WON THE GAME. You clinched the SEC West and your undefeated season is still in tact. Cam Newton played amazing and is clearly the best player in college football this season. There is tons to celebrate, yet almost everything I see is trying to spit hate at Georgia. Once again, most Georgia fans are not mad about the game. We lost on the field, there is not denying that. We are just upset of the actions of a team and fan base that is usually very classy. Your great season should be a celebration of your team, not a chance to try and ridicule the opponents that you beat along the way.
I hope Auburn is enjoying this situation. Just remember, you reap what you sow. If Cam Newton is indeed ineligible and this great season is wiped away from the record books, you will hear no sympathy from me. Good luck in Tuscaloosa in two weeks because I am sure Bama will be ready to fight dirty right back at you.
15 comments:
Oh yeah, there is also this - http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/video-fairley-bloodies-uga-qb-with-facemask-29242
This was in the first quarter.
I was saying the EXACT same thing before the game. I (used to) like Auburn and I have a TON of friends who are Auburn grads. Normally this is a friedly rivalry and after the game we all have a beer together afterward.
I think that the Barners know that Newton is ineligible and they know that their "magical" season is about to be 0-12 with severe probation. There is no excuse for dirty play that could severely injure a player.
The booing of Faloughi was atrocious. But even worse, Danielson called the fans "sophiscated" for doing it. Unbelievable.
I think the sophisticated comment was sarcasm. At least I hope so!
You guys must not be from Columbus. The AU jerks here are without a doubt the most self-absorbed pitiful trash I've ever seen. I know many UGA preppy alum, but the AU grads around here think they're God's gift to Georgia. And to live here seems a thousand miles from Athens, with all the local media and stores catering to that sorry state where each car has a set of flags from each team, depending on who's winning (AU or UA). They're a joke, and I know from long experience that this is not an over-generalization.
I guess that we Don't want to Talk about this ?
Program Record last 5 years on field, current head coach :
53-9 Ohio State last 5 years, Jim Tressel
54-11 Florida last 5 years, Urban Meyer*
58-4 Boise State last 5 years, Chris Petersen
53-10 TCU last 5 years, Gary Patterson
50-12 Southern California last 5 years, Lane Kiffin
50-15 Oklahoma last 5 years, Bob Stoops
49-14 Texas last 5 years, Mack Brown
49-14 LSU last 5 years, Les Miles*
49-15 Virginia Tech last 5 years, Frank Beamer
48-14 Utah last 5 years, Kyle Whittingham
48-14 BYU last 5 years, Bronco Mendenhall
47-15 Wisconsin last 5 years, Bret Bielema
46-15 West Virginia last 5 years, Bill Stewart
46-16 Penn State last 5 years, Joe Paterno
47-17 Alabama last 5 years on field, Nick Saban*
46-16 Oregon last 5 years, Chip Kelly
46-18 Missouri last 5 years, Gary Pinkel
44-18 Cincinnati last 5 years, Butch Jones
44-18 Auburn last 5 years, Gene Chizik*
43-20 Georgia last 5 years, Coach Richt* # 20 program
You are right, BuLLdawg, we don't want to talk about that here. We all know the struggles of the program in recent years. This article has nothing to do with our struggles.
We all know there are problems. Stating them over and over isn't going to make anything change right now. We have one game left this season and maybe a bowl game. I am going to try and enjoy it as much as I can and worry about all the problems in the off season.
Auburn beat a 5-6 team for the first time in 5 years and had come back from being 14 points down. Auburn isn't as good as people think. I'll be very surprised if they beat Alabama.
For the first time in my life, I will say Roll Tide for the game on the 26th and Go Spurrier on Dec. 4th. I hate Auburn as much as Tennessee now.
Have to agree with Anon, everyone who has respect for AU and their fans must not have been around enough of their fans. Living in Columbus is awful. One of the women I work said after the game "Well it sucks that it had to be that way but I did say before the game that we had to do whatever it takes to win, it got us the win so I'm happy." Now I disagree that the dirty play is what got them the win. Cam Newton got them the win, the kid forces the other team to do things differently and can carry his team on his back. However I have never, and will never have any respect for anything to do with AU.
I am an Auburn fan all the way. I can tell you that I get angry at other fans who think it's great to see an opponent injured on the field. But how can you label all Auburn fans as an angry bunch? That's just wrong. EVERY team has it's share of angry, obnoxious, stupid and annoying fans, a few of you are showing examples of that. But you shouldn't generalize a large population of people just because of one game and how some people are acting about it.
Faloughi...
At first, I thought Faloughi was faking an injury, but when I realized he wasn't, I felt bad for criticizing him. You can't take back your initial reaction, and the fans at the stadium don't get the close-up replays that we do on the TV to make a better judgement. There is no denying that players often fake an injury to slow down the opponent's momentum, and to criticize the entire AU program and fans for believing that was the case is ridiculous.
Fairley...
He didn't play too fairly this past Saturday. I'll agree, he made a couple of bad decisions that hurt his reputation and that of our team, but he made a lot of great plays also. He's big, rough, and overall one of the best defensive players I've seen this year. But with all due respect, if the QB's don't want to get hit, they need to get the O line to block. I'm just sayin'.
Anon -
Everything you said was fine...until your last sentence. I have seen this comment over and over from Auburn fans. Don't get me wrong, Nick Fairley is an amazingly talented football player. He is going to get his fair share of hits on the quarterback, regardless of who is blocking him. But the real issue is how he makes tackles and seems set on trying to not only make a play but injure the quarterback. Auburn fans have taken this criticism of this as an attack on their team, but they shouldn't. Fairley's play did not lose this game for Georgia, the inability to stop Cam Newton did. We know that and that is not why we are mad.
I am just suprised at the spiteful responses I have seen to people questioning Nick Fairley as well the Cam Newton situation. If there were more level headed people, like you, then maybe I wouldn't feel this way. But right now, you appear to be in the minority.
Auburn can defend Fairley all they want. This series has a long future. Until the hit that knocked Murray out of the game, this game would have been simply a hard-fought loss to a better opponent. That helmet to the knee, and the Fairley-and-Taylor strut that followed, changed the loss to a shot over the bow.
I'm convinced that Grantham circled next year's Auburn game the minute this year's ended, and I think Auburn knows it. That would explain why Jacobs payed a personal visit to Richt in our locker room after the game. He doesn't want a war after Newton and Fairley have left for the NFL.
Again, this series has a long future. Regardless of what Jacobs and Richt discussed, something tells me that neither our coaches nor players are going to forget Fairley and Taylor celebrating their intentional injury of our frosh QB.
To the AU fan saying that the line should block better if they don't want the QB to be hit, that is true but when a guy takes 3 steps AFTER the ball is released by the QB then there is not much any offensive line can do. If this was an isolated game for Fairly then I could buy he let his emotions get the best of him. However I saw the same thing in several other games this year. I have no love for Clemson at all but felt after that game he was a dirty player. He showed it again several other times and proved it once again this past weekend.
Dawgfan17, you wish UGA had a beast like Fairley.
I'm also from Columbus, but unlike the other two posters here, I'm an Auburn fan. I can, however, verify that this isn't such a cozzy rivalry on the border.
The way Fairely played in that game was wrong, point blank. They let him run wild all season, and when the game got emotional, he acted like an animal.
I think he, Taylor, and Chizik had a come-to-Jesus session with the AD, considering that his behavior has much improved.
But that doesn't take away from the wrong he did in the Georgia game. That ain't the way the game ought to be played.
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