Auburn vs Mississippi State and Rolling Toomer’s Corner

This week the Auburn opened the SEC play with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, MS.  This was the first away game of the 2008 season, and as expected, the Auburn Tigers played well.  We did not actually make it to Starkville for the game today, but rather watched it on ESPN2 with half of the rest of the country, which made for a real short walk to my bed after the game instead of a very long drive.

Wow, what a game.  This was not a pretty game at all.  Pounding defense all game long and more resembled a baseball game score.  A win is a win, and at least they came away with a win, but it probably won’t do to well in the NCAA polls on Sunday.  Another story from the game was the injury to Brad Lester who was taken off the field on a cart and the update said he had a sprained neck.  Haven’t seen a game like this in a long time, Auburn tried everything they could do to loose but so did MSU, and in the end, the game clock is what won the game.

Although I really do like the idea of the spread offense that Tommy Tuberville (whom I think is probably one of the best coaches ever at Auburn) has brought in, that was probably the weakest display of an offense (on both sides of the ball) that any SEC conference game has seen in a long time.  It is a transition year for the offense, and it looked it, I just hope the Auburn Tiger faithful has the patience to wait it out because in the SEC, a loss is pretty much the season, and next week we have LSU coming to Auburn.  Never a fun game at Jordan-Hare Stadium under any circumstances, but without an offense that can score a touchdown?  Yikes.

The photo above is one I took of Samford Hall in front of the historic sign saying Auburn University, Established 1856.  Probably one of the most photographed buildings in the Auburn area, Samford Hall was built in 1888 after a fire destroyed “Old Main” building in 1887, which sat on the same site, using bricks salvaged by the ruins of Old Main building.

Toomer’s Drugs (located on Toomer’s Corner of course) is another historic landmark of Auburn and a big part of Auburn University.  This photo above was obviously not taken tonight after the game, so why are either photos significant to the Auburn vs Mississippi State football game, well right in between these two buildings is the rolling of Toomer’s Corner (of the Live Oaks).  An Auburn tradition that goes back to the 1970’s (see the live web cam of Toomers Corner here) when Auburn would win away games, students would come down to Toomer’s Corner and toilet paper roll the corner (see Auburn Tigers Football Season at a Glance // 2006).

Now it is done with just about any win for anything, but it generally looks like this:

I admit I could not make the effort to drive down there tonight and take a current shot of Toomer’s corner at 10pm at night when I have to get up early the next day, but I am sure this is exactly what it looks like right now, only the faces are different.  Next week when Auburn plays LSU (and wins) we will be down at Toomer’s corner with the camera to record for history the rolling of Toomer’s corner.