By Mickey Dunaway, Auburn ’69 and ’85

If you are an Auburn man or woman, I hope you are are not too heartbroken from yesterday’s game. Let me tell you a quick story about another Auburn-Georgia game with similar results and similar promises. It was Coach Dye’s second year and Hershel Walker’s Heisman Trophy year. A kid by the name of Bo was now in the Auburn backfield.

Sandy and I drove up from Mobile early that November morning arriving just before kickoff and had to park and walk a mile to the stadium. And, like yesterday, the place was packed. Auburn’s record was 7-2. We had lost to Nebraska, beaten Tennessee and UK, and lost to UF by two when Georgia came to town ranked #1. Jordan-Hare was crazy.

We lost to UGA and Hershel that day, but there was a feeling in that stadium that we were not the Auburn of the recent past. The following week, we beat Alabama, and Auburn became beloved Auburn again—the Auburn of Shug Jordan, the epitome of an Auburn man and the perfect model for Coach Dye. That is what I saw yesterday. We are not back yet. And like Coach Dye’s first year, we may suffer a losing season, but yesterday, we sent the message that times have changed on the Plains.