Shula's first Iron Bowl could be good barometer
Only three coaches in Alabama history have won their first meeting with the Auburn Tigers. Mike Shula will attempt to become the fourth on Saturday. But will a win, or a loss, tell the future of Shula at Alabama?
Dennis Pillion, managing editor
In a press conference Tuesday, Alabama head coach Mike Shula said the upcoming Iron Bowl was "the biggest game I'll ever prepare for in my career."
He may be more right than he knows. A coach's first Iron Bowl can have a lot to with his approval rating among the citizens of the Alabama sports nation.
There is no better example of this than in 2001. Alabama's first-year coach Dennis Franchione had directed the team to a 4-5 record entering the game, which was better than the 3-7 record the Tide had entering the 2000 Iron Bowl, but still not cause for celebration. Franchione's public opinion polls jumped about 40 percentage points, however, when he took the Tide to the plains of Auburn and laid a 31-7 beating on the Tigers. After that, Franchione's Tide pounded Southern Miss in the rain and narrowly defeated Iowa State in the Independence Bowl to give Alabama a respectable 7-5 record, and a four-game winning stereak.
The Tide used momentum from that season to post a 10-3 record in 2002, and would have appeared in the SEC Championship game had they not been on probation. In the 1990 season, Gene Stallings became the first Alabama head coach to win the Iron Bowl on his first try since Harold "Red" Drew in 1948, which was the first meeting between the two teams since 1907.
Stallings and the Tide won 16-7, breaking a four-game win streak for Auburn, and two seasons later Alabama won its first national championship since Paul "Bear" Bryant retired.
Stallings' successor Mike DuBose did not fare so well in his first Iron Bowl. DuBose's team entered with a 4-6 record, and would have pulled out an upset victory, but Alabama's Ed Scissum fumbled in the final minute of the game, with Alabama leading 17-15. Auburn recovered the fumble and Jaret Holmes hit the game-winning field goal to spoil DuBose's near-success.
DuBose went on to lead Alabama to an SEC Championship in 1999, but then resigned after going 3-8 in 2000, a season which Alabama began as the third ranked team in the country.
None of this is to say that Shula will be a success or failure as a coach based on what happens Saturday.
After all, the Bear himself lost his first Iron Bowl game in 1958. After four straight Auburn wins, Bryant was almost able to upset the Tigers, but a fourth-quarter interception ended those hopes. The Tide lost that game 14-8, after being beaten by an average of 40 points per game in the four previous meetings. After the game, Bryant directed the Tide to four straight wins over Auburn, outscoring them by a combined 85-0. Bryant was 19-6 against Auburn in his 25 years at the Capstone. Should Shula win his first Iron Bowl, it will at least take some pressure off of him, after directing the Tide to a losing record this year.
In fact, it would be a lot like 1984, his first year to play quarterback in the Iron Bowl. Shula and the Tide had a 4-6 record and were heavy underdogs, but edged Auburn 17-15 after stopping Auburn on fourth-and-goal from the one. Alabama's Rory Turner stopped Auburn fullback Brent Fullwood when lead-blocker and future-Heisman Trophy-winner Bo Jackson ran the wrong way on the play.
The next year, Shula led the Tide to another nail-biting win over Auburn. In a play known simply as "the kick," Van Tiffin nailed a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give Alabama a 25-23 win over Auburn and Jackson, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy that year.
Shula was 2-1 overall against Auburn as a player.
This story was written by Dennis Pillion, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, and edited by Jeff Dunnavant, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.
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