"There was a worse loss than this once." I turned around and saw an old English professor of mine, now long-retired. AU grad. Former Marine. WWII Vet. Still tough as nails. He was wearing a vintage API sports jacket...

By David Swanger

My first mistake was trusting weather.com. Temperatures of low 70s during the day, high 60s at kickoff, high 50s by the end of the game. That's what their computers claimed anyway. I wonder if weather.com employees joke about their system being in "the cloud." But I digress. I left my jacket at home and drove from Columbus, GA to Auburn, AL for the first ever Auburn-Texas A&M game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

I drove to my secret parking place on campus only to discover a police car there, blocking my entrance. Maybe that was a sign. I parked the Volkswagen in a field near Facilities and started walking to the stadium. Maybe it was my imagination, but every 50 meters or so, the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. Before long I was shivering in the frigid air. I passed tailgate sites with people huddled around barbecue grilles. People lit bon-fires in trash barrels, burning anything they could find. They might as well have burned their season tickets while they were at it. Dark clouds were rolling in as I entered Jordan-Hare stadium.

I'd never bought fan clothing at a game but I fought through a frozen mob at the War Eagle clothing kiosk (or whatever the hell it's called) and bought an overpriced Auburn jersey with matching gloves. Overpriced? Supply and demand. Besides, I used a credit card so it's not like I used real money.

Before the game, the stadium was packed and the crowd was lively. Maybe they were just moving around to keep from freezing to death. The next bad sign came with the pre-game flight of the eagle. Spirit took off from the upper deck and basically just flew away. He eventually changed his mind and flew back into the stadium, but I suspect his animal instinct knew something bad was about to go down.

I expected a close game and if I'd been forced to bet the house, I would have picked Texas A&M to win by a touchdown or so, but I told anyone who would listen that Auburn was going to win.

Then the game started. Auburn had a chance to stop the Aggies on their first drive but a senseless Auburn penalty kept their drive alive. Then all hell broke loose (which breaks Rule 6 of Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing but I don't care) and the Aggies destroyed Auburn 63-21 and it wasn't that close. The score could have been much worse.

The highlights of the game for me were the skydivers and band at halftime. No, the band didn't skydive but that would have been awesome.

By the fourth quarter, other than a happy group of Aggie fans across the field, the stands were basically empty, save for a few thousand disgruntled Tiger fans sprinkled throughout the stadium. The last time I saw a crowd leave early like that was in 1999 when Auburn crushed LSU 41-7 in Baton Rouge. I've seen bigger crowds at spring football games.

As the fourth quarter unfolded like a scene from a sick existential comedy, I huddled in Section 3 with a few die-hard Auburn fans. Texas A&M scored at will and the ranting was epic.

"FIRE THE COACH! FIRE THE COACHES!! FIRE THE AD!!! FIRE THE PRESIDENT!!!! FIRE THEM ALL!!!!!"

We all agreed that this was possibly the worse loss at Jordan-Hare since the mythic 42-0 loss to Tennessee in 1980. I hear various AU fans mention this game every year. To me, it set a standard for futility that wasn't matched again until this game with Texas A&M.

From behind I heard a gruff voice say "There was a worse loss than this once." I turned around and saw an old English professor of mine, now long-retired. AU grad. Former Marine. WWII Vet. Still tough as nails. He was wearing a vintage API sports jacket and was sipping from a bottle of Budweiser.

"What game is that sir?"

"Call me John"

"Yes sir...uh, I mean John."

"It wasn't in Auburn, but the Tigers lost to Alabama 55-0 in the late 1940s. You know what happened then?"

"No John, what happened?"

"The next year Auburn bounced back and beat the Tide 14-13. As for that Tennessee game in 1980, a few years later, Auburn had a one-loss team and had the best team in the country. Auburn hits bottom now and then but they've always bounced back and they always will. In a year or two they'll back."

"But what should be done about the coaches, the administration, the..."

John held up his left hand, took a sip of Budweiser and said "Don't worry, We're meeting with some of the board members at the University Club later tonight. We'll work something out."

Screams from below caused me to turn my attention to the field in time to see several Auburn players carried out on stretchers. I turned back to John and said "But what about..." But John wasn't there; only an empty bottle of Budweiser remained.

The rest of the game was a just a blur. Afterward, I stumbled to my car, thinking about John's optimism. I hoped he was right, but then he's part of the greatest generation and is used to success. Still, his words fired me up.

I called my wife and told her I'd be a little late. Then I fired up the Volkswagen and steered toward the University Club.