Sorry about your bad timing, incoming Auburn freshmen.
If you are a college football fan\0xAD--and there is a good chance you will at least be a casual one during your time on this sports-crazed campus--you just missed out on one of the greatest seasons in Auburn history.
Sure, the Tigers fell short of the final crystal football in Pasadena back in January, but the 13 games leading up to the all-time classic against Florida State's Heisman winner and noted steamed seafood thief Jameis Winston were what made 2013 so memorable at Auburn.
After a miserable 3-9 season and a complete overhaul of the coaching staff, Auburn did the unthinkable. Gus Malzahn's up-tempo Tigers ran through the SEC gauntlet (mostly) unscathed, topping Johnny Football's Texas A&M team in College Station and trolling the daylight out of Bret Bielema's hapless Arkansas squad.
Then, for the first time ever, both of Auburn's "Amen Corner" rivals came to Jordan-Hare Stadium in the same year. The Tigers marked the momentous occasion with two of the craziest endings in the sport's history before winning an SEC Championship shootout against Missouri.
And, unless you somehow had season tickets a year early, all of you freshmen missed out on it.
Oh, don't think I'm rubbing it in. I feel your pain.
Both of my parents went to Auburn, so I have followed the Tigers since birth. I arrived for my first classes at Auburn in the fall of 2011--one year after Cam Newton and Nick Fairley led Auburn to the national title.
Missed it by that much.
So I know what it was like to come to campus directly after a remarkable football season.
But don't worry, you are in a better situation than my class had when it enrolled in 2011.
You see, 2010 was the peak of the Gene Chizik era, which ended with an average 2011 season and that woeful 2012 season.
Looking back, all the pieces fell into place for that 2010 season, but the Tigers were not close to becoming perennial national title contenders after Newton and Fairley left.
This current crop of Tigers\0xAD--your Tigers--are a different story.
For the first time since 2007, Auburn is returning its starter at quarterback. The dual-threat signal caller Nick Marshall is a luxury to modern Auburn football.
Heisman finalist Tre Mason might be off to the bright lights of the NFL, but Auburn returns the thunder-and-lightning combo of Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant at running back. One of your fellow freshmen, Racean "Roc" Thomas, is projected to be the next great star in the Auburn backfield.
Malzahn made sure his Tigers ran about five or six plays last season: run left, run right, run up the middle, run the read option, throw a screen pass or throw a play-action bomb.
Now, with the addition of No. 1 junior college recruit D'haquille Williams--you will loudly call him "DUUUUUUUUKE" this fall\0xAD--Auburn has another weapon for its growing intermediate passing game.
This offense will perform behind one of the nation's most veteran lines, led by four-year starter Reese Dismukes.
Veteran defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson has been busy reloading his unique, attacking 4-2-5 defense. Former blue-chip recruits such as Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams, Robenson Therezie and Derrick Moncrief will lead the way for one of 2013's most improved defenses.
After returning most of the starters from an SEC Championship squad, the 2014 Auburn Tigers will start the season with national-championship hype.
So you might have missed "A Miracle at Jordan-Hare" and "The Kick Six," but you will start your Auburn careers with something most fans have not seen in a long time: high expectations and loads of talent.
Buckle up.
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