TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Walking through the quad here Saturday an hour before Alabama’s kickoff was practically as good as listening to a radio play-by-play of the Auburn game’s closing minutes. Cheers indicated good news for Jacksonville State, which plays in the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision and was shockingly leading the Tigers with minutes to go. Disapproving murmurs indicated plays made by Alabama’s archrival.
After Auburn (2-0) secured a 27-20 victory in overtime, one man bedecked in Alabama crimson shrugged and said, “Makes no difference.”
His point was that the Tigers still have an eight-game Southeastern Conference schedule, and after Auburn barely beat an F.