Auburn vs. Memphis, 2015 Birmingham Bowl: SEC Tigers suffocate AAC Tigers

When Lamar Jackson is looking to the sideline for a play call, he looks coiled, like he’s frustrated that he has to stand in one spot. He rocks back and forth, crouched forward, ready to run somewhere.

The Louisville quarterback’s full-speed-at-all-times style reminds you that he’s a true freshman. He’s not much for finesse in his passing. The ball’s going to get to its destination as quickly as it can, whether it should or not. And as we saw at times in 2015, sometimes running means taking sacks.

After losing to Auburn, 31-10, in the Birmingham Bowl, Memphis safety Reggis Ball reportedly ran over to the Auburn sideline and stole a football, while also giving the Auburn equipment staff the finger. It is unclear who tackled whom, but there were multiple reports of a scuffle.

Later, he posted this photo on Instagram:

After a disappointing 6-6 season in which Auburn was picked by some to be a dark horse contender for the College Football Playoff, the Tigers saved their best win for last, taking down upstart Memphis, 31-10, in the Birmingham Bowl.

It was a dominating performance in some ways. The Tigers’ ground game got going in the red zone, the special teams were impressive, with a long punt return and a blocked field goal and the defense was dominant against star Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. It was Memphis’ lowest-scoring game of the season, and that’s a credit to an Auburn defense that was playing without former defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

Let us marvel at this play. Memphis made a big mistake, compounded it with another mistake and then Auburn failed to capitalize on it. It was a beautiful maelstrom of failure that properly summarizes a noon kickoff between two teams that seem uninterested in playing the Birmingham Bowl.

The first error Memphis made is a pretty common one. It lined up with 12 men defensively.

Auburn suffered through a rough start to the season that dropped the team out of the top 10 and shuffled it out of the national title conversation. Memphis worked on the opposite trajectory when it rallied to an 8-0 start and a spot in the top 15 of the College Football Playoff rankings. Now, these two programs on different roller coaster paths will meet in the Birmingham Bowl.

Memphis’ big season was enough to lure head coach Justin Fuente to Virginia Tech, where he’ll replace future Hall of Famer Frank Beamer on the Hokies’ sideline. The team hired Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell to replace him, but Norvell won’t be there for the Tigers’ season-ending showdown with the, uh, Tigers. Instead co-OC Darrell Dickey, who was a four-time Sun Belt Coach of the Year with North Texas, will lead Memphis as the team’s interim head coach.

Between 1902 and 1998, Auburn played in Birmingham 136 times. Like Birmigham’s Legion Field itself, this notion is now a relic. But the Tigers return on Wednesday and battle another local Tigers squad.

The pollsters didn’t wait for Auburn to lose to decide the Tigers weren’t what they were supposed to be. Gus Malzahn’s team started sixth in the preseason polls but fell to 18th after needing overtime to get past FCS’ No. 1 team, Jacksonville State. A week later, the Tigers were blown out by LSU, and they wouldn’t sniff the polls the rest of the year.

There are now 40 bowl games, plus the National Championship. That’s a lot of football.

This overflow of football has meant the usual group of 6-6 teams aren’t the worst teams to go bowling this year. This time, all of the 6-6 teams are in, plus some 5-7 teams. The idea of giving a trophy to a team that finishes 6-7 is a funny one, but everything about this sport is funny, so whatever.

While Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala. didn’t get to host the UAB Blazers like usual, it will reprise its role as the host of the Birmingham Bowl for the 10th time with a matchup between the SEC and American Athletic Conference.

After five years as the Papajohns.com Bowl, the game became the BBVA Compass Bowl for four seasons and is now known only as the Birmingham Bowl.

Virginia Tech has hired Justin Fuente to replace legendary head coach Frank Beamer, the school announced Sunday. Longtime Hokie defensive coordinator Bud Foster will also stay on Fuente’s staff.

A former Virginia Tech cornerback, Beamer coached the Hokies from 1987 to 2015. He transformed the program into a Mid-Atlantic power, leading the team to 23 consecutive bowl games (the longest streak in the nation). Foster followed Beamer from Murray State, and has been the Hokies’ defensive coordinator since 1995.