Tag: Jordan-Hare Stadium

Nick Saban on Jordan-Hare Stadium: ‘That place is HAUNTED’

Tell us how you REALLY feel about the place, Coach!

How does former Alabama football coach Nick Saban really feel about Jordan-Hare Stadium, the home of the Auburn Tigers?

During an appearance on “College GameDay,” which is in Columbus for the top five showdown between the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers and No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, Saban let his feelings known during a segment discussing the importance of teams not overlooking opponents a week before their end-of-season rivalry games.

One of those teams was Texas A&M, which faces in-state rival Texas for the first time since 2011 next week. But first, the Aggies have to survive a trip to the Plains to beat Auburn.

As Saban knows, that’s never a guarantee. This is what he said of “The Loveliest Village on the Plains” on College GameDay.

“I would be alerting Texas A&M because in my opinion, in 17 years of going to Auburn, playing in Jordan-Hare, that place is HAUNTED! It really is. The way we lost games, and the way we won games there, it’s unbelievable. ‘Kick Six’ and then ‘The Gravedigger’ last year, I mean, I’m telling you, the place is haunted.”

Few Alabama fans or former Crimson Tide players would disagree with Saban, who compiled a 5-4 record at Jordan-Hare during his 17 seasons as Alabama’s coach from 2007-2023.

The Tide needed improbable come-from-behind victories to sneak past Auburn in both 2021 and 2023, including the 4th-and-31 Jalen Milroe to Isaiah Bond touchdown play (“Gravedigger”) last year.

This year’s Iron Bowl showdown against Auburn is at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff for the game is set for 2:30 p.m. CT next Saturday and will be televised on ABC.

On3 analyst calls road trip a ‘pivot game’ for the Oklahoma Sooners

On3 analyst believes early road trip could make or break Oklahoma’s 2024 season.

The Oklahoma Sooners open their [autotag]SEC[/autotag] schedule with a home game against the Tennessee Volunteers. There will be a lot of eyes on the Sooners as they welcome the Vols to town. It’ll be a tough conference opener. But that following week, when the Sooners travel to Auburn, Alabama could be a significant moment in the season.

It’ll be OU’s first road game in the SEC as they travel to take on the Auburn Tigers inside the sometimes unfriendly confines of Jordan-Hare Stadium. On3’s Andy Staples called it a make-or-break game for both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Auburn Tigers.

This one won’t get anyone fired, but it definitely feels critical for both teams simply by virtue of where it falls on the schedule. Oklahoma opens SEC play in Norman against Tennessee on Sept. 21, so the Sooners either will come in riding high after notching their first win in their new league or desperate to avoid an 0-2 conference start.  The next time Oklahoma takes the field, it’ll be in the Cotton Bowl against Texas. Then the Sooners immediately face South Carolina and Ole Miss. (With Alabama and LSU waiting on the far end of the schedule.) – Staples, On3

Oklahoma’s coming off of a 10-3 season, while the Tigers are hoping to improve from a 6-7 mark in year one under Hugh Freeze. Auburn went 1-3 at home in SEC play last year and also lost at home to Conference USA’s New Mexico State by three touchdowns.

It’s a huge road game for the Sooners and an opportunity early in the season. If they can pick up a win on the road over the Tigers it’ll go a long way to setting them up to contend for a playoff spot in 2024.

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Where Jordan-Hare Stadium ranks in Greg McElroy’s most hostile environments

You know Jordan-Hare is loud when a former rival QB says so.

Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium has, in recent years, become nationally known as one of the toughest places to play in the country.

With the raucous student section, the blaring music from the band and the distractions from everywhere else, moments have happened on the Plains that many think they might never see in their lifetime.

From the “Kick Six” to the “Prayer at Jordan-Hare” to Cam Newton’s 49-yard touchdown run against LSU, it is events like these that have sent the Auburn crowd into a frenzy and given opposing players nightmares.

Many former athletes can recount their times in this stadium, but how does it stack up with some of the other toughest environments in college football? Greg McElroy gives his thoughts on that matter.

In his ranking of the top 10 most hostile stadiums heading into the 2024 season, McElroy has Jordan-Hare Stadium at No. 2, ranking only behind LSU’s Tiger Stadium.

Like many in the SEC, he played on the Plains in the Iron Bowl in his time with the Alabama Crimson Tide. As an announcer, he has been back to call games there, and it still brings back the same feelings for him.

“From my perspective as a former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn is the toughest place to play,” McElroy said. “I’ve always felt like that place is a house of horrors for many teams.” 

McElroy played for the Crimson Tide from 2007-2010 and started the in the Iron Bowl during his junior and senior seasons.

In the lone year he played on the Plains, he led Alabama in its comeback efforts, completing a four-yard pass to Roy Upchurch with 1:24 left in the fourth quarter to defeat the Tigers 26-21 in 2009.

Auburn looks to bounce back in year two under head coach Hugh Freeze, especially with big home games against Texas A&M and Oklahoma on the horizon.

Despite the struggles in recent years, the fans have seemingly always been behind the home team, and are looking to make it very difficult for teams to play the Tigers year in and year out. As much of the Auburn faithful would say, it’s just “Auburn being Auburn.”

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Auburn announces enhancements to Jordan-Hare Stadium

The Auburn game day experience just got better for 2023.

Fans attending Auburn games at Jordan-Hare Stadium this fall will notice a few upgrades.

Auburn University announced more than 20 improvements to the greatest stadium on the Plains on Thursday. Among them are more seating, in-stadium entertainment improvements, quicker concession stand options, and new accessibility options.

Due to the demand for season tickets, Auburn University has introduced additional premium seating options, which will push Jordan-Hare Stadium’s capacity to over 88,000.  Fans will also have fast access to concessions, thus cutting down on time away from the action.

Here’s a full rundown of stadium enhancements ahead of the 2023 season.

Jordan-Hare is once again expected to be one of the loudest venues in the country

If Auburn shows signs of improvement this season, the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be one of the most electric atmospheres in the country.

Jordan-Hare Stadium has gained a reputation as one of the most intimidating places for visiting teams to play in college football.

The combination of a loud atmosphere and miraculous moments such as the “Kick-6” against Alabama in 2013 have cemented Jordan-Hare’s spot at the top.

The hiring of [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] introduces a new era and excitement is once again through the roof.

In a 247Sports article written by Brad Crawford, the loudest stadiums for the 2023 season are predicted. Jordan-Hare placed third on the list for its November game against Alabama.

Crawford’s take: The Iron Bowl always holds significance. On the decibels scale, few places are louder than Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium when the Tigers are a national power. Part of the reason Auburn hired former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze to lead the program is due to his personal success against Nick Saban’s Alabama and he gets another crack at the greatest coach of all time in 2023. If the Tigers still have a heartbeat when this one’s played, The Plains will be extremely loud and boisterous when the Crimson Tide come to town.

Auburn fans are eager to produce one of college football’s best environments again this season.

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New Auburn athletic director John Cohen ponders renovation plans for school facilities

Cohen told the Montgomery Advertiser that the school could “create some improvement” in the north end zone of Jordan-Hare.

There could be some changes coming to the Plains in the near future.

Tigers athletic director John Cohen could be planning some new renovations to multiple facets of the school’s athletic stadiums and buildings, according to the Montgomery Advertiser’s Richard Silva. Cohen became the school’s new athletic director on Halloween last year.

Here is a little of what Cohen had to say about the school’s Jordan-Hare Stadium:

“I think even the most casual fan looks into our north end zone and sees that we have room for improvement there, and I think we’re gonna get there… It’s going to take a little time, but I think we can create some improvement in the north end zone.”

That wasn’t the only thing Cohen mentioned, however. He also turned to sports that play indoors like basketball and gymnastics, and mentioned that such sports have what he called “practice space challenges”. He also told the advertiser that sports like baseball and softball will be looked at as well.

Jordan-Hare Stadium was first opened in 1939 and has been renovated twice in 2004 and 2017. The school has had plans to renovate the north endzone of the stadium for some time now, but those plans were delayed in 2015 and then subsequently put on hold indefinitely.

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Brian Kelly talks about how LSU is preparing for the noise at Jordan Hare

Kelly said the team is prepared for the hostile environment on Saturday.

It just means more.

This weekend, the LSU Tigers are traveling for their first true road game of the season, and it will be in front of one of the best atmospheres in the SEC, Jordan-Hare Stadium.

It doesn’t matter what Auburn’s record is when they are playing at home. The Auburn “family” will be sure to show up and show out. Both teams enter the game 3-1 this season. LSU’s only loss was a heartbreaker to Florida State in their first game.

Auburn’s only loss is a beatdown by Penn State at home. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] was asked how LSU has worked on dealing with the noise.

“Well, I think, first of all, you know, you have to duplicate that in practice and maybe over-emphasize it in practice, make it a little bit more difficult,”

“Which, I think, we made it pretty difficult in practice this week with with crowd noise. So I think you start there,” said Kelly, before going on to explain why he and the other coaches need to sort of simplify their communication to avoid any confusion amid all the chaos.

“And then I think, you know, you have a way to keep things simple and move quickly to limit some of the things that that can be part of bringing the crowd into the game. The more you’re over there checking and changing things, it brings the crowd into the game. So I think there’s some things that you can do technically. But look, I think you all know the the best way to keep a crowd quiet is to play really well on offense. So that’s what we hope to do.”

LSU will have to face the noise tomorrow night on the Plains as they take on Auburn at 6 p.m. CT.

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Five things to know about the Penn State Nittany Lions

Get to know Auburn’s next opponent, the Penn State Nittany Lions

After two games against overmatched opponents, Auburn will be looking to get revenge Saturday against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Both teams are 2-0 on the season but have gotten their quite differently. Penn State beat Purdue 35-31 on a last-minute touchdown to open their season and blew out Ohio 46-10 last week.

Auburn took care of Mercer 42-16 but narrowly beat San Jose State 24-16 last week. Auburn has put the disappointing win behind them and is now focused on the Nittany Lions and getting revenge from their 28-20 loss last season in Beaver Stadium.

Here are five things to know about Penn State ahead of the game, which is set to start at 2:30 p.m. CT in Jordan-Hare Stadium and will be on CBS.

Home field advantage could boost Auburn’s expected win total

The homefield advantage at Jordan-Hare Stadium could propel Auburn to more wins that most are expecting says Josh Pate of 247Sports.

The consensus when it comes to Auburn football heading into the 2022 season is that the Tigers will have low expectations.

After a disappointing ending to last season, and a failed coup to remove [autotag]Bryan Harsin[/autotag] from his job during the offseason, the national media has a hard time seeing Auburn overcoming so much adversity in such a short time.

Despite the constant negativity that seems to always find Auburn, there is one national College Football reporter that says past experience could give Auburn a few more wins that they are expected to get.

Josh Pate of 247Sports said during a recent episode of his podcast “The Late Kick” says that the environment at Jordan-Hare Stadium becomes more intimidating when the Tigers have something to prove.

“If you know Auburn football, you know how important home field (advantage) around there is,” Pate said. “If you have never experienced the home field advantage there when they got a lot to play for… I don’t know what to tell you. It is, to me, the most valuable home field in the country.”

The topic spawned from a conversation between Pate and several media members, including former Auburn lineman and current SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic at SEC Media Days last week in Atlanta. The conversation was about a betting odds company placing Auburn’s win over/under at six.

Playing home games at Jordan-Hare Stadium provides an immediate advantage for Auburn, who is set to play eight games in front of their home crowd in 2022.

“I have been to all of the big stadiums. I have been in the biggest environments. Jordan-Hare Stadium, when there is a lot on the line, is unmatched in college football,” Pate said. “I think that it is worth the most points in a point spread in true home field advantage of any major college football venue in the country.”

Auburn will open the season by playing five consecutive home games, beginning Sept. 3 against Mercer. Auburn will host SEC foes Missouri, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M, as well as nonconference games with San Jose State, Penn State, and Western Kentucky at home during the 2022 season.

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Jordan-Hare makes the cut in best stadium list

What do you think is the best stadium in college football?

Auburn’s Jordan-Hare stadium is one of the most renowned home-field advantages in college football, and it isn’t just the fans who think so.

A new list from On3 on Wednesday detailed the 11 best stadiums in college football, and it should come as no surprise that Jordan-Hare made the list (which was not put in any particular order). Here is what writer Ivan Maisel had to say about the home of the Auburn Tigers:

“One of the many cool things about Jordan-Hare Stadium is how little parking there is at the stadium. That means you have to walk through the Auburn campus to arrive. The campus is pretty and the Tiger fans pretty much tackle you to make you stop for a spell at their tailgate. Don’t linger – you need to be in your seat to watch the War Eagle soar around the stadium and land on his handler’s arm near midfield. Once kickoff arrives, you’ll see how a stadium can hold 85,000 fans and still be cozy. Jordan-Hare shoots straight up, which not only provides good sightlines but holds in the noise. And there’s a lot of noise. Auburn fans loves their Tigers.”

The SEC had quite the showing on the list with Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and Texas A&M. The four stadiums were the most by conference, with the PAC-12 in second (three) and the Big Ten in third (two). The Tigers will hope to play football worthy of its stadium and fans this year when it begins the season on Sept. 3 — and maybe steal a win at two of the stadiums on this list, Sanford Stadium and Bryant-Denny.

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