Is Auburn man enough to do Pat Dye things on Pat Dye Field again?

Warning: This is going to be a mouthful. It's going to be hard to wrap your mind around it. It's a stat the sunshine pumpers will say is a lie straight out of AI although, if you do the math, it is absolutely, positively true.

It's a stat that's more than a stat, a number that speaks volumes. It's a commentary on what Auburn football used to be and no longer is, what it needs to be starting Saturday if this program is going to return anytime soon to what Hugh Freeze and history agree is its rightful place as a big dot on the national landscape.

The timing is perfect with ACC newbie Cal crossing the country to get a taste of Toomer's lemonade and maybe, if the Bears are unlucky, a glimpse at Auburn Jesus. So here goes. Read it and think.

Pat Dye won more non-conference games against major independents and teams from power conferences in his 12 years as the Auburn head coach than Terry Bowden, Bill Oliver, Tommy Tuberville, Gene Chizik, Gus Malzahn, Bryan Harsin, Carnell Williams and Hugh Freeze have combined to win in their 31 seasons and one game on the Plains.

Dye went 27-10-1 in these games overall. His successors have gone 22-24.

Dye was 21-8 in these games during the regular season. His successors are 12-14.

Dye was 6-2-1 in these games in the postseason. His successors: 10-10.

Those numbers, another example of the serious disparity between Dye's tenure and the post-Dye era, are a not insignificant part of the reason that his name is on the field in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Call them big-boy games. ...

Read the entire column in the Birmingham Lede.

Auburn excelled in big-boy games against non-conference opponents during Pat Dye's 12-year tenure.