Different circumstances surrounded the 2003 Iron Bowl. Neither team had any hopes of reaching the SEC title match. Both teams brought a combined twelve losses into the game. Even with a win, Alabama would have a losing record on the season. But that didn’t matter. The Tide would not let go easily and even with all the Tiger fireworks, kept the game close.
The Tigers entered 2003 full of expectations. Featured on the front cover of magazines, some had picked Auburn to win it all. However under a new offensive coordinator the Tigers struggled early and often and never really found the consistency that many had predicted. Just one week prior it was discovered that school officials had taken a secret trip to Louisville to court a new head coach. Would this be Tommy Tuberville’s last game at Auburn?
The emotions of the year, speculation of an impending head coaching change, and that November day’s opponent fueled the Tiger machine. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. He sat out the previous two Iron Bowl games because of injury. Bama may have heard of him and some of the players may have played against him in high school. None were prepared for the explosion of performance they would encounter November 22, 2003.
The first play from scrimmage would tell the tale. Cadillac took the ball and ran 80 yards for his first touchdown on the day. Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett would say over the air during this game, “go crazy cadillac” and this game has become known for just that. It also became known that Cadillac favored “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. It was fitting then that Cadillac ran all over the Tide for 204 total yards of rushing.
For the full recap, check out the summary from ESPN.
Next up: 2004, a Perfect Season.
