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<TITLE>Today in Jordan-Hare</TITLE>
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<H1 ALIGN=CENTER><FONT COLOR="#000040">Today In Jordan-Hare</H1></FONT>
<H2 ALIGN=CENTER><FONT COLOR="#FF8000"><I>Auburn vs. Georgia</I></FONT></H2>
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>by Meredith Jenkins</H3>
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<IMG SRC="../../graphics/athletes/football/bray01.jpg" WIDTH=204 HEIGHT=368 ALT="Jayson Bray" BORDER=1 ALIGN=LEFT HSPACE=5>
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<FONT SIZE=2><B>Senior Jayson Bray is one of 16 players that will play their final game at Jordan-Hare Stadium tonight.
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<P><FONT SIZE=7><B>p</B></FONT>eople must have gathered just to see what all the talk was about. They arrived by horse-drawn carriage, and train to Atlanta's Piedmont Park to watch the newest sports craze- football. They sat side-by-side in the grandstands, dressed in wool and other heavy garments to keep away the February chill. As the boys from the A&amp;M College of Alabama, donned in their grayish-white uniforms, ran out to the field, they hollered and cheered Rah-rah-ree, Rah-rah-ree, Ala-bam-a AMC.
<P>On Feb. 20, 1892, Auburn played Georgia for the first time and came away with a 10-0 victory. The game was tied until Auburn recovered a fumbled punt just two feet away from the endzone. For three straight plays, the Georgia defense had denied Auburn's flying V wedge. It was fourth down and Auburn halfback Dutch Dorsey received the call. Met at the line by Georgia's defense, Dorsey was pushed back but his teammates picked him up and shoved him across the goal line for the first touchdown in the series.
<P>From such innocent beginnings, the oldest football rivalry in the Deep South was born. Today's game is the 102nd meeting by the two teams. The Auburn-Georgia rivalry ranks as the eighth-most played series in the country and it is the lone Southern series and one of just 11 in the nation to have reached the century mark in games played.
<P>The only thing that has stopped the two teams from playing football was war. There wasn't a game in 1943 because Auburn didn't field a team due to World War II. The two teams did not play in 1917 and 1918 because of WWI. With those exceptions, Auburn and Georgia have played continuously since 1898.
<P>Once again, tonight's game is expected to be a sellout which will produce a gate of more than $1 million. The growth of football and the series is best illustrated by a story told by Ralph "Shug" Jordan who was an assistant at Georgia before becoming Auburn's winningest head coach. He often recounted how gate receipts from early Auburn-Georgia games were divided. It involved Auburn's Cliff Hare and Georgia's Charles Herty, their friendship and the relationship between the two schools.
<P>"They would come to Dean Hare's house on Gay Street in Auburn after the game in Columbus to divide the money," Jordan said. "They would take the gate receipts out of an old cigar box, spread it on the kitchen table and say, 'a dollar for you and a dollar for us' until the game proceeds were divided equally between the two schools."
<P>Today, it takes a team of accountants in Auburn, Athens and the SEC office in Birmingham weeks to do what two gentlemen, Hare and Herty, used to do in a matter of minutes.
<P>Growth causes these kind of changes. The 2,000 people that attended the first Auburn-Georgia game wouldn't even fill one section of Jordan-Hare Stadium.
<P>There isn't much about the original game that hasn't been lost in the passing of time. Today's players are decked out in full pads made out of materials that didn't exist in 1892. And back then, players sported hats rather than today's high-tech helmets. The game itself has also changed with the forward pass becoming an integral part of offenses while the flying V wedge has gone the way of the eight-track tape. And the players are also different. In 1892, the average size of a player was 5'10" and 161 pounds which is smaller than every single player on Auburn's two-deep depth chart. The Tigers' average offensive starter checks in at 6'2" and 251 pounds which could easily steam roll over an 1892 defense.
<P>But as it did back in 1892, the Auburn-Georgia rivalry still invokes the same kind of emotion and spirit spurred on by nip and tuck, closely contested games. Through the years, Georgia has remained one of the toughest opponents on Auburn's schedule. Although the Tigers lead the series, 48-45-8, only a mere 11 points separates the two schools in their 101 games. And in the last five seasons, neither team has been able to win two straight games against the other.
<P>The Auburn-Georgia rivalry has all the elements of great series. It has been built on a solid foundation of great games, great players, legendary coaches and enough history to fill a couple of text books. Tonight's game promises to add yet another chapter to the lengthy annuals of the rivalry.
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<FONT SIZE=2><B>Senior Karsten Bailey has been involved in some great moments during his career including scoring the game-winning touchdown against Central Florida last week.
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<P><B>Thanks Seniors</B>
<P>Today, 16 seniors will walk onto the hallowed field of Jordan-Hare Stadium for the last time as Auburn football players. During their time on the Plains, the group has won two bowl games and an SEC Western Division Championship. The seniors are: Wide Receiver Karsten Bailey (Newnan, Ga.), Tight End Brad Bourne (Columbia, Miss.), Cornerback Jayson Bray (LaGrange, Ga.), Wide Receiver Dustin Byrd (Enterprise, Ala.), Kicker Andrew Chambers (Media, PA), Offensive Guard DeMarcus Curry (Columbus, Ga.), Nose Tackle Charles Dorsey (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Center Karl Lavine (Ft. Walton, Fla.), Wide Receiver Errick Lowe (Lake Worth, Fla.), Offensive Guard Kendell Mack (Pineville, S.C.), Defensive Back David McGill (Wadley, Ala.), Snapper Alex McRee (Birmingham, Ala.), Outside Linebacker Ryan Taylor (Dublin, Ga.), Snapper Brent Turner (Titus, Ala.), Defensive Lineman Anthony VanDeusen (Licking, Mo.) and Punter Jeremy Zills (Hatton, Ala.).
<P>The players have been involved in some great moments that have created lasting memories for many Auburn fans.
<P>Remember Karsten Bailey hauling in two long touchdown passes against Virginia last season? Or Ryan Taylor in that same game intercepting a pass and returning it 25 yards for a score?
<P>How about Charles Dorsey, who had only played in three games as a redshirt freshman, coming off the bench to make eight total tackles, including six solo, two tackles for loss and a sack against Alabama in 1995?
<P>Think about Karl Lavine coming back from shoulder surgery last season to play a fifth year for the Tigers. He helped lead Auburn to a 17-0 victory over Ole Miss this season despite his shoulder being wrapped and not at full strength. Or what about offensive linemen Kendell Mack and DeMarcus Curry who have spent the last four seasons giving Auburn's quarterbacks time to complete that long touchdown pass?
<P>The hours and hours of practice and watching film in the last four or five years all culminate today in their last home game. The last time they walk out of Sewell Hall and participate in a Tiger Walk at Auburn -- The last time they sprint onto the field in front of over 85,000 of their fans -- The last time they look up into the stands of Jordan-Hare Stadium to view a sea of orange and blue shaking pom poms -- The last time as players that they hear the War Eagle cheer at kickoff.
<P>Tonight Auburn celebrates not only a great rivalry with Georgia but also the careers of some great football players and some even better young men. Thanks for the memories, seniors.
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