RIP Pat "Tie" Dye

[The Frankish Reich]

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29252096/former-auburn-football-coach-pat-dye-dies-80

 

Amazingly, the leading sports/news sites fail to mention the Auburn coach's most memorable decision -- Sugar Bowl 1988, trailing unbeaten Syracuse 16-13, one second on the clock, on the Syracuse 13 yard line, and ... Pat Dye sends in the field goal unit.

 

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2017/01/how_auburn_got_the_last_laugh.html

 

The kid made the kick. Pat Dye jumped up in celebration. I was watching on TV saying, "oh no, you're not really gonna do that, it must be a fake, but how is a fake gonna work when everyone knows you don't play for a tie in a bowl game" only to see that yes, he really was gonna do that.

And there'was nothing on the line for Auburn -- no chance of a piece of the theoretical national championship since they already had a loss and (you guessed it) a tie on their record. Syracuse, meanwhile, could have cemented a perfect season with a win. So it was wussy, it was petty, it seemed aimed at screwing over the Syracuse kids more than at making the Auburn kids proud.

 

And the key line to the official obits: Pat Dye managed to hold arch rival Alabama to a (you guessed it) career head-to-head record of 6-6 during his tenure. A tie.

[Mark Vader]

RIP, Sir.