New at al.com: A Test Of Fanhood

Here's a link to my latest contribution to the al.com Blogger Roundtable. I'm told there will be a "Part 2" posted later in the week. A preview:

Auburn Question: Auburn came away with the win over Clemson, but it was hardly a thing of beauty. What went wrong for Auburn early that went right later? What was it like as a fan to watch such a gut-wrenching game?

I wasn't surprised that Clemson came out with their hair on fire and playing well. Besides needing to make a big splash against an SEC team, Dabo Swinney is a Bama grad who wanted to put one on Auburn, and his staff clearly spent a great deal of the past several months studying and scheming for this game. Give them the credit--it worked. Clemson was supremely well-prepared, and took it to Auburn with a vengeance. After their first score, I figured, "Okay, they're ready. Now we get to answer."

Four Auburn three-and-outs and 17 Clemson points later, I was, um, somewhat less sanguine. Not only was nothing working on offense, Auburn was getting physically pushed around on both sides of the ball. Not good. An old friend in the stands asked me just before halftime ended if the game was already over. "We don't score on the first possession, probably," I told him.