Five years later: Historic 2018 Music City Bowl ‘a really good day’ for AuburnFive years later: Historic 2018 Music City Bowl ‘a really good day’ for Auburn

Five years later: Historic 2018 Music City Bowl ‘a really good day’ for Auburn

by Greg Ostendorf

AUBURN, Ala. – It was the opening drive of the game. Not even a minute had run off the clock. Facing third-and-1 from its own 34-yard line, quarterback Jarrett Stidham took the snap, faked like he was going to run and then threw it to a wide open JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow down the left sideline. Whitlow made one cut inside, and he was gone. Sixty-six yards to the house on the game's third play.

“It was third-and-1, and I remember practicing that play,” Stidham recalled. “Gus (Malzahn) was saying, ‘Look, we’re going to have this look. It’s going to be the perfect look for this play.’ And sure enough, we got exactly what we wanted. I threw it to Boobee down the left sideline for 60 or whatever it was.

“From that point, I was like, ‘This is going to be a really good day.’ Even though it was early in the game, it was kind of like the floodgates opened.”

The floodgates did open that day for Auburn in the 2018 Music City Bowl. The Tigers scored a touchdown on each of their first seven drives and added a defensive touchdown to take a 56-7 lead at the half against Purdue. It remains the most points any team has ever scored in one half of a bowl game.

“You just never know in the bowl games,” Stidham said. “We played Purdue. I don’t think I had ever played a Big Ten team. You just never know how that’s really going to go. I just remember everything that we wanted to do that day was working.”

Auburn tacked on another touchdown in the second half and set the SEC record for most points scored in a bowl game at the time with 63, prevailing 63-14 over the Boilermakers.

 
122818_fb_wr_6728JaTarvious Whitlow Music City Bowl - Purdue vs Auburn on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 in Nashville, TN.

The stats from the game were ridiculous. Stidham nearly had as many touchdowns as incompletions as he finished 15 of 21 for 373 yards and five touchdowns. Darius Slayton caught three passes for 160 yards, and all three went for touchdowns. The Tigers racked up 586 total yards of offense and averaged 7.8 yards per play.

The defense did its part, too. They forced a pair of turnovers, including a pick-6 from Big Kat Bryant, and had three sacks. But it can be hard to keep going out and playing with that same intensity when you’re ahead 42-7 and it's still the beginning of the second quarter.

“You keep doing the same thing you’re doing, but it does get to a point where you’re waiting on an opportunity to go make a play," safety Daniel Thomas said. “Sometimes it can get boring. The defensive line had a good day. I think we had two interceptions. The offense was scoring so fast, and we were going three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out. It was kind of a boring day.”

Thomas finished with two tackles and a tackle for loss.

You just never know in the bowl games. I just remember everything that we wanted to do that day was working.

Jarrett StidhamQuarterback

While the stats and the records were great, that’s not what Thomas and Stidham remember when they think back on that game. It was the camaraderie and the brotherhood and the chance to play one last time as a team together.

“I would say the biggest thing is we just had fun,” Thomas said. “We played carefree, and we just played for each other. We knew that was the last time a lot of us would be together, so we went out there and just enjoyed the moment.”

“I knew that was going to be my last hurrah with the guys, so I made an effort to really be intentional and have fun on that trip,” added Stidham. “Because I knew after that week, I was going to go on vacation and then I started training for the draft right after that. I just made sure to take all that in – that one last time with all the guys.”

 
122818_fb_wr_6749Jarrett Stidham Music City Bowl - Purdue vs Auburn on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 in Nashville, TN.

Stidham, who is slated to start at quarterback for the Denver Broncos this Sunday, was drafted four months later. But he left Auburn on top. He finished his career on a high note.  

“For me, I thought it was good for the group of us that were seniors and leaving,” he said. “We had a great year the year before. We had a down year, but at least we ended it the right way. We had a ton of fun doing it. That’s a bowl game win that we’ll always have under our belts.

“And then obviously it kind of helps with the following year and those guys that are back on the team having confidence that they ended the year the right way.”

That is precisely what this year’s Auburn team is hoping to accomplish with a win Saturday in the Music City Bowl. Confidence going into the 2024 season.

Offensive lineman Kam Stutts is the only current Auburn player who got to experience that historic win over Purdue in the 2018 Music City Bowl. He was just a freshman then. Now he’s a senior captain about to play his final game in the same place where it started.

“It was a really great time,” Stutts said of the 2018 game. “Growing up playing pee-wee ball, whenever you won the championship, we got to go to the Music City Bowl. So, I’ve probably been to the Music City Bowl 10 or 12 times in my lifetime. Getting to go my freshman year in college was a really fun experience, and obviously we played really well that game and handled business. 

"I’m looking forward to doing that again this year and completing the wrap-around journey.”

122818_fb_wr_6741Smoke Monday Music City Bowl - Purdue vs Auburn on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018 in Nashville, TN.