Watson Brown again takes big underdog into Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. - Watson Brown knows he's taking a team into Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium that is given little chance at pulling off an upset Saturday.

Then again, the Tennessee Tech coach has been in this position before.

In 1996, Brown's UAB Blazers played their first game as a Division I-A team at Auburn, an important showcase for an upstart program that had begun play five years earlier.

The Blazers trailed only 9-0 entering the fourth quarter before falling 29-0.

``It was a great night for us,'' Brown recalled this week. ``It gave some credibility to us quickly at UAB.''

Two weeks later, they got their first I-A win in a 42-17 rout of Arkansas State. But 80,000 fans didn't watch that one in a state where the Southeastern Conference is king.

``We got a lot more credit out of playing Auburn a good game than we did winning your first Division I game so handily,'' Brown said. ``That was neat. I thought it really let the UAB program take a little quicker step because when you line up and play a close game with Auburn or Alabama or any team in the Southeastern Conference, it really gave credibility to our program at a very, very young time.''

It remains the only meeting between UAB and Auburn.

Brown left UAB after last season, returning to his hometown of Cookeville, Tenn., to try to rebuild Tennessee Tech's program.

If the Blazers got credibility for that game, the Golden Eagles (4-5) might have to settle for a big check from Auburn (6-3). They're receiving $375,000 for this game, money that Brown said will provide a big boost for the athletic program at the Bowl Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) school.

The situations at the programs are quite different, Brown said.

``You take a program that you start from scratch and this one has got unbelievable tradition. Back in the '50s, '60s and '70s was really good here,'' he said. ``It has just not been very good in a long while.''

Brown is realistic about his team's chances going into this game. Tennessee Tech is 0-18 against I-A (now called Football Bowl Subdivision) teams, losing by an average of nearly 32 points. Brown's first Golden Eagles team has had to start four quarterbacks because of injuries, though regular starter Lee Sweeney is now back.

He doesn't expect any repeat of Appalachian State's upset of Michigan this season.

``We're not Appalachian State,'' Brown said. ``We're struggling in our own league. It's been hard for us. We've got a long way to go.''

He still wants his players to savor the chance to play in front of 80,000 or so fans. The biggest crowd an Ohio Valley Conference team has played in front of was believed to be 66,512 when Eastern Kentucky played at Kentucky earlier this season, according to the league.

``I just want them to go play their best and be proud to be who they are and enjoy their moment,'' Brown said. ``A lot of these kids never get this opportunity and this will be their only chance to play in a place like this. Enjoy it, and don't turn it into (a situation) where you lose your poise and do all that.''

While Terry Bowden was Auburn's coach for that '96 game, current Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said he has known Brown since the early '80s when Tuberville was an assistant at Arkansas State.

They ran into each other fairly often at various functions during Brown's UAB days. Tuberville said he has seen film of the Golden Eagles from last season and believes they have already made strides under Brown.

``When you leave one school to go to another, especially from I-A to I-AA, you've got to respect a guy that goes home to where he's from,'' he said. ``He's trying to help that program out. They're much improved.''