| Auburn's candidates for college football's greatest passing
combination: quarterback Pat Sullivan (7) and split end Terry Beasley (88).
Sullivan threw 53 touchdown passes and Beasley caught 30 in three varsity
seasons. Both were consensus All-Americans as seniors in 1971 when
the Tigers won their first nine games, then lost to Alabama 31-7 and in
the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma, 40-22. They are remembered on The Plain
as "Bama Beaters," winning three of four from The Tide. The Auburn
freshman team in 1968 fell behind Bama 27-0, but fought back to win, 36-27.
Two years later, with the varsity Tigers trailing Alabama, 7-17, Sullivan
reminded Beasley of the earlier rally. "Come on Bease," he said.
"We're going to beat 'em just like we did when we were freshmen."
And so Auburn did, 33-28. -- Photo: AU Photographic Services |
