Bowden: Undefeated season is special

FLORENCE - A little more than 16 years ago ,Terry Bowden was preparing for the most important game of his life.

A first-year coach at Auburn, Bowden was preparing his team to face arch-rival and defending national champion Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl game. He needed a win in that game to complete an unbeaten season in his first year as head coach of the Tigers.

Auburn rallied for a 22-14 victory over Alabama on Nov. 20, 1993, giving Bowden the undefeated season.

Bowden now faces a similar situation, although on a smaller scale. He is just one win away from guiding North Alabama to an 11-0 regular season in his first season as coach of the Lions.

UNA (10-0, 7-0 GSC) can give Bowden his second unbeaten regular season with a victory over West Alabama (6-5, 4-3) on Saturday night at Braly Stadium. Ironically, while Bowden was leading Auburn to an undefeated season in 1993, UNA was also en route to its first undefeated season and a Division II national championship under West Alabama coach Bobby Wallace.

Bowden admits there are some similarities in the two seasons, but said there are also some big differences.

"That was a different situation altogether because there were no playoffs," Bowden said. "We were on probation, so when we got to 11 that was it. Going 11-0 in the regular season was the best we could do.

"That was also Alabama. They were the defending national champion and had lost only one game. It was a different type of pressure. The pressure here is a hot team in our conference that has all the ability in the world to knock us off. We have to go out there and play our best football this week."

For Bowden, the best thing about an undefeated season is what it means to the players. He said the players often do not realize how special it is until years later.

"A lot of the players are too young to understand how much it can become a little bit of who you are," he said. "I know how it has shaped the lives of many players. You can go to those players from 1993 and ask who are you and you'll hear, 'I was the fullback on the undefeated team in 1993.' An undefeated team is one that will always stand out."

Bowden has tried to stress how special an undefeated season is to his players this week. Although most of the Lions were too young to remember that 1993 season, a few are familiar with it.

"I grew up an Auburn fan, so I remember bits and pieces of that season," guard Luke Chenault said. "I remember coach Bowden leading them to the perfect record. It's funny, because I never expected to play for him. We want to make sure we win this one to give him another undefeated season."

The Lions have already won the Gulf South Conference championship and likely assured themselves of the No. 1 seed for the players in Super Regional II. Still, Bowden said he wants his players to understand how special an undefeated regular season will be to them.

"I remember what it meant to us back in 1993, so I guess that's why I'm so focused on helping our players understand how significant that can be to them," Bowden said. "I told our coaches that we are creating memories for our players that will be with them the rest of their lives.

"This season has provided a lot of great memories so far, and has many more to offer."

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@TimesDaily.com.