Orange Is Our Color: The Tuberville Years Through Navy-tinted Glasses - Tapa blanda

Orange Is Our Color is the story of Auburn Football in the Tuberville era. The Tuberville decade’s impact on the Auburn Family is still active and visible today. Tuberville’s teams won 85 games, including an incredible run of 50 wins over five seasons, with one perfect season and an SEC championship. The Tuberville decade is also a time when the Auburn Family came together to demonstrate the remarkable unity of the Auburn Spirit. Orange Is Our Color celebrates both Auburn’s success on the field, and the experience of being an Auburn fan, with stories of tailgating triumphs, road-game misadventures and near ejections from Jordan-Hare Stadium. From Jetgate, to “Fear the Thumb,” the Tuberville decade is a part of the Auburn Family’s identity. The meaningfulness of these events is why the Tuberville era still matters. The lasting impact of the trials and the triumphs is why, even today, Orange Is Our Color.

Josh Dowdy is an Auburn graduate and life long fan. He grew up in the 1980s, learning what it means to be an Auburn man from his Dad—also an Auburn graduate—and learning the meaning of Auburn football from Pat Dye. He was a member of the Auburn University Marching Band his freshman year; tried out for the cheer leading squad as a junior; and somewhere in between attempted to drive a Toyota Camry to the East upper deck of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Dowdy first met Tommy Tuberville at the 1998 Auburn Christmas parade. A decade passed before the two would meet again, at Byron’s Smokehouse on the eve of Tuberville’s final A-Day. A lot happened in those ten years—both on the field and off. Since graduating from Auburn Dowdy has worked in various industries. In 2012 he earned an M.A. in Religion from Baylor University. He currently lives in Birmingham.