Oct. 30, 2017
By Greg Ostendorf
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. -- How did Auburn players spend their bye week? Some went home. Others stayed on campus. But almost all of them took advantage of the opportunity to simply relax and take a much-needed weekend away from football. The only football-related activities consisted of lounging around and watching games Saturday.
As a result, the players were refreshed, re-energized and ready to get back to work when they returned to practice Sunday.
"Everybody looked pretty fresh," wide receiver Ryan Davis said. "Everybody got that Day 1 energy back like we had in fall camp. Everybody was excited to get back out there."
"Everybody was ready to get back, ready get back to work," added linebacker Tre' Williams. "We got four more big games to play. They understand that. We've got to take care of Texas A&M, so we came back with that mindset of `We have to do our job today, and it's going to help us on Saturday.'"
Auburn travels to Texas A&M on Saturday (11 p.m. CT, ESPN), and recent history bodes well for the Tigers. Not only have they won their last two games at Kyle Field, but they are also 6-0 in games following a bye week under Gus Malzahn with all six wins coming against Power Five opponents. Last year, they beat Arkansas, 56-3, coming off a bye week.
But Texas A&M is only the beginning. Auburn is embarking on a four-game stretch that includes a trip to Texas A&M and home games against No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia.
"We've got some big games coming up," offensive lineman Braden Smith said. "It's hard not to get excited for those, so people are definitely pumped up."
From a fan's perspective, it's easy to look ahead to the Alabama and Georgia games and what they could mean for this season. It's not every year you have the opportunity to host the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country in the same season, let alone the same month.
But the players know better than to look ahead. For them, the biggest game is the next game.
"This four-game stretch, it's going to be a tough stretch," Davis said. "But Coach [Gus] Malzahn always says to win the next four, you have to win the first one. So right now, we're just focusing on Texas A&M, taking it game by game and letting everything play out for itself."
The bye week also helped Auburn heal up a little heading into Saturday's game. Tray Matthews and Javaris Davis were both back at practice Sunday, and the offensive line -- which has been in a constant state of flux this season -- might be close to having everybody back soon.
The Tigers are getting healthy just in time for the stretch run.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @greg_ostendorf