AUBURN, Ala. – Reeling but resilient, Auburn's upperclassmen vowed to use Saturday's 22-21 last-second defeat as motivation.
"Anytime you have a tough loss like that, I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say anger is the first emotion you feel," said Darius Slayton, who caught his seventh career touchdown pass against LSU. "I think that will fuel us going through the rest of the season. People will see an angry Auburn team.
"We don't want to feel this feeling again. I know my teammates and I are going to play hard the rest of the year."
Similar to last season, when a loss at LSU spurred Auburn's run to the SEC West title, the Tigers intend to rally.
"We can play with anybody," said Chandler Cox, who added three receptions against LSU, giving him seven this season, second only to Ryan Davis (13). "We're a very good team. We're still trying to jell as an offense, as a defense, but it's starting to come together more and more.
"There's a lot of positive that went into that game, and also a lot of negative. We've got to turn the negative into positive. We'll learn from it. It's kind of like life. You get knocked down, you've got to keep going. Tomorrow, we're going to flush it and move on to Arkansas."
Whitlow Back to Back
For the second consecutive game, redshirt freshman running back JaTarvious Whitlow rushed for more than 100 yards.
Whitlow gained 104 of Auburn's 130 rushing yards, averaging 4.7 yards on 22 carries, including a 7-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Against Alabama State, Whitlow ran for 122 on 14 carries.
"Obviously, it was starting to click today, but it's got to be consistent," Cox said. "We have to give it 110 percent on each play. That starts with me. We all have to do better."
Fellow freshman running backs Shaun Shivers and Asa Martin also contributed. Shivers gave Auburn a 14-10 lead with a 7-yard touchdown run, his second of the season. Martin picked up 33 yards on his first career reception.
Arkansas on Deck
Auburn plays another SEC West home game when Arkansas visits Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
"I told them, hold their head high," quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. "There's a lot obviously that we did wrong, but there's a lot that we can still come out of this, look at things from a positive perspective. Just keep your head up. We're going to be fine, I don't have any doubt about that."
Auburn coach Malzahn echoed Stidham's sentiment.
"This team is going to rebound," Malzahn said. "I'm confident of that."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer