AUBURN, Ala. – For Auburn, the motive this week is simple. Finish.
In what has been a unique season, it's only fitting the Tigers close out the 10-game SEC schedule at Mississippi State on Saturday in a game that was supposed to be played a month ago. It has not been the season anyone expected nor hoped for, but Saturday's finale represents an opportunity to finish it the right way.
"This is a year of adversity," senior Jordyn Peters said. "We've been through so much adversity and for us to go out with a win, that would speak a lot for our character and our fight as a team. To show that we're going to stay together and fight until the end."
Peters is one of 16 seniors on the team. It's a group that has seen its share of adversity through the years, but they have stayed the course and true to the Auburn creed, they have never stopped working hard.
Senior wide receiver Eli Stove missed the entire 2018 season recovering from a torn ACL. He wasn't even supposed to be part of this senior class, but he's embraced his circumstances and looks forward to the chance to finish with this group.
"I've grown up as a man," Stove said. "I think if I would've left early or went to another school, I wouldn't have been happy. I wouldn't have learned anything. Auburn has been real good to me and my family. Hopefully if I get the chance to get drafted, I will pay my dues and help Auburn in the long run.
"We just want to finish our year out on a win. We want to win for us (seniors)."
Senior linebacker K.J. Britt would love nothing more than to help Auburn win Saturday, but he will be relegated to the sideline where he's been since early October because of a wrist injury. It will be the eighth game he's missed this season, and yet he's continued to serve as the captain and leader of this team, supporting his brothers every step of the way.
"It means a lot," sophomore linebacker Owen Pappoe said. "He gives me and Zakoby (McClain) advice all the time, things we can do with our game, tips and tricks, even just little tweaks to help us understand the defense better. It's definitely good for morale. He keeps not only the linebackers, but everybody pumped on defense."
With this being his senior year, Britt could have moved on, focused on his recovery and began preparing for the NFL draft. He stuck around, though. Why?
"Just my love for my teammates and my love for Auburn," he said.
"I feel like our class embodies what Auburn is built upon," Peters said. "Just hard work and going through adversity. Throughout life, going through adversity through these years we've been here, these guys that have stayed here – I feel like we've shown that if you stay the course, stay strong and stay focused, through hard work anything is possible."
Since 2017, the first year on campus for most of these seniors, Auburn has won a total of 32 games. The Tigers are 22-4 in Jordan-Hare Stadium during that span, and they have beaten nine ranked teams, including wins against Alabama in 2017 and 2019.
With a win Saturday, Auburn would finish the 2020 regular season at 6-4. The difference between 6-4 and 5-5 might not seem like much, especially given everything that's happened this year, but it would mean everything to Peters, Stove, Britt, Big Kat Bryant, Tyrone Truesdell, Daquan Newkirk, T.D. Moultry – to all 16 seniors on the team possibly playing their last game.
So the message this week as the Tigers prepare for Mississippi State? It's simple.
"Just keep fighting," Bryant said. "Don't clock out. Play for the seniors, play for the guys who have been 3-4 years and who have put their heart, sweat and tears into trying to set themselves up for the next level. I did the same thing for the guys before me. Continue to play for your brother, to play for the seniors. They chose to come here, the guys you picked to be your leader. Continue to fight for your brother."
