Auburn football notebook: 'Felt like a home game'

Auburn football notebook: 'Felt like a home game'Auburn football notebook: 'Felt like a home game'
Austin Perryman/Auburn Tigers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A casual viewer watching Saturday's SEC Network broadcast would have logically concluded that the home team's primary color was orange.

How else to account for the vast sea of orange on the east side of FirstBank Stadium during Auburn's 31-15 victory over Vanderbilt?

Auburn fans comprised the majority of the 28,500 attendees, bringing a noticeable flavor of Jordan-Hare Stadium to the Music City.

"We have the best fans," said freshman center Connor Lew. "I don't think anybody can doubt that them being here definitely helped us in a lot of aspects of the game." 
 'That made us happy': Auburn players appreciated the strong show of support in Nashville
"It felt like a home game," said Zykeivous Walker, whose career-high five tackles included a sack and two tackles for loss. "The Auburn family, they show up every week, they show out. We're so thankful for the Auburn family. We're going to continue to do our best to make them proud."

"I heard we were going to have a lot of fans here but I didn't think it was going to be like that," safety Jaylin Simpson said. "It was orange on both sides. Our side was filled up and there was orange on their side. That was crazy. Our fans are great. Our fans showed out and that definitely played a big part. That made us happy."
 

Pritchett's pick
When Nehemiah Pritchett ended Vanderbilt's last possession with an interception, he extended Auburn's streak of forcing a turnover to 18 consecutive games, tying the longest takeaway streak since 2007-8.

"We have an incredible back end," said Simpson, whose defense held Vanderbilt to one offensive touchdown and 266 yards, 79 of which came on the Commodores' second-to-last possession which ended with Auburn's fourth-down stop. "We feel like we're the best in the SEC.

Pritchett's pick was Auburn's 11th of the season, tied for the SEC lead, and a league-best 15th forced turnover. 

"We've got one more," Simpson said. Keionte (Scott) has to get a pick, then that's the whole starting backfield."

Up next
The Tigers will try to win a third straight SEC game and earn back-to-back road victories this Saturday at Arkansas at 3 p.m. CT. The Razorbacks earned their first SEC victory Saturday, winning 39-36 at Florida.

"They're a great team, they've got a great running back," said linebacker Eugene Asante, who made five tackles including a sack against Vanderbilt. "We understand what K.J. Jefferson is in terms of his ability running and passing. He's a great football player, super strong, resilient and tough. We're looking forward to the challenge of going to Arkansas."
 


 


 
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer