The Opening Drive: Auburn at No. 16 Missouri

AUBURN, Ala. – The bye week could not have come at a better time for Auburn. Not only was it a chance to heal up physically after playing six straight weeks to begin the 2024 campaign, but it also gave the Tigers a chance to reset mentally heading into the second half of the season.

At 2-4, it wasn’t the start anybody had envisioned for Auburn. But there are still six games remaining. There is still a chance to turn it around and make something of the season. 

“We’re super close,” senior edge Jalen McLeod said. “Every week we get closer. We’re just not there yet. But I feel like after that break we all came together like ‘OK, we’ve got to have some fun. We’ve got to have some juice to us.’ That’s what we’re missing – that fun and that juice and the excitement and the passion of the game."

“We were able to take a step back and just take a breath,” added defensive lineman Philip Blidi. “At the end of the day, this is the sport we’ve been playing since we were kids. No matter what level it’s at, it’s still the same principle. When we’re having fun and when guys are flying around, more positive things are happening.

“It takes a lot of stress off people too. At this level especially, everybody is so focused on winning and losing. I think something that’s really underrated is the fun piece of it. Because at the end of the day, it’s the sport that you love. And you can’t forget that. Sometimes when you lose focus, you get overwhelmed and you get stressed, and people are not focusing on what it’s really about. It’s about having fun and just competing.”

The bye week also gave Auburn an extra week to prepare for its next challenge, a road trip to No. 19/16 Missouri this Saturday. Auburn has won the last three in the series, including an overtime victory in 2022, but Missouri is 5-1 on the season and has won seven straight homes games dating back to last year. 

However, while it’s Missouri who has been racking up the wins over the last two years, Auburn knows all it takes is getting that one win signature win to get things rolling in the right direction. 

"Don’t let us get one." That’s been the motto around the locker room this week. 

“It’s huge,” McLeod said. “It’s great to build momentum off a win. You get that ball rolling. And how we won this time – we’re going to do that every time.”

Saturday’s game will kick off at 11 a.m. CT from Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri. The game will be televised on ESPN with Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek and Taylor McGregor on the call. You can also listen to Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and Will Herring who will have the radio call on 94.3 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the Auburn app. 

THREE QUESTIONS WITH LB EUGENE ASANTE

Q: How is the team feeling coming off the bye week?  

A: I think the main priority for our extra time was to try to take care of our bodies. We had a couple guys beat up, going through the grind of playing football and how gruesome the season truly gets. So, just trying to get our guys back healthy. Trying to get a leg up on Missouri in terms of preparation. We understood they had a game last week, played UMass, and we were able to evaluate our opponent – break down everything they were doing and how we can take advantage of things they do tactically to win a football game. Understanding that it’s going to take all of us. It’s really on us to go out there and play our game and play our style of football. I don’t think we have played a complete game yet. I think it’s on us to go out there and display that.

Q: It’s another Top 25 opponent on the road. Do you embrace that challenge?

A: Yeah. That’s really just playing in this conference. You go against so many elite guys, elite talent every week. That’s certainly something that enticed me when I was in the portal. I always said I feel like I’m one of the best, I want to go against elite competition, and at Auburn, you’re doing it every single week. Being able to go against Missouri who has dynamic players at the quarterback position, at the running back position, at the wide receiver position – it’s a great thing. We embrace it. We embrace the challenge. 

Q: When you talk about finishing the season the right way, how important is the leadership on this team and keeping some of these young guys locked in? 

A: I think it’s important to get this thing going for the young guys. I want them to experience something this year that I wasn’t able to experience in my years. We can still do that. It really comes from that momentum. I understand that the momentum we build in this latter part of the season can transcend into next year. I won’t be here to see that, but I’m a firm believer that the seed that we plant now – we’ll see it blossom in future years. And I will feel delighted in myself that I played a part in that. That’s my biggest goal for the rest of this season. Just trying to lay a foundation that builds Auburn football to go the right way, and I can come back one day eventually and say, ‘Man, we’re the team that sparked that.’ And ultimately get this thing back rolling the right way. 

INSIDE THE SERIES: MISSOURI

In the all-time series, Auburn leads Missouri by a 3-1 count and is 3-0 in games since Missouri joined the SEC. Missouri captured the first meeting, a 34-17 victory in the 1973 Sun Bowl in El Paso. In 2013, Auburn won the SEC Championship with a 59-42 victory over Missouri in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The two have played twice in the regular season since then. Auburn was a 51-14 winner in Columbia in 2017 and a 17-14 overtime winner at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2022. 

This will be the 130th time Auburn has played a team with the nickname Tigers. Auburn is 67-57-5 in the previous such matchups against Clemson, LSU, Memphis, Missouri, Pacific and Sewanee.

BY THE NUMBERS

15.79: Through the first six games, Auburn leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in yards per completion (15.79). Auburn ranks ninth in the country in yards per play (7.35). The Tigers also rank among the top 30 nationally with 9.6 yards per pass attempt (11th) and 5.28 yards per rush (29th). 

260: With four catches for 46 yards at Georgia, freshman wide receiver Malcolm Simmons moved up to 10th among Auburn’s all-time freshmen in receiving yardage with 260 yards on the season. Simmons also has two touchdown catches this season. 

25: Keldric Faulk added a pair of sacks on the road at Georgia. It was his second game this season with multiple sacks. He now has 5.0 sacks (fourth-most in the SEC) and 7.0 tackles for loss on the year, and his 25 quarterback pressures rank among the nation’s leaders per PFF. 

148: Auburn has scored in 148 consecutive games, dating back to the first game of the 2013 season. The program record is 149 straight games from 1980-1992. The last time the Tigers got shutout was the 2012 season finale against Alabama.