The Opening Drive: Auburn vs. Vanderbilt

AUBURN, Ala. – In the locker room at halftime at Kentucky, Hugh Freeze told his team that it was time for them to experience what it’s like to find a way to win. The Tigers had been in just about every game this season. They just kept coming up short. That was going to change on Saturday night. 

The team took the message to heart. They came out in the second half and played with joy and passion and made sure they were not going to lose. Auburn outscored Kentucky 14-0 in the second half and left with a 24-10 victory. 

“I think it was really big for our young guys to be able to feel what an SEC road win feels like,” senior Luke Deal said. “It’s tough to do. It really is. When you’re a young player having the season that we’re having, the worry is that you haven’t experienced much of that yet and you’re not going to handle it the right way. 

“That’s what us old guys are trying to do. We’re just trying to weather the storm. And finally, we caught a little break and played the way we were supposed to play, executed the way we were supposed to execute, and it led to a win. It was really good to see.”

It was easy to see how much that win meant in the postgame celebration in the locker room, and that joy has carried over into this week as the Tigers prepare for another SEC battle with Vanderbilt.

The players moved on just like they would any other game, win or loss, but there’s a new sense of confidence and momentum around the building this week that might not have been there before. They experienced that feeling of winning, and now they’re eager to do it again this Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium. 

“When you go through struggles, you know you’re going through growing pains, you know you’re going through the valley, and you’re just trying to remember that feeling of how it is to win,” fellow senior Eugene Asante said. “We got that feeling back. I know it brought joy to a lot of people. It brought joy to Coach Freeze, the staff, the administration. I think we’ve gained the momentum and confidence we need.”

“We’ve always believed that we have the talent, the guys, the heart, the passion,” added Deal. “All these things you talk about didn’t translate into wins. Finally, it did, and I think that’s going to give us a lot of momentum.”

This week’s game will mark the first time Auburn has played at home since September. It will be another sold-out crowd for the Tigers and Commodores who will kickoff at 11:45 a.m. CT on Saturday. 

The game will be televised on SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb and Ashley Stroehlein 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 KEYRON CRAWFORD

Q: What’s the mood been around the team this week following a win? 

A: It’s been all happiness and joy, but we also know the season is not over. We have to keep moving forward now. We’re not going to get a big head. We’re just going to move on to our next opponent. We celebrated that win. Now we’ve got to go try to get another one. 

Q: How excited are you to be back in Jordan-Hare this week? It’s been over a month. 

A: There’s no crowd like a Jordan-Hare crowd. We have a remarkable fan base. The beginning of the year was crazy. Just coming here, my first year at Auburn, and seeing the lights, the fans – it was amazing. I know the atmosphere is going to be 10x louder this week because we just came off a win. I know they’re going to bring it. 

Q: You didn’t start playing football until your senior year in high school. How did that come about and how did you end up at Auburn?  

A: It’s pretty crazy because my first time being introduced to the game of football was at Briarcrest (Christian School). I was introduced to my former high school football coach Brian Stewart, and he told me I was going to be a Division I football player. I looked to my mom, and she basically told me to give it a try. I was like, ‘I’m all in.’ From that point on, it’s been all glory to God. Before that, I was playing basketball for almost my whole life. 

INSIDE THE SERIES: VANDERBILT

In the all-time series with Vanderbilt, Auburn holds a slim 22-21-1 advantage. The two teams first met in 1893, a 30-10 Auburn victory at Montgomery. Auburn leads 9-0 in all games played in Auburn, while Vanderbilt leads 12-8 in all games played in Nashville. Other games in the series have been contested in Montgomery (Vanderbilt leads 4-1); Birmingham (tied 4-4-1); and in Jacksonville, Florida, where Vanderbilt was a 25-13 winner in the 1955 Gator Bowl.

The teams’ last matchup was last November 4 at Vanderbilt, where Auburn posted a 31-15 win. Jarquez Hunter rushed for a then-career high 183 yards with two scores, and Payton Thorne tossed TD passes to Rivaldo Fairweather and Jeremiah Cobb.

Auburn is 84-52-7 all-time against teams from the state of Tennessee. Vanderbilt is one of 10 teams the Tigers have played from the Volunteer State.

BY THE NUMBERS

278: Jarquez Hunter’s 278-yard rushing performance in the win at Kentucky was the fourth-best rushing game in Auburn history behind Curtis Kuykendall (307 vs. Miami in 1944), Tre Mason (304 against Missouri in 2013) and Bo Jackson (290 vs. Southwest Louisiana in 1985). It was the most rushing yards any FBS player in a game this season. Hunter was named the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week. 

6: With 278 yards rushing on Saturday, Hunter moved up to sixth all-time among Auburn’s career rushers with 3,033 yards in his career. He passed Brent Fullwood (2,789 from 1983-86), Stephen Davis (2,811 from 1993-95), Tank Bigsby (2,903 from 2020-22) and Tre Mason (2,979 from 2011-13). 

83.0: With a grade of 83.0 from PFF against Kentucky, true freshman Jay Crawford was the fourth highest-graded cornerback in week nine. Crawford, who hauled in his first career interception against the Wildcats, was also named the 247Sports True Freshman of the Week. 

2004: This weekend, the 2004 Auburn football team will be recognized on the 20-year anniversary of their undefeated season that included an SEC championship and a Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.