AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn impressed head coach Alex Golesh with the way the Tigers practiced during an open date after opening October with a road loss at No. 17 Tennessee in the first of four straight top 25 matchups.
“We have so much to prove,” Golesh said. “We have so much to work on, we have so much to improve.”
Win or lose, the page must be turned quickly each week, says Golesh.
“Mature football teams can,” he said. “Immature football teams can’t. That’s what I’m forcing to have happen. The intent was really positive. There’s enough maturity to say, when we’re at our best, we can play at the highest level of football. When we’re not, we’re just good enough to get embarrassed.
“It’s continuing to drive the fact that we’ve got to be at our best every single day and continually drive the fact that you are going to play just like you practice. Stacking days to where you get to Saturday and are truly confident going into that environment.”
That environment is Sanford Stadium, capacity 93,033, home to No. 1 Georgia.
“Incredible opportunity for us on a national level,” Golesh said. “That's why you come to this league. This is why you come to Auburn. It’s why you coach at Auburn. Those opportunities like this, to go play a big-time program on a big-time stage.
“In our building, our guys were ecstatic, our coaches are ecstatic and we're excited for the opportunity.”
The top-ranked Bulldogs rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense, allowing 14 points per game (No. 10) while averaging 46.2 (No. 2).
“Georgia presents a lot of issues in terms of what they do and who’s doing it,” defensive coordinator DJ Durkin said. “They have great answers for things. (Offensive coordinator) Mike Bobo is a great coach, he’s been doing it a long time in this conference. They run the ball effectively and throw the ball effectively, No. 1 in explosive plays, so they present a tremendous challenge for us.
“We have to match their physicality up front and do a good job of fitting the runs and have our eyes in the right place.”
Auburn, historically, has held its own in Athens, equaling Georgia with 18 wins apiece in their 36 meetings between the hedges.
Auburn and No. 1 Georgia renew the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry for the 131st time Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network, where Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell and Ronnie Brown will describe the action for listeners.