For weeks, Auburn fans have watched first-year head coaches at Florida, Kentucky, and UCLA win big games. On Saturday, Auburn fans got to watch their own team get one, and it was arguably the biggest of the season.
Auburn football stunned No. 1 Georgia on Saturday to end a nine-game losing skid in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, doing so as 19.5-point underdogs. Many counted out the Tigers before the game even began, but Auburn head coach Alex Golesh knew Auburn could win the game by being more physical and playing one play at a time.
Reflecting on the game, Golesh told the media that one of his goals was to bring Auburn back to relevance, and wins like this one are a great starting point.
“I just want to get this program, and I think we all want to get this program back
to where you expect to come in and win these games,” Golesh said postgame. “That’s why we came here, that’s why we chose Auburn. That’s why these guys chose Auburn."
While Golesh understands how special this win is for Auburn, which has not had a winning season since 2020, he wants to build enough confidence in his program for his players to expect to win games of this magnitude. He hopes this win will change the mindset of the next set of Tigers.
“And that’s why I don’t want to make it bigger or smaller than what it is," Golesh said. "But we’re going to build it to where hopefully the next generation expects to win that game.”
Auburn will have another opportunity to win a big game next week in front of its home crowd. The Tigers host LSU for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff next Saturday in Jordan-Hare Stadium. LSU bounced back from its loss to Kentucky in Week 6 to defeat Mississippi State in Baton Rouge on Saturday, 31-0.
Taylor Jones is the lead writer for Auburn Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky. FollowAuburn Wire on X andFacebook.
This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: Alex Golesh hopes Georgia win will spark next generation of Auburn Tigers
