The preliminaries are over. An Auburn team that was staggering two weeks ago is feeling good. A quarterback who was hearing calls for a change two weeks ago is on his game.
And that’s a good thing for the Tigers, because they have arrived at Amen Corner.
It was former coach Pat Dye who first gave that name to Auburn’s finishing stretch, though at the time, it also included Florida. Even though Florida is no longer a regular opponent, the name has stuck.
No one could rationally have expected much more of Gene Chizik’s first Auburn team to get to this point with a 7-3 record. The Tigers were frightfully thin from the start of the season. They are thinner now. But here they are with a chance to do something so special that this team would be remembered always.
Saturday’s 63-31 victory over Furman was quite impressive when it needed to be. Of course, Furman was overmatched. But I can’t remember the last time an Auburn team took care of business in a game like this the way this one did in the first half.
It was 42-3 and over at halftime. The starters were done for the day. Even when Furman scored off turnovers on back to back possessions in the third quarter, Auburn’s coaches didn’t waver. The starters, worn by 10 games without a break, were going to rest.
It was something of a bizarre second half, with Anthony Gulley playing three positions, with walk-ons playing in the secondary. But Neil Caudle led three touchdown drives and everyone had a good time.
No matter what happens in the next two games, Chizik’s first team has done enough to call this season a success. There’ll be, at worst, a 7-5 record and a bowl game. That is despite playing with a defense that had few backups to begin with, has fewer now and is playing without its emotional leader in safety Zac Etheridge.
Georgia, which beat Tennessee Tech 38-0 on Saturday, has had struggles of its own. The Bulldogs have lost four times, leading to screams for head coach Mark Richt to make staff changes. But Georgia has talent, and lots of it. The Bulldogs won’t go quietly in this game. Neither will the Tigers. It’s that kind of game between the most ancient of rivals.
What will happen? Who knows? But the three-game losing streak that followed a 5-0 start has been all but forgotten. The Tigers believe in themselves and in their coaches. They’ll need all that belief and all that confidence in the two games to come.
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