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A spirit that is not afraid

Tiger Death Match

The 2007 Auburn football team celebrates its 23-20 overtime victory against Clemson at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Ga. Auburn finished the season 9-4. It was Auburn's 19th bowl win. (Todd Van Emst / Auburn Media Relations)
The 2007 Auburn football team celebrates its 23-20 overtime victory against Clemson at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Ga. Auburn finished the season 9-4. It was Auburn's 19th bowl win. (Todd Van Emst / Auburn Media Relations)

It's a Tiger-eat-Tiger world, or at least it will be in Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday.

Auburn's third game of the season marks the 47th meeting between Auburn and the Clemson Tigers.

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said the team has its work cut out for it.

"Year in and year out, they are one of the most athletic teams that's ever on the schedule, they're well coached, they play hard, and they're physical," Roof said. "That's a pretty good combination, and when I think of Clemson, that's what I think about."

Both teams will start the game undefeated, with Auburn entering the game ranked 16th in the Associated Press poll.

ESPN's GameDay show will be on campus Saturday, putting more pressure on this game.

Clemson sophomore tight end Dwayne Allen said he feels the pressure, but not because of GameDay.

"It's more because we're the underdogs, and we haven't been in that position so far this season," Allen said. "It's going to be exciting to see how we get out there and play."

Clemson is averaging 36.5 points per game, while holding opponents to 15.5 points per game.

Senior linebacker Josh Bynes said the same strategies needed to win an SEC game are needed Saturday.

"They run zones, they run split zone, all kind of different things, but they disguise it to get you out of a certain defense, and then they run the ball," Bynes said. "That's a great aspect of them, but at the same time, we're not worried about the start of the plays: we're worried about how they finish and just play ball off that."

This season, Auburn has ruled the fourth quarter.

The Tigers' previous two opponents have gone 0-for-7 on third down conversions and scored just 3 points in the final 12 minutes.

Still, Roof feels improvements can be made.

"There is a sense of urgency to get better right now because there's a lot of room for growth and we've got to make it happen real quick," Roof said.

Auburn currently has a 13-game winning streak in the series, as Clemson's last win occurred in 1951.

Clemson defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said his team is preparing for this game like any other.

"We treat every team the same, and if you start treating one team like it's more important on the schedule, then that's when your team plays up and down, and you can't do that," Steele said.

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Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.


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