After making it through September, the Auburn Tigers (3-1 1-0 SEC) open October on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-0 2-0 SEC) Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
So far this season, both the offensive and defensive units have shown flashes of brilliance during the first month, but have followed those flashes up with sustained periods of mediocrity.
With September behind them, the Tigers turn their attention to an SEC gauntlet featuring road trips to South Carolina, Arkansas and LSU and home games against Florida and Ole Miss.
Coach Gene Chizik emphasized the challenge that South Carolina, ranked No. 10 in this week's Associated Press poll, presents a big test to the youthful Tigers.
"This is a great challenge for us this week, our first SEC road trip and obviously in a great environment," Chizik said. "It's another tough environment to play in against a top-10 team, so for us it's going to be a great challenge. We're looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to getting back out there today and improving as a football team."
South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore was recruited by Chizik two years ago, but decided to stay in his home state. Lattimore has received increased Heisman consideration this season and is a dynamic offensive weapon for the Gamecocks.
"He's everything that we saw he was coming out of high school," Chizik said. "He's quick, he's fast, he has great vision. He really does a great job of cutting the ball back and seeing things a lot of running backs can't see, and then he can get there in a hurry. On top of that, he's an incredible threat coming out of the backfield in terms of throwing the ball to him. He brings pretty much everything to the table."
Last year in the two games against USC, Auburn's defense kept Lattimore in check, holding him to 37 yards on 14 carries in the regular season and 84 yards on 16 carries in the SEC Championship game.
"We just tried to be very sound on our run fits and not jump the little gaps and things so our guys could see where they were fitting," Chizik said. "Really, it's a numbers game, trying to get enough people in there to stop him. We're going to have to be physical up front. He's just an all-around great back."
Even with a running threat like Lattimore in the backfield, coach Steve Spurrier will always be a pass-happy play caller dating back to his "Fun 'n' Gun" offense at Florida. Spurrier has ample weapons in the passing game with first team preseason All-SEC wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and preseason second team All-SEC quarterback Stephen Garcia at his disposal.
"Coach Spurrier does a great job of coaching the throwing game, and how their productivity in the air over the years has been great," Chizik said. "As you know, they have really good receivers. They have a really good quarterback who is mobile and can do numerous things, not just throw the ball. Their air attack is something we are going to have to make sure we don't give up any big plays. That's the main thing."
As much as focus will be on stopping Lattimore in the running game, he, along with wide receiver Ace Sanders, is devastating on screens and passes out of the backfield.
"They have a great screen game, and some of those yards you see and some of that production aren't always from deep balls or guys making 10- or 12-yard catches and then turning those into a 30 or 40-yard gain," Chizik said. "A lot of that is the screen game and some of their check-downs to Marcus, and he takes the ball and turns a five-yard gain into a 40-yard gain. Again, overall, their short game is very effective. Ace Sanders, No. 9, is a great screen guy, and they're very good at it."
Against Florida Atlantic, the Tigers were not in sync offensively and sputtered all night, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. From protection issues to the lack of dedication to the running game, the Tigers were inefficient.
Chizik hopes getting two starters back, right guard John Sullen and tight end Phillip Lutzenkirchen, will help the offense get its rhythm back.
"I think that continuity on the offensive line certainly is important," Chizik said. "Sullen didn't play at all, our right guard. We have to continue to improve up front. That's in both the run game in identifying and protecting, along with the running backs, identifying and protecting blitzers, which we did it well some the other night, and sometimes we did not. It was mainly inconsistency."
Defensively, the Tigers picked up some of the slack from the offense with drastic improvement from the Clemson game and sealed the Auburn victory over FAU with an interception returned for a touchdown.
Chizik wants the progress to carry over Saturday in Columbia.
"I think we did some things better Saturday night than we did the week before," Chizik said. "Number one, we got people in the right spots most of the night, which was part of our problem the week before. When we had opportunities to make plays, for the most part we did. I think definitely on the defensive side of the ball, there were some things we improved at.
"I thought our tackling, although at times wasn't where we wanted it to be, got better. I think we definitely took a step forward defensively Saturday night. We're going to continue to improve this week, and I believe that we're working in that direction."
Spurrier knows that even with Auburn's early season struggles, his team will get the Tigers' best effort Saturday.
"Auburn is a different team from last year," Spurrier said. "I think they lost 18 starters out of 22. They have tremendous pride and tradition at Auburn, and history. They're playing extremely hard, and we'll get their best shot Saturday."
Chizik knows every week will be a new challenge, but is pleased with how his team has matured this young season.
"This is a new SEC road game," Chizik said. "It's a top-10 team on the road, so there's still going to be some newness as the season continues to unfold. I'm proud of them. I think they've grown up a lot without much choice. I think they've done well up to this point."
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