We won, and it feels good.
The joy of rolling Toomer's, even without the trees, almost brought tears to our eyes. Campus seems to be brighter, and the general mood around town is positivity laced with optimism.
Almost every Auburn fan is singing Head Coach Gus Malzahn's praises. He gave us what we need so desperately, what we crave: a win.
But we wouldn't be doing our job as journalists if we didn't bring a healthy dose of skepticism to the party.
Can it really be as good as it feels? Is Malzahn the second coming?
We want so much to believe. It hurts to even imagine this season not going well, but all we have to go on is a seasonopener that was far less than impressive. Perhaps it was just a young team finding its legs, a baby tiger learning how to walk.
Maybe they're saving the excellence for an SEC team. Either way, it's just too soon to tell.
We could make predictions, jump on the sports media bandwagon and play fortune teller, but what good does that do?
The hype surrounding Malzahn's return to The Plains has been well deserved. It's part morale booster, part nostalgia for the 2010 season. However, this hype has the potential to make an underwhelming season seem that much worse.
Robenson Therezie gave us some hope, but one star player out of a team of high-profile recruits is disappointing, especially against a school such as Washington State.
Nick Marshall had a rough go of it; he played more like Kiehl Frazier than Cam Newton. If we've learned anything over the past few seasons, it's that the Tigers need an effective QB to anchor the rest of the team and take the leadership role.
So get pumped up, wave your shakers and scream War Eagle as loud as you can.
But remember the lessons of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and don't believe the hype.
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