On the eve of Auburn's second BCS National Championship game appearance in four years, head coach Gus Malzahn made his final media appearance before his No. 2 Tigers take on the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles at the Rose Bowl.
Keeping things as normal as possible for the players has been a major focus for Malzahn and his coaching staff.
"It's been a good week," Malzahn said. "Our guys since we've arrived here have been focused. We've tried to keep this as game like and game week like as possible. We've had some solid practices, and we're just ready for the game to get here and play and see what happens."
One of the biggest storylines going into tomorrow night's game will be if the Auburn defense can keep up with the high-powered Florida State offense, led by Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.
"Well, I think the bottom line is you've got to keep them off balance, and that's a huge challenge," Malzahn said. "They've been machine-like on offense. They run it well. They throw it well. They've got NFL wide receivers that put people in one-on-one situations."
While Malzahn knows how tough it will be to defend Winston tomorrow night, he also has confidence the Auburn defense will have a good game plan ready.
"Coach Ellis Johnson is one of the best in the business," Malzahn said. "He's been in big games before. He's got a very good plan, and we'll just have to do our best to try to keep him off balance."
With Auburn also having a high-powered offense, many believe the game will turn into a shootout.
Malzahn was asked how many trick plays he has installed since the Tigers last played to try and keep up with Florida State offense.
"Well, a lot of people say we run trick plays, but from our players' standpoint we call them special plays because we actually work on them and we have certain situations we like to run them." Malzahn said. "It's just all a matter of putting pressure on the defense and really the bottom line is scoring points, no matter how you do that."
Florida State's Winston has drawn several comparisons to former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, who Malzahn coached in 2010 to a national championship, and he also recruited Winston to come to play at Auburn.
The success Winston has had came as no surprise to him.
"Well, Jameis is an outstanding player," Malzahn said. "I know him personally, and you could tell in high school he was a special player, and what he's done this year has been amazing."
While Auburn does not have as much of a high-flying passing attack as Florida State, Malzahn is confident Nick Marshall has what it takes to get the job done. Since the LSU game, Marshall has thrown only one interception.
However, since the LSU game Auburn has not been forced to throw the football as much. Many believe the Seminole defense will force Auburn to throw the ball more.
"We do feel good about our passing game even though we have not passed the football a lot, probably the second half of the year, because we haven't had to," Malzahn said. "But we do have a lot of confidence in Nick Marshall to throw it, and we feel like we've got some receivers that have gotten better. It just matters how the game unfolds."
With the game just more than 24 hours away, Malzahn took a moment to reflect on what his team has went through this season, and his personal journey from a high school coach in Arkansas to coaching in a BCS National Championship game.
"I think when you first go out there on the field, you get the environment around you and you're able to reflect a little bit," Malzahn said. "Then when you go back out there for real, you've got to flip the switch and get your mind on your business and don't let anything distract you."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
