Auburn football will find itself back under the lights of Jordan-Hare on Saturday after a 21-day hiatus.
“It’s been an interesting two weeks,” said Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. “Last week, we had to shut down a couple of days and all that. We did finish practice within the last week. We have had some guys out and all of that.”
Auburn missed two football weekends in a row due to its regularly scheduled bye week and COVID-19 issues the following week. The Tigers were scheduled to face Mississippi State, but the game was postponed to Dec. 12 as the Bulldogs fell below the 53-man scholarship threshold.
Now, Auburn will face Tennessee in Jordan-Hare to continue its schedule. The Tigers hold a 28-22-3 lead in the series over the Volunteers. The last time Auburn and Tennessee met, the Volunteers came to Jordan-Hare and rode home with a victory.
Tennessee is 2-4 this season and is on a four-game losing streak. The same can’t be said for Auburn as the Tigers will be coming off their best game of the season with a win over LSU.
“We did play our best game against LSU,” Malzahn said. “We just need to keep building on that. That’s what we tell our guys. We need to play our best game again.”
In Auburn's last game against LSU, the Tigers successfully shut down the LSU rushing attack, allowing 32 rushing yards on 27 attempts in the contest.
The Tigers hope to have a similar result when facing off against the Volunteers’ offense as Tennessee wins have been accredited to its running game.
“They are talented,” Malzahn said. “They have some experience upfront. So we’ll have to continue to [stop the run game]. That’s just part of each week. The uniqueness of not playing in 21 days of a regular season, that’s a different deal, but practice-wise you’ve got to continue to stay sharp and continue to build on your last game.”
While shutting down the Tennessee offense is important, Auburn’s main focus this week is getting back into the flow of things. The traditional schedule has been thrown off since the beginning of the season, but for Auburn, the past two weeks have been a real whirlwind.
“I think this week is big just as far as that game-week routine,” Malzahn said. “Knowing for sure you’re playing and who you’re playing and all of that, but I think more than anything it’s routine. Flipping the switch and getting your mind and body ready to go. I have no doubt in my mind our guys will be ready.”
Auburn will have “a few players” missing from this weekend’s game due to the issues with COVID-19, per Malzahn. The specifics who is out is not known.
“You’ve just got to be flexible, and you’ve got to be prepared for the ‘what-ifs,” Malzahn said. “That’s just part of the new normal. The teams, I’ve said this all along, that adjust and stay focused and not get caught up in all the stuff, they’re going to have an advantage, so that’s really our mindset, what it’s been.”
No. 23 Auburn will face off against Tennessee in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN.
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Mattison Allen is a senior from Springville, Ala. She's majoring in public relations communications with the goal of becoming a sports information director one day.
