Auburn OL stresses importance of Iron Bowl, severity of NMSU loss

The Auburn football program has turned the page and is looking to right the wrongs of last weekend’s matchup against New Mexico State, and boy were there a lot of ‘wrongs.’ The Tigers fell to the Aggies 31-10 and handed NMSU their first SEC win in program history.

While it was supposed to be a warmup for the Iron Bowl, the game was a disaster from start to finish with the Aggies dominating the whole time. Auburn football failed on both sides of the ball and looked nothing like the team that demolished Arkansas the previous weekend.

Now, using the ’24-hour rule’ the Tigers have moved on from last weekend’s loss, but they haven’t forgotten. The players know the importance of the Iron Bowl, and they know they have a lot of work to do to make up for the poor performance against NMSU.

A win over the Tigers’ biggest rival at home to cap off head coach Hugh Freeze’s first season on the Plains would have a massive impact after last weekend, and for senior offensive lineman Gunner Britton it would be the only way to make up for the catastrophic loss, per Auburn Undercover:

"“I mean, for me it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” Britton said. “The only way to get it out is to go win this weekend. That’s the big thing, the only way to forget about this game is to kind of move on and try to right the wrongs of last weekend with this weekend.”"

If they want to take down the Tide, the Tigers are going to have to be on their A-game this weekend, but they already know that. They know the challenge that is ahead, but whether or not they can meet that challenge will be the question this Saturday.

The Iron Bowl kicks off from Jordan-Hare Stadium this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. central time on CBS.