It was a scrappy game and a battle to the finish, but the Auburn Tigers walked away from Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday with a 26-23 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. First-year head coach Alex Golesh has racked up five wins for the Tigers, putting the program on the verge of bowl eligibility for the first time in three seasons.
Of course, the win came after two disastrous losses to LSU and Ole Miss following the inexplicable defeat of Georgia in Athens, proving that this season has been a true roller coaster ride. But winning in close games is something that the Tigers' previous coaches failed to do time and again, and a win is a win.
Golesh has preached since he arrived on the Plains that building a foundation is the biggest priority for him in the first year, and that setting a standard will only set the Tigers up for success in the future. According to the head coach, even though it hasn't always looked pretty, the program is headed in teh right direction.
"I've never questioned the fight," Golesh said in his post-game presser. "I've questioned the execution, I've questioned some personnel things, I've questioned a lot of coaching things... but not just questioned them; given solutions, and continue to just stay the course.
"At this level, with the pressure these guys have on the outside, the messaging, the standard, the demand has to consistently be the same everyday and hopefully as we go and finish this thing out we have something to stand on and a true, strong foundation that we recruit to, that we retain to, that we hire to, because otherwise, if you don't, it's just going to be this inconsistent program which is what you're fighting against."
The Tigers have not been without adversity during this coaching transition, one example being the dismissal of linebacker Xavier Atkins. But Golesh said that the players who continue to buy in and help set the standard are helping the team stay the course.
"I've never undersold how hard this was going to be, and for us to truly scrap out wins in some dog fights has been a really, really good deal for the building of our foundation from a mental toughness standpoint and to be able to point to something in that regard."
The Tigers return to action this weekend on the road against the Mississippi State Bulldogs for an 11 a.m. kickoff.
Add us as a preferred source on Google