Florida head coach Jon Sumrall took a shot at Auburn and the Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd this past Saturday, who witnessed a 44-39 loss to the Gators. He didn't even have the guts to actually name names.
"Our FAU game, the crowd, was livelier than what we played in on Saturday night. So, I can only imagine what that’s gonna feel like when you bring a top-five team into this place," Sumrall said on the BFW show.
UF knocked off FAU in Week 1 in rather unimpressive fashion. Granted, it was misleading to think that the Tigers could take advantage, with the actual atmosphere being so different in conference play, but that didn't factor into Sumrall's equation.
While the crowd may have been consistently louder as the Gators beat up on the Owls at the "Swamp" during the first game of the season, it's a stretch to say the Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd wasn't alive during the War Eagle Flight pregame as Independence reached the 50-yard line.
Certainly, though, the crowd was hushed throughout the night. With good reason.
Auburn's defense was a major letdown against Buster Faulkner's offense
It's an understatement to say that DJ Durkin's defense didn't show up against Florida.
495 yards of offense, 24 missed tackles, and 44 points allowed in regulation are inexcusable under the lights on Pat Dye Field.
Buster Faulkner is a great offensive mind, and he has an all-SEC running back candidate in Jadan Baugh, who was practically unstoppable (162 rushing yards, three touchdown runs). Still, they're not good enough, on paper, to have embarrassed AU like that.
Jordan-Hare Stadium's mystique is fading. It's not Alex Golesh's fault, since his team valiantly rallied back in the fourth quarter. That kind of fight hasn't been familiar.
Neither is winning, though, which has younger generations of Auburn fans not believing the hype anymore.
Auburn must start having pride in Jordan-Hare Stadium again
The Tigers are actively losing ground in the state of Alabama with every loss like this.
Let's hope this was a needed wake-up call. Certainly, it won't be the norm. Fans are growing tired of Durkin for getting paid like a modern great and having letdowns of this magnitude.
The product on the field continues to be disappointing. The sickos will never give up. More casual fans are leaving the stadium sooner and sooner, though.
Worse yet, there are complaints about the stadium experience shared on social media every week.
Jordan-Hare Stadium is a holy place in college football lore. This generation of Auburn fans cannot give up.
Golesh's program must strive to not give them a reason to, before it's too late.
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