Auburn finally got the home breakthrough it had been chasing, and it came in a 21-15 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
That result snapped Auburn’s conference home drought, which had stretched back to its four-overtime win over Texas A&M during the 2024 season. It also gave the Tigers a needed lift in front of a fan base that had been carrying plenty of frustration into the night. Coach Golesh made a point of addressing that support after the game.
“I don’t look at it big picture like that. It was really, really good to beat a good football team,” Golesh said postgame.
“It was really good to win in the SEC. It was really good to win at home.
It’s why I said what I said at the beginning. I’m grateful for these people that continue to show up and spend their hard-earned money and continue to support us.
“I can’t control what happened before I got here. I can’t only control what we do here right now.
That’s all I have control over. I understand the frustration, but hopefully tonight they can go roll Toomer’s and have a blast.
I’m grateful for them being here.”
Auburn’s defense did the heavy lifting for much of the night. Vanderbilt controlled the clock, holding a 37:28 edge in time of possession, but the Commodores never found a rhythm in the red zone and managed only one scoring drive. They finished with three made field goals.
The Tigers piled up eight sacks and four tackles for loss while limiting Vanderbilt quarterback Jared Curtis to 199 passing yards.
“Oh, it’s huge. This team is one of the most connected teams I’ve ever been a part of,” defensive lineman Cody Sigler said postgame.
“I feel like (Alex Golesh) ain’t even really pushed it on us. I feel like we just have that love for everybody.
When you go out there and see the offense do their thing, you can’t let them down.”
Offensively, Byrum Brown gave Auburn enough balance to stay in control. He accounted for two total touchdowns, throwing for 140 yards and rushing for 57 more as Auburn finished with 279 yards of total offense.
Brown’s lone interception came in the first quarter on a batted pass intended for DeShawn Spencer. After that, Auburn kept him clean enough to avoid a long night in the backfield; he was sacked just once.
“Feels really good,” Brown said. “You put in a lot of hard work and to see it come to fruition was really good. Still got a lot of things to clean up, but glad we got this one.
“Shoutout to O-line. They did a tremendous job.
And just getting through my reads and not holding onto the ball. If something’s not there, move on.
That’s really what we focused on in practice”
Auburn is now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The Tigers head to Tennessee next weekend for their first true road game of the season.
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