Auburn’s 21-15 win over Vanderbilt came with a clear theme, and Alex Golesh didn’t dance around it: special teams swung the game.
The Tigers needed every bit of help they could get after an offense that managed just 14 points and 279 yards. Instead, they got two huge plays that flipped the night. Cody Sigler blocked a Vanderbilt field goal early in the second quarter, then Omar Mabson got a hand on a punt later in the game and Cade Carlson returned it for a touchdown that ended up deciding the outcome.
Golesh pointed straight to those moments when he met with reporters on Monday.
“That was the difference in the game,” Golesh said in his Monday press conference. “For the margin on special teams to go our way, obviously the blocked punt for a touchdown at a really, really big time.
And then probably not talked about enough is Cody Sigler's blocked field goal and this is one of the better kickers in the country. For him to be able to get his hand on it turns out to be a really big swing there in the game.”
That kind of edge matters in SEC play, especially when the offense is stuck grinding for points. Auburn would have preferred a cleaner showing on that side of the ball, but the result still counts, and special teams made sure it landed in the win column.
Golesh also gave credit to the group effort behind those plays.
“It's a credit to our special teams unit,” Golesh continued. “It’s a credit to our defense and the buy-in on the field block side.
We keep talking about just keep giving effort, it’ll come, just keep giving effort. It's really good to have proof of concept there for our own guys to be able to understand that.”
Now Auburn turns to Tennessee, with the Volunteers set to host the Tigers in Knoxville this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. With October bringing a brutal stretch, Auburn may need more moments like the ones it got against Vanderbilt.
In Other News...
Auburn Just Earned New Hope With A Brutal Test Ahead
Auburn finally got the kind of result it had been chasing at home, snapping a stretch that dated back to 2024 and nudging its record to 3-1 in the process. For a program still trying to settle into a rhythm under Alex Golesh, it was the sort of win that can steady a season, even if the bigger questions around consistency still linger.
CBS Sports ranking of Auburn at No. 13 in the SEC says plenty about where the Tigers stand right now: competitive enough to be intriguing, but not yet proven enough to command broad trust. The next few weeks will tell the story, with Tennessee, Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss all waiting on a schedule that leaves little room for the kind of uneven play Auburn has shown so far. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Defense Still Has One Issue Tennessee Could Expose
Auburns defense took a step forward in the win over Vanderbilt, doing a better job of limiting quarterback Jared Curtis than it had in the earlier loss to Florida. The improvement mattered, but it also came with a reminder that the Tigers are still working through some things on that side of the ball as the schedule gets tougher.
The main concern inside the program has been urgency, along with missed tackles that popped up even in a better showing. With Tennessee up next and Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss still looming, Auburn knows the margin for error is getting thinner, and several players along with the head coach have made it clear that the defense has to clean up those habits fast. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Fans Have A Real Byrum Brown Debate Before Tennessee
Byrum Brown has already given Auburn enough to think about through the first four games, and not just because of the numbers. The quarterback has thrown for 869 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions, a line that captures the push-and-pull of his start in orange and blue and helps explain why he was left off Josh Pates latest SEC quarterback rankings despite what he did at USF last season.
For Auburn, the conversation is less about reputation than reliability, especially with Tennessee coming next and the schedule only getting tougher from there. Brown has flashed the kind of production that can lift an offense, but the inconsistency has been hard to ignore, leaving fans split on how much confidence to place in him when the competition steps up again. [Read more 🡒]