Alex Golesh doesn’t want Auburn’s 27-24 win over No. 1 Georgia filed away as a wild Saturday story. He wants it treated like proof of concept.
His son Barrett may have seen the upset coming, but Golesh made it clear afterward that the bigger point is where Auburn is trying to go from here.
“I just want to get this program, and I think we all want to get this program back to where you expect to come in and win these games. That’s why we came here. That’s why we chose Auburn,” Golesh said postgame.
That mindset came through in the way Auburn handled the night. After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers answered with 24 straight points and never let the game settle into the script many expected. It was Auburn’s biggest comeback since it trailed Oregon by 15 in 2019, when the Ducks led 21-6 in the third quarter.
For Golesh, the victory was less about the name across the field and more about how his team approached the moment. He said the message Friday night was about belief, discipline and shrinking the challenge down to one snap at a time.
“It’s unique in football because you know what’s on your schedule. Just challenge them to believe in each other,” Golesh said.
“Just challenge them to play one play at a time. Told them (Friday) night, it’s not.
If you think about it, that it’s a three-and-a-half-hour dogfight, nobody’s going to give you a chance, but if you think about it as a series of six to eight second snaps, six to eight second one-on-one battles, play more violent and tougher and more detailed than the guy across from you. One play at a time, you’ll get the result you want.
I think it’s just a lesson for our guys, for our fan base.”
That’s a sharp break from what Auburn looked like before. Former coach Hugh Freeze left behind a program that managed just one win over a ranked opponent, went 2-10 in one-possession games and finished 2-10 against Power Four teams inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Golesh’s first crack at a No. 1 team ended in a win, and in a way Auburn couldn’t have pulled off a season ago under Freeze. That’s part of why he pushed back against framing the result as a Cinderella moment.
“Yeah, I hesitate to make it something that is bigger or smaller than what it is, Golesh added. “You have a certain number of opportunities like that.
That’s what I talked to these guys about last night. You have a limited number of opportunities in life.
You got no idea how many. You have to be able to capitalize on the opportunities you get, and it’s in football, it’s in life.
I don’t want to make it some sort of underdog story because it’s still about helping these dudes grow up to be men, and just the understanding that you have a certain number of opportunities, and you have no idea when the next one’s coming.”
The win gives Golesh another early marker of credibility, and Auburn now has a result on its résumé that stands alongside the best of the recent era. The Tigers are 4-2 overall and 2-2 in SEC play, matching Texas’ record from earlier this season when the Longhorns were ranked No. 1.
For some Auburn fans, there’s already another argument taking shape too: that this is a better playoff case than what Alabama has after back-to-back conference losses to Georgia and Tennessee.
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Alex McPhersons 34-yard field goal in Athens gave unranked Auburn a 27-24 win over No. 1 Georgia, the kind of road result that can flip a seasons mood in an instant. Georgia had a late answer from quarterback Gunner Stockton, who guided a touchdown drive to keep the pressure on, but the Bulldogs also coughed up a crucial late fumble, and Auburn took advantage to leave with one of the SECs loudest upsets.
Afterward, Auburn coach Alex Golesh had more than the scoreboard on his mind, sharing an emotional moment with his son Bear in the aftermath of the victory. In a game that already carried plenty of weight because of the opponent and the setting, the postgame scene added another layer to a night Auburn will remember for a long time. [Read more 🡒]
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Alex Golesh had plenty to smile about after Auburns 27-24 upset of Georgia in Week 7, but his postgame interview showed how much the moment meant to him. The win not only snapped Georgias 93-game home streak against unranked opponents, it also gave Golesh his first SEC road victory as Auburns head coach, a milestone that underscored just how significant the night was for the Tigers.
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