After Auburn lost to Florida at home last month, Alex Golesh checked his phone and scrolled through three texts. The third came from his wife, Alexis, who offered a softer judgment: "Maybe you don't suck as bad as everybody says, but we suck." The feedback shifted Saturday after Auburn stunned No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens as a three-touchdown underdog. The first-year coach returned to the locker room to discover roughly 500 unread text messages.
This time, surely, his phone was filled with praise rather than criticism. "Like, somewhere in the middle is probably the truth," Golesh told reporters Monday. "I don't suck, but probably not a genius either." Auburn (4-2, 2-2 SEC) still hasn't arrived.
The Tigers are 4-2 and still unranked after receiving 61 votes in the AP Top 25 following the sport's biggest upset this season. That can change this week when No. 18 LSU visits Jordan-Hare Stadium for a Noon ET kickoff Saturday. What Golesh has now, and didn't after Florida, is the evidence he needs to lift the Tigers back on the national stage.
"I think it's always easier when there's proof of concept," Golesh said. "You can point to and say, man, look at the way this guy's playing. It's because of this, this and this." Auburn erased a 14-0 first-quarter deficit by leaning on quarterback Byrum Brown, who ran a season-high 26 times for 115 yards and a touchdown.
The Tigers scored 24 straight points, forced three turnovers, including a decisive late fumble by Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, and won between the hedges for the first time since 2005 on Alex McPherson's 34-yard field goal as time expired. Auburn fans descended on Toomer's Corner and partied into the night, rolling the oak trees with toilet paper. Still, Golesh isn't satisfied, and he seems downright vigilant.
"We're in an end-result society. Everybody wants the right end result, and we're trying to unteach that piece of it," Golesh said. I want to win in the worst way, but I don't want to let the win then cover up everything that's going on." That requires honesty and sometimes harsh criticism.
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