Game of inches, that's the old cliche'.
Never give up, never surrender, never let 'em see you hurt, never to yield. That's the mantra of this Auburn coaching staff.
"We preach to these guys all the time about imposters in a game" said Gene Chizik, "We won't stop fighting until the clock strikes zero, zero, zero". Words to live by.
Saturday afternoon this young Auburn team took a BIG step on the way to SEC maturity defeating the 16th ranked team in the country. Auburn lost the statistical battles. Time of possession, first downs, 3rd down conversions, all of them, except the most important one. The final score.
On a day when a young defense played better, but still gave 531 yards of total offense, and 31 first downs, it found a way to win. A goal line stand for the ages.
There will be questions as to whether the Bulldogs called the right plays at Auburn's end of the field, still, after running all over the Auburn defensive front seven for two consecutive drives, MSU had the confidence that running would still be effective. And why not? They had averaged over 5.3 yards a carry throughout the entire game, so why not try two consecutive runs at the goal line.
Dan Mullen never intended to go for the tie anyway.
"We had 531 yards, still only scored 34 points should have had 41. Then you guys could have really gotten after me as a coach if we had scored to see what I would have done."
Ted Roof, and Gene Chizik called time out just before the final two plays, and gave the young Tigers a pep talk. It worked.
Now the improbable has happened. Auburn's defense stood tall on a day when at times it looked inadequate. Two straight games this version of Auburn football has found itself behind in games, and fought its way back for the victory.
Just like last years team, it ain't over, 'till it's over!
WAR EAGLE!