- To follow the game with Phillip on his gameday blog, GO HERE.
AUBURN – The home stretch beckons for Auburn’s football team. But first there is homecoming.
With Georgia and Alabama looming on the horizon, the Tigers play Division I-AA Furman today at 12:30 p.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium. In their 10th game without a break, first-year coach Gene Chizik says the Tigers won’t be caught looking ahead to the big games to come.
“It doesn’t matter who you are playing or what the circumstances are,” Chizik said. “We just have to be better as a football team.”
With a victory, the Tigers (6-3, 3-3) can assure themselves of a winning record and improve their potential bowl destinations. And they can build momentum for the big games to come.
And with a lopsided win, they could give some players badly needed rest.
“I don’t really think in terms of that,” Chizik said. “If the situation presents itself where we were able to do that, that would be great. We would if the situation arose. We’ve got to go win the game. This will be like all the other games. We have to go in there and battle to win.”
For the first time since 2006, the Tigers will play without safety Zac Etheridge, who suffered a cracked vertebra in last Saturday’s 33-20 victory over Ole Miss. Junior college transfer Demond Washington, a cornerback for the first nine games, will play safety for the first time in his career.
“It goes to show the coaches trust me to get in and get the job done,” Washington said. “I’m not going to let them down. It means a lot to me that they believe in me.”
On offense, the Tigers will try to continue the momentum they gained against Ole Miss.
“We are approaching it like any other game,” offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said. “We’re going to have all our stuff we carry into games and try to score points.”
It will be the second game this season against a Division I-A opponent for the Paladins (4-4). They gained 400 yards offense but lost 52-12 to Missouri in September.
