Final Week Two Thoughts From Auburn and Across the Land
· One would be hard-pressed to find a football coach, fresh off a 43-8 victory, in more of a foul mood than Alex Golesh was in late Saturday night, after his team easily handled the visitors from the University of Southern Mississippi. Golesh described Saturday's win over Southern Miss as sloppy. He also said he was "sickened" by penalties that took two touchdowns off the board. And in a remark that gave off major Nick Saban or Bill Belichick vibes, the first-year Auburn coach said, “But if the standard is that, and that’s what it looks like, then we’re going to have a really really long season.” In Golesh’s view, the process of preparing and playing to a high standard matters more than the result. That’s how championship programs are built. It was a breath of fresh air to hear. I’ve never heard an Auburn coach speak that candidly about his team’s poor performance after a win. That performance will need to improve very quickly, as the Tigers begin SEC play this Saturday against the Florida Gators in the first of eight consecutive conference games over the next nine weeks. Regarding Saturday night, I spoke with offensive right tackle Stanton Ramil after the game, and he said the offensive inconsistencies were more them making mistakes than the scheme from Southern Miss. He said he is confident they will get things corrected with the Gators coming to town this week.
· The Oregon Ducks have not looked the part of a championship contender after their first two games. Opening the season as number 2 in the preseason AP poll, the Ducks barely squeaked by Boise State in week 1. Then, they traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday, where the Oklahoma State Cowboys were waiting, after suffering an embarrassing week one loss to the in-state Tulsa Golden Hurricane squad. The Cowboys ended their record-long 21 game losing streak to FBS opponents and upset the 6th ranked Ducks 39-31, behind 554 yards of offense, and sending Oregon back to Eugene with plenty of questions to answer for a team whose NIL budget is reportedly in excess of 40 million dollars. The last victory Oklahoma State had over an FBS team before Saturday was over Arkansas on September 7, 2024.
· Speaking of the Razorbacks, they traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah Saturday night and ran into the proverbial buzz saw. The 17th ranked Utes routed Arkansas 43-10, in a game that did not appear to be even that close. It could be a long season for first year head coach Ryan Silverfield and for long-suffering Razorback fans in Fayetteville.
· In Austin, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian secured a marquee regular season win for his program. While the Longhorns have made an SEC championship game and appeared in the College Football Playoff under Sark, they have come up short all too many times in the big moments. Texas rose to the occasion Saturday night, erasing a 23-3 deficit in the fourth quarter to upend top-ranked Ohio State. It was the largest fourth quarter lead ever surrendered by a top-ranked team in the 91-year history of the college football Associated Press poll. It is unfortunate that the aftermath of the game has focused more on ESPN technical difficulties, Sark’s blow-off of the post game tv
interview, and Holly Rowe’s eye-roll than the performance of the Texas players in a stirring comeback win.
· I should have known better. One thing that often holds true in this era of college football is that teams that are left for dead by the chattering masses after a poor performance tend to remind us all the next time they play that one game in football is just that, one game. Such was the case in Ann Arbor Michigan on Saturday, where the Wolverines, fresh off a controversial and uninspiring 13-12 victory of Western Michigan the week before, defeated the 11th ranked Oklahoma Sooners 17-10. That victory avenged last-year’s loss in Norman and moved Michigan to 2-0 on the young season. Quarterback Bryce Underwood played much better than he did in week 1. Credit to Coach Kyle Whittingham for getting his team refocused and back in the top 25.
Other Notes
· Iowa wins the CY-Hawk Trophy with a last-second field goal to defeat in-state rival Iowa State 16-13. The Cyclones were game but came up just short.
· Wake Forest won a double-overtime thriller over Purdue 38-36. The Boilermakers now get to travel to the City of Angels for an absurd 10:00 pm central kick against UCLA.
· Mississippi State looked much improved and downright impressive Saturday, as they went on the road to Minnesota and dominated the Golden Gophers 38-13. Auburn will travel to Starkville two months from today for game 10 of the 2026 season. I believe it will wind up being an important game in accessing year one of the Golesh tenure.
· Golesh wasn’t the only coach that was less than pleased with his team after a blowout victory on Saturday. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders went viral after a post-game locker-room video showed him berating his squad, despite the Buffalos blowing out Weber State 52-21, to move to 2-0 on the season. Sanders told his team, “There’s going to be a lot of conditioning tomorrow.”
· Lastly, the North Dakota State Bisons are in their first season at the FBS level and are sitting at 3-0 after a win over Air Force on Saturday.
Until next week…
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
