The Auburn Tigers are closing the book on their second game of the season after taking down the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 43-8 on Saturday night to move to 2-0 on the year.
A big week is ahead though as the Tigers look ahead to what’s next on their schedule—a date with the Florida Gators for the first time since 2019 and the first time at home since 2011.
Head Coach Alex Golesh spoke to the media on Monday alongside Offensive Coordinator Joel Gordon and Defensive Coordinator DJ Durkin in their weekly press conference, reflecting on the recent win and looking ahead to the Gators.
Here are some of Golesh’s most notable quotes from the session on Monday.
On the team handling Saturday’s lightning delay:
“Our kids handled the delay incredibly well. You go through it for a first time—I thought poise, energy, stay focused in the locker room. Literally, didn't flinch. Really, really cool. And then came out with a crazy amount of energy and focus.”
On the penalties incurred offensively against Southern Miss:
“Offensively, the penalties, sometimes if you go back and it's not as bad as it seems. Sometimes it's worse than it seemed. The penalties were frustrating. One of them killed a drive. The other six didn't kill a drive, but you're in thrd and crazy forever, and some plays, some scrambling around, kind of covers up for the mishaps. The point there is you get into playing in this league and that'll kill you, being in third and long. Especially on a clock stop, it will absolutely destroy you.”
On the Florida offense overall:
“These guys, offensively, present a bunch of challenges. I think the quarterback is playing well. What Buster (Faulkner) has done with the offense, and what he's always done, is find creative ways— one, to run the football and run it at a high clip, and then two, be able to push the ball all over the place. They do a really good job, they do a good job formationally, they do a good job motioning and shifting and creating a lot of chaos in that sense. And then you've got one of the best running backs in the country, if not the best running back in the country. That's going to be a huge challenge for us.”
On Jadan Baugh and how the Auburn defense needs to improve to stop him:
“You've got a guy in (Jadan Baugh) that's powerful, has speed, gets plays behind his pads and has the ability to make you miss in space. Like as complete of a back as you're going to get. So the missed tackles we talked about earlier, that's gotta clean up. Then continuing to run the football and game tackling has got to clean up.”
On the performance of the wide receivers:
“I think operationally, we've done a good job there. That's been the biggest piece that's helped, having familiarity there. We actually talked about the scramble drill has not been as consistent or as good as it needs to be. It's a huge part of what we do. It's a huge part of offensive football in general. I think there's actually a lot to be desired there that's got to improve, and that's simply an effort deal and a spatial awareness deal combined at the right time. I think we've been hit and miss there.
“I think we need to take another step in a lot of ways; in the sense of urgency, in the scramble piece. Then just in general, these guys are presented a big challenge in the back end this week. Long corners and really physical, both at nickel and safety. We've got to be more physical as well.”
On Jeremiah Koger and his ability to make big plays:
"He kind of finished the year off a year ago that way, the last six games. Jeremiah's competitive. Jeremiah's intelligent. Jeremiah's got a good skill set, obviously long, got really good ball skills. He's continuing to learn the position, continuing to grow, continuing to get stronger. I think he's playing fast right now, which is big for him. He wants the go ball down the left sideline back. Got to go finish that play. We went to him down in the other end zone where he kind of tripped up. He wants that ball back. There's some inconsistency there in that regard, but Jeremiah is a young guy that competes.”
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
