“I thought our confidence as a unit was a lot better. I thought we were communicating at a way higher clip.”
That is how senior center Cole Best assessed the offensive line’s improvement from week one to week two when he spoke to the media in Tuesday. He said the excitement within the group was contagious when some of the younger guys got to play.
One of those younger guys was freshman Wilson Zierer. Zierer primarily repped at tackle in the preseason but slid inside to play guard with the ones against Southern Miss.
“I thought he played his butt off. There was multiple times where I'm looking over to my left and I just see Wilson just driving a guy to the sideline. And that's encouraging for me as an older guy,” Best said.
Head Coach Alex Golesh has talked at length about finding a solid eight-man rotation on the offensive front. That may sound unorthodox, but Best feels this team is unique enough to be able to plug a different player in at a particular time and not adversely affect the overall performance of the unit.
“I think a lot of it is chemistry,” Best said. “A lot of the time we've put in together off the field that, man, there's so many guys in that room that I think I speak for everybody, that we all trust. And whether you put Wilson or whoever next to me, man, I'm ready to roll.”
Auburn opens SEC play this Saturday against Florida. It will be the Tigers second Power Four opponent on the schedule. Best broke down some of the things he has seen from the Gators on film.
“I think they end up in that front three, front four, whatever front they're running,” Best said. “I think they play really, really hard. I think at the linebacker level, they do a good job run fitting. They do a good job pass reading. I think their communication's good.”
For the third time in the last six years, Auburn opens its SEC slate at home. Best talked about the excitement and what it is going to be like, knowing the competition and talent level of the opponent is about to increase.
“It's gonna be a great environment, going into conference play in any conferences,” Best said. “It's huge, especially being game one, but we're excited. We're gonna be ready, excited to see this fan base again, get out there and get after it and be loud. And I know all the guys are turned up for it too.”
Kickoff from Jordan-Hare Stadium is set for 6 p.m. Auburn has not won its SEC opener since 2022.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
