Auburn had an opportunity to put away an SEC opponent Saturday night, and for the first time in a while, it did.
The Tigers’ offense orchestrated an 11-play, 45-yard drive late in the fourth quarter to take the final 6:26 off the clock and put the finishing touches on a 21-15 win over Vanderbilt.
“Ultimately really good teams find a way to finish and we were able to go finish the game in Atlanta and we were able to finish today,” said head coach Alex Golesh.
Golesh continued, adding that a positive outcome can’t overshadow the improvement the team must continue to seek out.
“Where I’m guarded is the end result dictates how we work or how we approach our daily process or the ability to coach these young guys,” Golesh said. “We have so much to clean up and so much to get better at. I know that sounds like coach talk but the win can’t hide some of the stuff that needs to get cleaned up. It just can’t hide it.”
Regardless, Auburn did what it needed to do in order to win the game.
The Tigers took control of the ball with 6:26 remaining in a one-score game and found a way to move the offense downfield. They did so by converting multiple third-down opportunities and by pounding the run game against Vanderbilt.
Offensive lineman Stanton Ramil would have it no other way.
“Man, I don't know if there's a better feeling than forcing the ball down the throat of the defense and just seeing them lose hope as we get next first down, next first down, next first down,” Ramil said. “It's a great feeling to do it with the guys that you've been working hard with all year, so we love an ending like that.”
Running back Jeremiah Cobb sealed the deal with a 21-yard rush on the outside to the Vanderbilt 18-yard line. He stayed in bounds in the process, drawing the clock down to the two-minute timeout.
“I saw everybody crash in, like it was about to be an inside zone, and then I just saw I had the corner to beat,” Cobb said. “I was like I could make this a big play and keep it in bounds so I could seal the game with this run. I did. Used my speed, did it for the team.”
Without any timeouts, there was nothing Vanderbilt could do except watch Auburn enter victory formation.
“That’s what we practice, that’s what we focus on, finishing games, the fourth quarter,” Cobb said. “Make sure we finish. It was pretty easy to be honest. It was routine for everybody. Everybody was calm, very detailed, so proud of them.”
