Dealing with the aftermath

AUBURN | Losses don’t get much tougher than what Auburn suffered at the hands of No. 21 Oklahoma Saturday.

The Tigers saw a 21-10 lead evaporate into a 27-21 loss in the span of just a couple of possessions in the fourth quarter.

Now, Auburn’s players must deal with the aftermath and somehow turn their focus to Georgia, one of the nation’s most talented teams, which is coming off a tough loss of their own.

“Usually I take a day,” said senior tight end Luke Deal. “I take a day and kind of decompress because I feel like everyone's emotions are high right now. After that, we talked about that process. This is the highest level of college football that it can get. If you take a day off and wallow in it on Monday when we're game prepping then you're not getting better on Monday when you're game prepping where Georgia is, or Bama is, or UL Monroe, they're getting better.

“It should mean something to you when you lose like this, a game that you should win, a game that you prepare for so hard. Your guys fight so hard, you should be hurting after this one. After one day, it's time to flip it and that's what some of these young guys need to understand.”

When a team is facing adversity as Auburn certainly is after finishing a five-game homestand 2-3, it’s important for the team’s veteran leader to step up. Deal is one of those and senior linebacker Eugene Asante is another.

“It’s tough because you’ve got guys that really care about football. The biggest thing for them is not turning on each other and allowing guys to understand that we need to execute,” said Asante. “I know it’s a frustrating thing but ultimately in the moment execute the plays. It falls with me. I’m not doing a good enough job in trying to lead our team. I have to be more vocal and more lead by example. I’m going to be doing that from here on out.”

The Bulldogs are coming off a 41-34 loss at No. 4 Alabama in which they trailed 30-7 at halftime, rallied to take a 34-33 lead before the Tide struck for a big, game-winning play in the final couple of minutes.

Auburn hasn’t won at Georgia since 2005.

“I would say it hurts. It hurts, because you're out there fighting with your brothers. Just to have that game flip on you that fast really just takes a toll on you; on the team, really,” said sophomore defensive end Keldric Faulk.

“How we pick up the momentum is they (Georgia) put us as their homecoming. So that's enough motivation as it is. We've got to create our own momentum throughout the week, and then come Saturday, they're going to get everything we've got.”

Kickoff at Samford Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.