AUBURN | A season of adversity just kicked some more dirt in Auburn’s face.
The Tigers were beaten soundly at Alabama, 42-13 in the 85th Iron Bowl. But Gus Malzahn is once again asking his players to get up and get ready to fight again.
“That's what we talked about in the locker room. I mean, you gotta be big boys. You got to take it like a man,” Malzahn said. “They got after us. They whipped us. But we've got two games left. This is an unusual season, obviously. We'll need to rebound. We'll need to rebound like we did earlier in the season.
“It's a grind, but that's just part of it. And playing a really good team next week at home. It will be good to get back home. And then try to get some of our guys healed up.”
Auburn, which fell to 5-3, hosts No. 5 Texas A&M next Saturday. The Aggies are right in the middle of the race for one of the four college football playoff spots.
“It’s the way this year went. It’s up to us. It’s however we want to respond will dictate how we finish out the 2020 season and how we go into next year,” said quarterback Bo Nix. “You can’t look back and ponder on this one. You can learn from it. You can let it continue to beat you down or you can make progress and move forward and be better from it. That’s what we’re going to do.”
The Tigers were able to bounce back from losses at Georgia and South Carolina to win three consecutive games before Saturday’s loss to the Tide. AU has also had to overcome a number of personnel losses, whether it’s been to injuries or COVID-19 positive tests and contacts.
The opportunity to finish a respectable 7-3 against an all-conference schedule is still in reach as the calendar turns to December.
“Everybody is just trying to stay positive,” Nix said. “I think it’s important to just get back to work tomorrow and go to work on Texas A&M and put this one behind us. Of course this one hurts. It is what it is. You never want to lose, especially to your rival. We just have to get back and get going and put this behind us and have a positive mentality going into this week.”
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