AUBURN | Minutes after a comeback win over Tennessee, Auburn’s players were already looking to next Saturday and a trip to Alabama.

The Tigers, mistake-prone after a three-week layoff, bounced back from a rough start to beat the Volunteers 30-17 and improve to 5-2 going into the 85th Iron Bowl.

“You’re going to see a whole other Auburn team next week. I promise you,” said linebacker Owen Pappoe of an AU defense that allowed 464 yards including 222 on the ground.

The offense was held under 400 yards for the first time since a loss at Georgia Oct. 3 and Bo Nix threw an interception at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time in his career.

“We made some mistakes, but our guys fought, and that’s a sign of a good team,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “We’re proud to get the victory here, and we look forward to next week.”

Saturday’s game at Bryant-Denny will be a good measuring stick for this Auburn team. The last time it faced a Top 5 opponent on the road, it lost to the Bulldogs 27-6. The Tide will enter the game ranked No. 1 and having out-scored its last three opponents 152-20.

“We’ve definitely got a lot of respect for them,” Pappoe said. “They’ve got a Heisman frontrunner at quarterback. So. It’s the Iron Bowl. It’s Auburn vs. Alabama. It’s going to be a whole different energy in the complex next week. We’re going to be really locked in and ready for them.”

Auburn hasn’t won in Tuscaloosa since the Cam Back in 2010. The Tide jumped out to a 24-0 lead before Cam Newton brought the national champions back for a 28-27 win.

This year’s game is scheduled to kickoff at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.

“It’s gonna be a fun and exciting game. You know it’s gonna be physical,” safety Jamien Sherwood said. “It’s the best rivalry in college football so you know they’re gonna come out with all their gameplans; shots, you know, they’re gonna put on it’s a home game for them so they’re gonna try and play their best ball in front of their fans.

“They’re gonna try and embarrass us but we’re just gonna do our normal stuff. We’re gonna play ball, have a great week of practice this week and we’re just gonna do what we normally do. It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing at the end of the day, you know, it’s just be ourselves. The only person who can beat us is ourselves. It’s all about what we do right and what we don’t do wrong.”