Auburn’s diagnosis of its 44-39 SEC-opening loss to Florida had less to do with schemes than with adrenaline, coach Alex Golesh said at his Monday news conference.
“We were so amped,” Golesh said. “You end up coming out way more emotional than you want to. At least to me, you gotta be able to just settle and play, play, to play, to play. And we didn’t do a good enough job.”
The numbers behind the loss were ugly: seven sacks allowed on quarterback Byrum Brown and 24 missed tackles by the defense. “We never got settled,” Golesh said. “Like, we never felt like we were able to get our cleats in the ground, communicate, adjust, and then be perfect in our fits.”
Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin drew the same line between playing with emotion and being emotional. “I think we were amped up in that game a lot, and it led to some, I mean, basic mistakes,” he said. Offensive coordinator Joel Gordon pointed to early nerves: “When we got a first down, we moved the ball the entire game.”
Auburn (2-1, 0-1 SEC) is still looking for its first conference win since 2024. Vanderbilt (3-0) comes to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, for Auburn’s homecoming game at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network, with the Tigers opening as an 8.5-point favorite.
Source: ABC 33/40
Opelika Daily News — Tuesday Report, Sept. 22, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
