Alex Golesh, Byrum Brown Net Notable Awards After Georgia Upset

The Auburn Tigers shocked the world this past Saturday when they took down the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, overcoming a 19.5-point underdog status, 93,000 roaring Georgia fans and nine straight years of disappointment, thanks in large part to the efforts of two key Tigers.

Alex Golesh promised the Auburn faithful that he would be building a foundation for the Tigers in his first year with the program, though few expected his foundation to look quite like this. The Tigers, coming out of a bye week, looked like a completely different team, resulting in one of the biggest wins in program history.

The Tigers seemed to be improved in a variety of aspects as they took on the Bulldogs; pre-snap penalties seemed to be mostly cleaned up, Byrum Brown was rushing the ball effectively and intentionally, the Tigers controlled time of possession better than they had in any SEC matchup this year and a host of other improvements highlighted a marquee showing from Golesh’s group. 

For that and more, the Tigers’ skipper won Bear Bryant National Coach of the Week honors, the university announced on Monday.

“The thing I’m most proud of,” Golesh said after the game, “[is] that group, specifically halftime and then obviously the end of the game, is that they didn’t flinch.”

Golesh was not the only Tiger to earn honors this week, though; his long-time quarterback, Byrum Brown, who followed Golesh to USF, also netted SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Dawgs.

The Tigers’ head coach leaned heavily on his quarterback throughout the Georgia matchup; for the third time this season, Brown led the Tigers in total rushing yards, this time with 115 and a touchdown, which he accumulated over 26 total rushes for an average of 4.4 yards per carry.

Brown took to the air quite effectively as well, as the Tigers’ quarterback completed 15 of his 26 passes for exactly 150 yards and one passing touchdown. It’s certainly interesting to note that Brown attempted to rush exactly as many times as he attempted to pass, a new look for Auburn’s offense that seems to have come about in the bye week.

The Tigers won’t have much time to rest on their laurels, though; next week, Auburn will host their rival Tigers, though the incoming unit will be led by Lane Kiffin. The Tigers will take on LSU this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT, and Golesh has been adamant that the work will continue in full force throughout this week.

“The key is, and I said this last week,” Golesh said, “good win, bad loss, they’re all the same, because on Sunday, you have to reset and turn the page or it’ll carry over into the next one.”

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