ATHENS, Ga. — Maybe it all boiled down to Barrett "Bear" Golesh, the son of Auburn football head coach Alex Golesh, who shared a moment with his father on the field after the Tigers beat No. 1 Georgia in last-second fashion, winning 27-24 on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Sanford Stadium.
"Sometimes it takes a 12-year-old to believe, you know?" Alex Golesh said postgame, explaining that his son "got his (expletive) ripped" got being an hour late to bed Thursday, to the point his parents were considering not letting him attend the Georgia game.
That night, Alex Golesh said, when he put Barrett to bed, he just had one question: "Can I come down on the field after we win?"
FULL RECAP: Auburn football walks off top-ranked Georgia with game-winning field goal
Auburn was as much as a 20.5-point underdog against Georgia, playing a rivalry game in which it had lost the past nine matchups. It also hadn't won in Athens since 2005.
"It's pretty cool to share that with him. He's a special cat, too," Golesh said of his son before taking a beat. "I don't mean to get emotional about it. I'm happy for everybody involved. And again, it's not about me and it never will be. But it's pretty cool when a 12-year-old believes, you know what I mean?"
"We're on the field, bro." 🥹
— ESPN (@espn) October 17, 2026
Coach Alex Golesh's son never had a doubt about his dad and Auburn pulling off the upset 🧡 pic.twitter.com/FD3Pw0nJyN
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam's work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alex Golesh shares backstory of moment with son after Auburn football's Georgia win