The last two head coaches at Auburn made promises to return the program to glory but never came close. On Saturday, Alex Golesh completed a mere six-game journey to reignite the magic Auburn had lost.
The Tigers knocked off No. 1 Georgia 27-24 between the hedges, perhaps the season’s biggest upset, beating the Bulldogs at their own game with bone-rattling physicality. Auburn scored 24 straight points to overcome an early 14-0 deficit, with quarterback Byrum Brown carrying the ball 26 times for 115 yards and the defense forcing three turnovers, including a Gunner Stockton fumble with 58 seconds remaining that set up Alex McPherson for a 34-yard field goal as time expired. Georgia was favored by nearly three touchdowns (-20.5).Â
“It’s detail — six to eight seconds,” Golesh told CBS Sports by phone while riding back on Auburn’s victorious team bus. “It’s strain. Six to eight seconds. One play at a time. That’s really hard to believe until you actually can wrap your mind around it. It’s a mindset. It’s the only way to go and play in an environment like that and be able to win that game.”
The relentless, weekly physical toll of playing in the SEC is undeniable. Coming off their monumental, exhausting clash in Tuscaloosa just a week earlier, both Alabama and Georgia fell on Saturday. Undeniably, the resulting aches and fatigue contributed to both the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs dropping games on the very same day.
“Like I say, humility is a week away,” Georgia’s Kirby Smart told reporters after the loss, the second largest upset of his career (barely behind a loss to South Carolina in 2019).Â
“This was the seventh week in a row for those guys,” Golesh said. “We were fortunate to be able to come off a bye week. It’s just part of it.”
But the story here isn’t Georgia or the AP’s No. 1 team falling in back-to-back weeks for the first time in 36 years. Saturday belonged to the resurrected calls of “War Eagle!” and the electric celebrations at Toomer’s Corner, where fans gather on the edge of campus to roll the oak trees with toilet paper to mark victories. Long considered the SEC’s most magical program, Auburn’s ability to beat top-5 programs and win conference and national championships remains extraordinary — especially as it is geographically sandwiched between Alabama during Nick Saban’s unprecedented modern dynasty and Georgia as Smart hit his championship stride.
Truth be told, the five straight losing seasons since 2021 on the Plains should be less surprising than their magical, memorable and historic runs in 2010 (national title), 2013 (SEC championship), and 2017 (wins over No. 1 Alabama and No. 1 Georgia).Â
Winning is hard. Doing it against two rivals in their golden eras should be darn near impossible.
Auburn’s long road: Every season record since last win vs. UGA (2017)
| Season | Auburn record |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 10-4 |
| 2018 | 8-5 |
| 2019 | 9-4 |
| 2020 | 6-5 |
| 2021 | 6-7 |
| 2022 | 5-7 |
| 2023 | 6-7 |
| 2024 | 5-7 |
| 2025 | 5-7 |
| 2026 | 4-2 (through Oct. 17) |
One of the first things Golesh shared after beating Georgia was the encouraging messages he received from former Auburn players Takeo Spikes and Jason Campbell before kickoff. Fan and former player support is unbreakable, but Auburn’s worst five-year stretch since the 1940s tested their resolve.
“Our fan base has been through a lot,” Golesh said on ESPN after the game. “We’re going to build Auburn back to where everybody wants it – one game at a time. Just hang with us.”
Auburn has been lost in the wilderness since 2021. Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze combined for a 24-31 record during that stretch, with Harsin’s era particularly poor. Auburn entered Saturday on a 12-game road losing streak against ranked opponents, the second-worst mark in school history.
Heck, Auburn hadn’t scored multiple touchdowns at Georgia since 2009 and the Tigers hadn’t won there since 2005. They were in danger of losing a 10th straight in The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, potentially the longest losing streak in the series’ history.
Take it from Gus Malzahn, the last coach to record a winning season on the Plains in 2020, his final season. He led Auburn to a national title as an offensive coordinator and an SEC championship as head coach, but never defeated Georgia between the hedges in his eight seasons leading the Tigers. His offense scored multiple touchdowns in Athens only once, in his first season as offensive coordinator, which was also a loss.
“I’m just really happy for the Auburn fans. Everything they’ve went through the last five years, man, I’m just really happy for them. They needed that,” Malzahn told CBS Sports. “That was a huge deal. It’s hard to not just beat a No. 1 team, but on the road, especially at that place? Unbelievably impressive. Great job by Golesh and his staff, because I know how hard it is to win there. Big-time win.”
Whether Auburn is back on the map is an argument for another day. The Tigers certainly appear primed to return to the postseason this fall. The building blocks also appear in place for a return to the top half of the SEC next season, with a solid NIL budget, a promising recruiting class and a strong base of talent already on campus.
On Saturday night, the Auburn faithful descended on Toomer’s Corner en masse to celebrate its biggest win in seven years. They closed the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue as fans stood shoulder to shoulder, packed together in downtown Auburn. They call themselves the “Auburn Family,” a moniker ridiculed outside eastern Alabama, but true for all who live and breathe it.
For Golesh, most of his family was back home for his daughter’s Homecoming festivities. His wife called Saturday night to tell him Auburn fans had rolled their house with toilet paper. “Only in Auburn do people know where you live,” Golesh told reporters.
His son, Bear, didn’t stay behind. On Thursday, he asked his father, the Auburn head coach, a question.
“Dad, can I get on the field after we win?” Golesh said on ESPN after the game, fighting back tears.Â
“I mean, he’s getting his ass ripped for not making his bed,” Golesh told CBS Sports later. “And all he cared about is, can I be on the field after we win?”
He looked at his son on the field and pulled him in tight with his left arm.Â
“We’re on the field, bro.”
Saturday’s monumental upset was the first time an unranked team beat a No. 1 on the road since 2007. In the future, Golesh hopes it’s just another win on the road to a championship for an Auburn program that hasn’t finished in the top 25 since 2019 or appeared in the SEC Championship Game since 2017.
Heading into Saturday, Auburn was tagged as a three-touchdown underdog facing a Georgia program that had strung together 53 consecutive wins against unranked opponents. Yet the Tigers pulled it off, rallying from a 14-point deficit to something an unranked team hadn’t done since 1998 — when, strangely enough, Nick Saban guided Michigan State to a stunning rally to beat No. 1 Ohio State as an unranked squad.
Not many saw this coming. Golesh’s son apparently did.
“I believed him,” Golesh told CBS Sports. “I get emotional on that simply because nobody gives you a chance, and then your 12-year-old son actually believes that you can go win that game. As neat as that is, it’s such a true story.”
Auburn’s magic is back.
