Auburn Faces Noise, Rain and Tennessee. None of It Can Become an Excuse

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The Auburn Tigers are going to have plenty of potential distractions on Saturday as they travel to their first road SEC game of the season.

In Knoxville, Neyland Stadium will certainly be loud, and the weather could become a huge factor.

And just because the Tigers are playing their first true road game of the season under Alex Golesh, it doesn't mean he really cares, or at least he doesn't want his team caring once the game kicks off.

“You can't control the weather piece, but we also can't make it about that,” Golesh said Wednesday.

That certainly seems to be his message throughout the week, and Auburn certainly knows what they're walking into. Golesh called Neyland Auburn's first “truly hostile environment” earlier this week.

The Tigers head coach has said they've prepared for crowd noise since spring camp, and they've apparently done the same with rain, ensuring they're ready for all elements and distractions.

“We prep for the wet ball piece of it literally all spring, all camp,” Golesh said. “Like we take days, we work it. We work it every week in season.”

So if it rains Saturday, Golesh doesn't want to hear about Auburn being unprepared for it.

Same thing with the crowd.

“It's the same thing with the crowd noise,” Golesh said. “You're aware of it. You have elements that you got to make sure you check off the list, but it's the same thing. And you work on it in the fall and during fall camp, and you can't make it about that.”

Getting ahead of this while you're building your program, as a first-year head coach does, is thoughtful and important for the future of the Auburn Tigers because it's definitely different. Acknowledging something and then allowing it to become an excuse once game day arrives.

Rain could absolutely change how this game is played.

A wet football potentially makes ball security more difficult. It could also push both teams toward a more physical game.

And considering Auburn has been trying to establish its rushing identity, that could become pretty interesting.

But Golesh appears to be making it clear that he doesn't care about the forecast, about whether it helps the Auburn Tigers or not. His focus is on how Auburn responds, period.

“It's been about us,” Golesh said.

And to be honest, that's probably exactly where Auburn's focus needs to be. In the SEC opener at Jordan-Hare Stadium a few weeks back against the Florida Gators, Auburn was very emotional heading into the game and did not control the energy the way they needed to. They must ensure that's corrected as they head into Neyland Stadium this Saturday, with 100,000+ making noise around you.

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