Alex Golesh Admits Biggest Reason for Week 5 Loss as Tennessee RB Sends Blunt Revenge Message: “Personal for Me”

Neyland Stadium was loud, and the pressure was real. Auburn came into Knoxville hoping to pull off a statement win against No. 17 Tennessee, but things quickly unravelled in a 24-14 defeat. The Tigers showed early spark, but costly errors turned the momentum toward the Volunteers, dropping Auburn to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in SEC play.

Alex Golesh did not need much time to identify the problem. During his post-game conference speech, he pointed straight at the noise and the lack of physicality, scheme execution, and tackling of the rushing defense. He identified the penalties as the most significant factor in Auburn’s loss. The Tigers had prepared for Neyland all week. They had simulated the noise and used silent cadences. They practiced it through the summer and fall camp. It still went sideways.

“Offensively, [we] had a bunch of false starts,” he admitted. “We didn’t handle the crowd noise well enough in the first half.”

Auburn committed 11 penalties, with false starts and other pre-snap mistakes repeatedly putting the offense behind the chains. Seven of those issues came while the Tigers were using a silent cadence, according to Alex Golesh, who said the team knew exactly what it was walking into. While the preparation was there, the execution wasn’t.

“I felt like we had a good plan,” he said. “We obviously didn’t execute it, so therefore it was a bad plan. And that’s my fault.”

Auburn’s offense could not build any rhythm while repeatedly giving away ground. The problem became worse when the Tigers were pinned deep, particularly early, with Alex Golesh noting that their average starting field position in the first quarter was around the 16-yard line. But penalties were only half the mess.

The other half came after halftime, when Tennessee found something Auburn could not stop. DeSean Bishop carried 34 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including back-to-back long scoring runs that flipped the game. 

Auburn had held the Vols to 125 total yards and forced two turnovers before halftime. Edge rusher Da’Shawn Womack even sacked Faizon Brandon twice early. Then the run defense cracked. Alex Golesh pointed to missed tackles, poor fits, and a lack of defensive push as another defining part of the loss.

“Story of the game: rushing defense, some missed tackles in there, some misfits, the lack of offense in the first half and then the penalties,” he said. “You culminate all that; you talk about the margins being really, really small. And we didn’t end up on the right side of those margins by any means. So that’s the story of the game. Disappointing.”

DeSean Bishop had another layer to the night. Alex Golesh, his former Tennessee OC, was on the opposite sideline, and the RB made it clear afterward that the matchup meant something to him.

“Honestly, I’m not gonna lie, I’m gonna keep it real,” he said. “This game was very personal from just the mindset of Golesh. He was one of the reasons I was a walk-on at the University of Tennessee. So the mindset of that was just [with me] throughout the whole game.”

Towards the end, Auburn also had one final opportunity to change the game. Trailing by three, Alex Golesh went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 24-yard line. The pitch to Jeremiah Cobb went nowhere, with Tennessee shutting down the play after the Tigers could not get the perimeter block it needed. 

The head coach owned that call, too. He believed Auburn had momentum and needed to score. Instead, the possession disappeared, and the defense was forced back onto the field. Now comes the bye week. 

Alex Golesh plans to compress the schedule and put the crowd-noise problem right back under the microscope. Auburn practiced for Neyland. But none of that mattered once the stadium started roaring.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board,” he said. “We’ll obviously clean it up.”

Auburn’s next test will be Georgia. The Tigers will have time to fix the details. They also have a much bigger question to answer. And that’s whether Alex Golesh has what it takes to win against SEC opponents.

The post Alex Golesh Admits Biggest Reason for Week 5 Loss as Tennessee RB Sends Blunt Revenge Message: “Personal for Me” appeared first on EssentiallySports.