Auburn Takes Care of Business on Senior Night, Turns Focus to Upsetting Alabama

AUBURN, Ala.—Instead of being a memorable game for the senior players and their families, Senior Night was shaping up to be one to forget for Auburn after one quarter.

Auburn's once-potent offense was averaging 1.8 yards per play. Quarterback Nick Marshall fired a bad interception that forced the Tigers' defense to make a fourth-down stop. Flags continued to mount for the SEC's most-penalized team.

Oh, and Auburn was playing an FCS opponent—the 7-3 Samford Bulldogs.

After Samford went up 7-0 midway through the second quarter, Auburn snapped into action thanks to its seniors.

"Mainly it was just us hurting ourselves," senior tight end C.J. Uzomah said. "It took Samford scoring for us to realize that we needed to get our crap together, really."

Marshall found wide receiver Sammie Coates on a 49-yard pass and senior wide receiver Quan Bray found the end zone two plays later on a 23-yard run.

The lightning-fast, three-play drive energized an entire team and a sleepy Jordan-Hare Stadium en route to a 31-7 victory.

"We just came out not ready to play at the beginning of the game," Marshall said. "But as the game got going, we got back to playing Auburn football."

Although the road to the final whistle Saturday night wasn't entirely smooth, "Auburn football" returned for a team that desperately needed a jolt after back-to-back losses and before a trip to Tuscaloosa next Saturday to take on No. 1 Alabama.

"You know, coming off the last two weeks with two losses, it was about getting the bad taste out of our mouth," senior running back Corey Grant said. "It important for us to get this win, especially for next week when we play our big rivalry. It is going to be a big game, and it was good to actually get a win tonight and get that good feeling back."

The focus on the Plains immediately turned to Tuscaloosa, even for a group of seniors just minutes removed from their final game at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

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"It's going to be a hostile environment," said Bray, who became the first player in school history to have a rushing, a receiving and a punt return touchdown in the same season. "We know that. We'll come out tomorrow and get the things we need to correct down, and then we'll go to Tuscaloosa and handle business."

For the Tigers' offense, preparing for the Crimson Tide and one of the nation's toughest defenses comes down to avoiding the slow starts that have plagued them in games big and small this season.

Auburn's scoring drought reached more than 75 minutes of game time, stretching back to the second drive of a blowout loss to Georgia, before Bray found the end zone in the second quarter:

"We just came out flat," Bray said. "We went three-and-out, and we weren't getting nothing going. Once we got things going, that's when we were at our best."

Now that the team has gone from being a national title contender to just a potential spoiler with hopes of a mid-tier bowl, Auburn defensive tackle Gabe Wright claimed the disappointments started to wear down on the Tigers.

"I'd say we had a really good week of practice," Wright said. "But I'd be a liar if I said the high expectations and goals we had set being diminished over the past couple of weeks didn’t have an effect on us."

For Wright, Samford's lone touchdown was a wake-up call for a team that was struggling to stay motivated.

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"Coming off a loss we know that we’ve got to get [momentum] back, but I feel like we did a good job this week," Wright said. "Of course, the goal this week was to beat Samford, but also to get Auburn back to the playing level we want to be. After they scored, that really rose the bar."

Motivation won't be a problem, though, heading into next weekend's massive rivalry clash in a hostile environment.

"It's probably going to be one of the funnest games I've ever played in," Uzomah said. "Obviously, the Alabama game last year was the height of my football career, but this is going to be up there. Their fans are going to be nasty.

"I don't know what they're going to be saying or doing—I know little kids flick you off sometimes. I'm looking forward to it."

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.

Justin Ferguson is Bleacher Report's lead Auburn writer. Follow him on Twitter @JFergusonAU.