Auburn Starts Tough October Road With a Win In Knoxville

The fact that Auburn was 4-0 entering their first road test in Knoxville wasn't all that surprising really. Most expected them to beat Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, and Ball State. The West Virginia game was the early season swing game that the Tigers needed to win, and they got it done with a big comeback and forcing six turnovers.

But their first road test started a second season of sorts. The Tigers first four games were in the comfort of the home stadium on the Plains, and featured three non conference games. It was a preseason of sorts, but their game in Knoxville started a four game stretch where three are on the road, and will no doubt be the stretch that defines this season.

Games at Arkansas, at home against Kentucky, and on the road at LSU are what await the Tigers in October after the win in Knoxville.

So you can see why Auburn's win in Knoxville was so important. It was first and foremost, a benchmark game for new head coach Gene Chizik and his team. They needed to find out what kind of team they are by going on the road and facing a top ten defense in the country.

The result was a good one for Chizik and the Tigers with a 26-22 road win Saturday night, and the score wasn't indicative of the way Auburn controlled that game for most of the night.

The outcome could have been much worse if the Tigers converted the opportunities they had, but a win is a win, especially in your first road game of the season in a stadium with 100,000 people.

If there were any doubts about Malzahn and his offense after playing four average or below average defenses, he answered them by rolling up 459 yards of total offense on the number eight defense in the country led by Monte Kiffin.

The defense still showed they have work to do though giving up 400 yards to an anemic offense and a troubled quarterback in Jonathan Crompton. The Auburn defense is thin, and that's just something they will have to deal with as the season goes on.

The bottom line for Auburn is that they are 5-0, which not many people gave them a chance of being, and are now a top 20 team nationally. Big steps for a program that was 5-7 last season and in complete disarray behind the scenes and ready to implode.

The next three games will continue to tell us what kind of team this Auburn group is and just how good this new coaching staff is led by Gene Chizik.

But make no mistake, the win over the Vols Saturday night was not only big for the record, but it gave Auburn fans and their players another jolt of confidence that they were waiting on and needed.

Winning games at home is one thing, winning road games in the SEC is a whole other deal. This team took that next step to proving the critics wrong at Neyland Stadium Saturday night.

How will Auburn finish this tough month is yet to be seen, but Auburn fans and players should be encouraged by what they saw on Rocky Top.

It's only five games, but at least Chizik now knows he has a resilient team that can handle adversity. Auburn is a good football team.

How good?

The other undefeated teams in the SEC right now are defending champ and number one Florida, number three Alabama, and number four LSU.

Pretty good company.