The Auburn Tigers (4-4, SEC: 1-4) will look to settle a seven-year tie against the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-7, SEC: 0-5) this Saturday November 4th at 3 p.m. CT. The Tigers and the Commodores are tied at 21 wins apiece with the first matchup coming in 1893, which resulted in an Auburn 30-10 win over in Mongomery.
Auburn will look to break the tie in a positive way while also grabbing their first win on the road this season after a big momentum gathering 27-13 win over Mississippi State, the first SEC win for Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze while on The Plains.
A massive part of that win was Auburn quarterback Payton Throne who lead the day with a stat line of 20-for-26 with 230 passing yards with three touchdowns.
"It was just getting up there and having fun," Thorne said. "Sometimes you lose perspective throughout the year or with a losing streak, and you forget that this is a fun game we play and that we're blessed to play it."
Helping Throne with the 230 passing yards was the offenisve line, who as a group let zero sacks against the Bulldogs of Mississippi, as they look to continue the good job on the road in Nashville.
"I think it's a confidence booster first and foremost for us to be able to play together well as an offense, running the ball and passing the ball,” offensive lineman Gunner Britton said. "Obviously, it's a great day when we can go in and do both. It just goes back to our offense and our game plan and our preparation. I felt like we did a really good job of breaking through and showing how good we could be."
Another strong effort by the whole of the offensive unit will be needed as Auburn has not won in Nashville since 2003.
"It's a difficult place to play, and it's got my full attention," Freeze said. "Hopefully, our kids will be mature enough to approach this with the same hunger that they did last week."
Auburn has four games left on the season, and in order to become bowl eligible they will need to win half of them two on the road then two at home including the Iron Bowl thanksgiving weekend.
"We're 1-0," Thorne said. "People say, 'Try to go 1-0 every week.' Sometimes that's annoying to hear, but it is true. You just try to focus on one week at a time and one day at a time. That's what we're going to try to do."
Another storyline to look for is jack Elijah McAllister who will face off against his former team. McAllister is currently building on a season with 17 tackles with one sack, and a forced fumble.
“I approach this week the same as any other week,” said McAllister. “At the end of the day, it's about Auburn football and how we can play our best.”
Auburn will look to grab their first road win of the season in Nashville with help from an offensive squad that’s blossoming in front of Auburn’s fans eyes as the season enters its twilight games. The game will be broadcasted on the SEC network and the radio call can be found on the Auburn Athletics app.
