Alex Golesh Details Auburn's ‘Difference in the Game’ Against Vanderbilt

The Auburn Tigers did not exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence against Vanderbilt this past weekend, winning 21-15, but they still managed a win, largely in part to their exceptional effort on special teams.

The Tigers had two major special teams moments throughout the game; first, Cody Sigler blocked a Commodore field goal early in the second quarter, while later on, Omar Mabson blocked a punt that Cade Carlson took to the end zone for the score that ended up being the deciding factor of the game.

Both of these plays severely changed the flow of the game, giving the Tigers advantages seemingly out of nowhere, and that quality is not lost on the Tigers’ head coach, Alex Golesh.

“That was the difference in the game,” Golesh said in his Monday press conference. “For the margin on special teams to go our way, obviously the blocked punt for a touchdown at a really, really big time. And then probably not talked about enough is Cody Sigler's blocked field goal and this is one of the better kickers in the country. For him to be able to get his hand on it turns out to be a really big swing there in the game.”

Especially in a game in which the Tigers’ offense was held to just 14 points on a total of 279 yards of offense, special teams are crucial to emerging victorious in SEC matchups. The Tigers certainly would have liked to perform a bit better on offense, but at the end of the day, any game is helpful if it goes in the win column.

The Tigers have a brutal schedule coming up in the month of October, in which special teams could very well prove to be the difference in any of the Tigers’ four matchups, especially if the offense looks like it did against Vanderbilt.

“It's a credit to our special teams unit,” Golesh continued. “It’s a credit to our defense and the buy-in on the field block side. We keep talking about just keep giving effort, it’ll come, just keep giving effort. It's really good to have proof of concept there for our own guys to be able to understand that.”

Up next for the Tigers and their special teams unit is a matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers, which is scheduled to be played in Knoxville this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN.

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