Backed against a Wall, Auburn Ready to Battle Georgia

Auburn Tigers safety Caleb Wooden knows his team is in a tight spot heading to face the Georgia Bulldogs, but his team isn't going to give up.

Auburn safety Caleb Wooden is ready to take his team on the road for the first time this season when they face the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Auburn Tigers find themselves in a difficult position. WIth five-straight home games to start the season, Auburn was hoping to get off to a fast start. Instead, turnovers have plagued the Tigers as they dropped three winnable games before hitting the road against No. 5 Georgia. The Bulldogs are the first of three-straight SEC-road contests.

This situation is the definition of adversity as Auburn is on the brink of its season falling apart and the goal making an appearance in a bowl game goes from being a guarantee to nearly impossible.

Putting a team in a position like this will do one of two things: cause it to crumble completely or reveal how strong it truly is. The Tigers hope the latter is true for them.

Not only are the Tigers competing with one of the best teams in the country in what happens to be a rivalry game, they must do so in one of the hardest places for a visiting team to play in all of college football. Adversity.

Auburn safety Caleb Wooden thinks Auburn is built to overcome a challenge like this.

“Coach Durk (DJ Durkin) alway preaches ‘when adversity hits, we come together,’” Wooden said. “I wasn’t raised to quit. I don’t feel any of that taking place in the locker room. We’re going to go back to work and we’re going to keep playing hard. Whatever the outcome is, the outcome is. Quitting isn’t an option.”

Wooden has 10 tackles on the season and is no stranger to overcoming adversity.

“Adversity, to me, is an everyday part of life,” Wooden said. “In this life that we all live, everyone goes through adversity. If you aren’t going through adversity, then quite frankly, you aren’t doing it right, no matter what it is.

“This situation that the team is in, we’re in the heat of it. This is adversity at its finest, but I think with the guys we have in the locker room, we’re just gonna keep swinging back. That’s all we can do.”

Despite the not ideal start to the season, the Tigers are as close to being a complete team as they have been since Wooden arrived on the Plains.

“The people in that locker room, they make it worth it,” Wooden said. 

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT at Sanford Stadium. ABC will carry the television broadcast and the game can also be found on ESPN+.