AUBURN, Ala. – On the bus ride to the airport after the Missouri game last Saturday, senior wide receiver Robert Lewis sent a text to his teammates. “That’s on me,” he told them. Lewis dropped a would-be touchdown late in the third quarter. But that one play didn’t decide the game.
Both Jerrin Thompson and Malik Blocton owned up to mistakes they made on Missouri’s game-winning drive. Thompson lost contain on a third-down blitz while Blocton missed a tackle in the backfield and then failed to fill his gap on the next play, leaving it open for Missouri to run through for the go-ahead touchdown.
“I was trying to make up for the play before,” Blocton said. “I was thinking in my head, ‘I just missed a tackle, so I’ve got to go make one.’ I was trying to do something spectacular, and I can’t do that. That was a freshman mistake. I can’t make that mistake again.
"I put that on me. I told the d-line, ‘That’s my fault.’ I’m going to try to get better."
It would be easy for Auburn to point fingers at this point in the season. It would be easy to give up on the year and simply throw in the towel. Instead, the players are taking accountability for their mistakes and working every day to correct them, knowing the margin between winning and losing is so small.
“It shows that the team is not going to be divided,” pass-rusher Keldric Faulk said. “It shows that when we go out there the rest of the season, we can play for each other and not for ourselves. Whenever we step on the field, it’s fighting for the brother beside you and not for the name on your back.
“The name on your back is what you came here to play for, but once you made the connections with your brothers on this team, you’re fighting for the name on the front. You’re fighting for the man beside you. Your job is to do your job, and when you do your job, you are helping everybody else on this team.”
The Tigers will have another chance to play for name on the front this weekend as they travel to Kentucky for a third straight SEC road game. It’s another opportunity to get a conference win and right the ship before the final stretch in November. It's another opportunity to finish.
“We’re in these games. We have to figure out a way to finish,” Thompson said. “That’s all it is. We’ve got great players, a great scheme, great coaches. It’s all on us just laying it out there and finishing the games.”
Saturday’s game will kick off at 6:45 p.m. CT from Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. The game will be televised on SEC Network with Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb and Ashley Stroehlein on the call. You can also listen to Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and Will Herring who will have the radio call on 94.3 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the Auburn app.