Auburn Football Arrives at the Sugar Bowl and Gus Malzahn Press Conference Recap

The Tigers are in New Orleans

In typical N'awlins fashion, the Tigers were welcomed to town for next Monday night's Sugar Bowl with a horn-heavy traditional New Orleans Jazz band.

The Sugar Bowl officially welcomes Gus Malzahn and Auburn to New Orleans. Watch the video... http://pic.twitter.com/4wC3FfKGCt

— Auburn Gold Mine (@AUGoldMine) December 27, 2016

The Tigers will be going through a myriad of bowl week festivities and, oh yeah, also practicing for a little football game January 2nd. Shortly after their arrival, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn spoke briefly with the media. Thanks to Lauren Sisler of AL.com for providing the video at the very end.

Press Conference Recap:

The key update Gus had for everyone was that everyone on the team made the trip and is academically eligible. That's always good to hear when the semester ends. There have been times in the past where players can't play in the bowl game because of failing classes during Fall Semester. This is either the 3rd or 4th year in a row according to Gus.

As for the QB situation, that's a bit less clear. Gus is saying that he's practiced well and that they expect him to be ready to go. That's not a "he's 100% and raring to go" statement, but the wording of how much he worked in practice sure sounds like he's ready.

Gus had a good bit of praise for Kevin Steele's leadership and the defensive staff for putting together a nationally ranked defense again, which was one of the goals for the season. He also had high praise for Oklahoma's offensive talent and the challenge that it will pose for Steele's unit.

A healthy Carl Lawson was huge for the defense and the fact that Monty and Carl both returned were huge for the defense.

The Sugar Bowl is one of the best bowls in college football and he expects both teams to be extremely motivated because of that.

Gus has curfews for the team in New Orleans. The team has great leadership and he trusts them, but still has a curfew.

The offense got better over the season and found its identity in Week 4 [does that sound familiar?] and injuries plus playing some really good teams caused the stumble at the end.

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The full press conference:

Auburn's Gus Malzahn comments on Sugar Bowl arrival http://bit.ly/2i5Yygl

— LaurenSisler (@LaurenSisler) December 28, 2016

from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/2iCQ4u1
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