“Ever to Conquer, Never to Yield” Means Never Being Complacent

Forty hours can make a difference in …
It’s been two days since Auburn’s devastating loss in Baton Rouge. And the pain felt by so many hasn’t gotten any better. Auburn seemed to be on a roll  coming into LSU’s Tiger Stadium. The Orange and Blue were undefeated in league play, ranked No.10 and averaging 48 points against SEC opponents. Expectantly after the disheartening loss questions abound.
We can look at injuries to key payers on both sides of the ball, injuries that had a major impact on the offnensive line and the 1st string secondary inn particular. Droped also passes played a roll but the biggest impact came on a 75 yard tounchdown return to draw LSU within two points in the fourth quarter.
However, all those things are part of the game, good teams find away to overcome them. The most troubling thing to irritate so many in the fan base was why did Auburn takes it’s foot off  the gas after leading by 20 nothing in the first half?
Even the casual football fan understands 19 straight first-downs in the second half revealed that’s exactly what the Tigers did. And the players knew it too. LSU punt returner D.J. Clark may have said it best, “We wasn’t even supposed to be in the game, so once you let us stay in the game, we wasn’t going to give it up.”
“We thought we had the game in the bag,” running back Kerryon Johnson said. “We stopped fighting and we gave it to them on a silver platter. I think as an offense … we got complacent.”
That is the most concerning thing to come out of the game. You simply can’t get complacent in the SEC, especially on the road in a hostile environment. Afterwards Coach Malzahn said the loss hurt but the team will bounce back.
We all hope he’s right. At 5-2 and 3-1 in SEC play, the Tigers goal of competing for a SEC championship is still there; although the odds are now much slimmer than before.
We also hope the team can get over the disheartening loss to play Arkansas this weekend. Auburn can’t afford to take the Razorbacks lightly. They are a team Auburn should beat but then again so was LSU. If Auburn gets a lead in Fayetteville and takes the foot off the gas again the same outcome could occur.
Now I want to preference this next statement by saying those who have followed this writer over the last few years know I’m an unabashed Auburn homer. However, what we’ve saw on Saturday can not continue.
Please don’t misinterpret that statement to read that I’m calling for a coaching change. I would never that. But I am calling for change. A change in not ever again being complacent.
There has to be a commitment to that part of the Auburn Creed that says, “Ever to Conquer, Never to yield.”
War Eagle!
The post “Ever to Conquer, Never to Yield” Means Never Being Complacent appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.


from Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog http://bit.ly/2gKz728