NASHVILLE – One more game.
For the Auburn seniors who were carried off the field by their teammates after practice last week, the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Thursday is all they have left in their careers. It's one more chance to wear the "AU" on their helmet. One more chance to leave their mark and go out the right way.
"We had high expectations early on in the year," senior linebacker Deshaun Davis. "We fell short of those expectations. But leaving Auburn on a winning note – it's something that we personally talk to each other about and say we want to do. Everyone's playing in the game, everyone's bought in. We just feel like a win's going to be huge for the program."
Admittedly, it will be easier said than done. Auburn has failed to send the seniors out with a victory in either of the last two seasons, losing to Oklahoma and UCF in back-to-back New Year's Six bowl games. The last bowl win came in 2015 when the Tigers won the Birmingham Bowl.
But this year's group knows that. They remember that winning feeling in 2015, and they also know the disappointment that went with losing last year in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
"Last year, that one hurt," senior H-back Chandler Cox said. "I hurt for those seniors because they can never come back and play another game for Auburn."
With that in mind, there's been a different attitude in the bowl practices. Sure, there's been a lot of focus on the younger players and preparing for the future. But there's also been a greater sense of urgency after what happened a year ago. In the first team meeting before bowl practices began, the players were all shown a clip of UCF celebrating on the field after beating Auburn last year.
"It was like someone sticking a fork right inside of you," Cox said. "We kind of used that as motivation to push us through these practices. It's been tough. They've been hard practices. But it's exactly what we need because any time you're pushed, you're going to be successful."
"The last time we won a bowl was my freshman year, so we're kind of taking a different approach as far as focusing," added senior linebacker Darrell Williams. "It's not been that hard to get everybody locked in and focused for the bowl game. I think everybody wants to win, and that's pretty much black and white."
A win in the bowl game could also serve as a springboard for the 2019 season.
Just look back at the last time Auburn played in the Music City Bowl in 2003. The Tigers were 7-5 and beat a solid Wisconsin team, 28-14, behind the efforts of quarterback Jason Campbell and running backs Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams. The next year, that same trio returned and helped lead Auburn to an SEC championship and an undefeated season.
The seniors obviously won't be returning for the 2019 season, but they can still make sure that it gets started the right way by knocking off Purdue on Thursday.
"I know I won't be here, but you always want to leave something for guys to come after you," senior wide receiver Ryan Davis said. "Going into the offseason, the first thing you think of is the loss that you had, especially last year. I feel like it's time for Auburn to take that next step and get that bad taste out of our mouths.
"We've had a lot of adversity since I've been here, and I feel like things are going to start turning Auburn's way now even though this season didn't go how we wanted it to. Getting a W in this bowl game, we would definitely be going in the right direction."
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf