AUBURN, Ala. – Three hours before kickoff on Saturday, former Auburn fullback Jay Prosch reunited with teammates from the 2013 Auburn team. They caught up on life and reminisced about that season and some of the magical moments that took place. Prosch hoped there might be some more magic in this year's game.
"You never what's going to happen," he said.
Kris Frost also returned for the reunion. He wants that 2013 team to be remembered not as a team of destiny but rather as a stepping stone for Auburn football.
"I don't want that season to go unrecognized," Frost said. "Not for the sake of notoriety but for the sake of we want the university to grow. We want to win. We want to find a way to change for the better and improve. We want to learn from that season and from the seasons after that as well as the season that came before that.
"At the end of the day, we don't want to be a miracle team. We want to be consistent. We want to find a level of consistency, and I think that's why we're all here today."
Ten years later, this 2023 Auburn team can also be seen as a stepping stone.
No, the Tigers won't be playing for an SEC Championship next week like the 2013 team did. But they showed progress and promise in Year 1 under Hugh Freeze. The biggest sign of that came during Saturday's Iron Bowl. There was no magic this time, but Auburn outplayed Alabama in many ways in a game where nobody thought the Tigers had a chance.
Ultimately, the Crimson Tide would prevail. But as Auburn looks ahead to the future, this is a game that can set the tone for next year and years to come.
"We're building a foundation for next year," senior linebacker Eugene Asante told his teammates after the game. "We understand that Alabama is a great team. They've got a great quarterback who is a dynamic player. But it's just building that confidence within those guys and letting them know that what we just experienced is a tough thing but (we're) just growing for the future and understanding to put our best foot forward.
"That's something we're going to continue to emphasize. This is not the end. We're going to continue to work hard. I see a bright future for us."
No moral victories in this game. Just wins and lessons learned. A few things I learned…
— Elijah McAllister (@e_mcallister1) November 26, 2023
1. We have the best fans in the country!
2. This program is headed in the right direction and it's happening fast. If I'm a recruit I'm getting on board asap.
3. It's all God.
War Eagle 🦅
It was a season full of ups and downs. Auburn won its first three games, including a hard-fought road win against a Cal team that became bowl eligible Saturday. That was followed with a four-game losing streak against four of the top teams in the SEC – three of which will be ranked in the top 15 nationally next week.
But the Tigers rallied and ripped off another three-game winning streak all against SEC teams, beating Mississippi State at home and then Vanderbilt and Arkansas on the road. The 48-10 win at Arkansas got Auburn to six wins and made them bowl eligible.
Then Saturday, after a disappointing loss the week before, Auburn rallied once again and put on a show in front of another sold-out crowd in Jordan-Hare Stadium, creating a home environment unlike any other in college football.
"We have the best fans in the country, and that atmosphere tonight was off the charts," Freeze said. "Best I've ever been a part of. I just wish we were out there celebrating right now together. We do have a lot of good recruits here, and hopefully they see even in Year 1 we can close the gap pretty fast on the upper echelon of this conference."
Freeze was as disappointed as anybody after Saturday's loss, but the vision he has for this Auburn program didn't change. If anything, it reinforced that vision.
"We're going to be one of the elite programs in the country," he said.