The Auburn Tigers (2-2) are gearing up for a crucial matchup against the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners, with both teams coming off tough home losses to SEC rivals—Auburn falling to Arkansas, and Oklahoma losing their SEC debut to No. 6 Tennessee.
Auburn finds itself in a must-win situation as it faces the toughest stretch of its schedule, with three consecutive road games following this week. After facing Oklahoma, Auburn will travel to No. 2 Georgia, No. 11 Missouri, and Kentucky.
Senior linebacker Eugene Asante has been a key leader for the Tigers on and off the field over the past two seasons. With 10 tackles this season, Asante’s message to his teammates, despite their recent struggles, is clear.
“In terms of preparation, we need to step it up,” Asante said. “We have to push harder than before and play full, complete games as expected from us.”
Asante remains confident that Auburn has the potential for a successful season.
“We have everything we need to be a great football team,” he explained. “As players, we need to reflect on ourselves and our efforts. If you think you’re doing enough, you’re not.”
Heading into the Oklahoma game, Asante emphasized learning from their mistakes and building on past performances.
“Our mindset is to learn from our previous games, recognize the mistakes we’ve made, and correct them in all aspects—offense, defense, and special teams,” Asante said. “We need to put ourselves in a position to win.”
Auburn’s defense has consistently kept them competitive, but third-down struggles proved costly in their 24-14 loss to Arkansas. Asante pointed to lapses in focus as a key issue.
Redshirt freshman Sylvester Smith echoed this sentiment after the loss.
“On third-and-longs, we just need to be more locked in,” Smith said. “Sometimes, as a player, you hear third-and-long and think it’s easy, but that can come back to haunt you. We need to treat every down like a fourth down and be more focused in those situations.”
A victory on Saturday could help turn things around for Auburn, but a loss, dropping them to 2-3 with Georgia looming, would be a daunting setback.
Asante and the Tigers will face the Sooners at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with the game kicking off at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN+, with the Tigers currently 2.5-point underdogs according to ESPN.
