Auburn seniors cherishing last game

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oanow.com

 

‘One last time’: Auburn seniors cherishing last go-around in Music City Bowl

Justin Lee | Auburn Reporter Opelika-Auburn Newsjlee@oanow.comFollow on Twitter @AUBlog|@ByJustinLee

4-5 minutes

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Deshaun Davis said he shared a moment with his fellow linebacker Darrell Williams on Friday on Auburn’s practice field, as the two seniors went through workouts with the rest of their Tigers team with bowl practices kicking into gear on the Plains.

They counted them down: Five more practices left for them at the Auburn athletics complex.

The same goes for the rest of Auburn’s seniors, closing out final exams and looking over the home stretch as the team gets set for the Music City Bowl.

“It’s kind of crazy that it’s ending and ending so fast for me,” Davis said, speaking with the media Friday night.

“But I feel like every Saturday I went out, I gave Auburn University everything I’ve had. I have no regrets.”

And, of course, there’s still one matter of business left to attend to.

“I’m going out here to do the same thing, times 10, if I can find that in me, in this bowl game and move on with my career.”

Auburn plays Purdue in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 28 in Nashville, Tenn.

For Auburn seniors like Davis, of course, the event will mark a bittersweet finale to their careers on the Plains.

But the Tigers are looking forward to that ride, and looking forward to going on it together.

Against what’s become a growing trend across the nation, all of Auburn’s seniors and NFL Draft-eligible players plan to play in the bowl game and finish the season with their team, as all indication has pointed this week.

Quarterback Jarrett Stidham has announced he’ll be forgoing his senior season at Auburn to enter the 2019 NFL Draft this spring, but Auburn has announced he will be playing the bowl for Auburn. Draft-eligible junior defensive lineman Derrick Brown took to Twitter earlier this month to make clear that he’ll be playing in the bowl game, as well, though he hasn’t announced whether he’s made plans for 2019 yet.

For the Tigers, while no championships will be on the line in the Music City Bowl for a 7-5 Auburn team and 6-6 Purdue, Auburn’s seniors and those departing juniors, however many of them there may be, are glad to suit up together one more time in Nashville.

“That’s definitely exciting, to see everybody come in one last time,” Auburn senior receiver Ryan Davis said Friday. “I’m just happy to see everybody just wanting to get it right and finish the right way. I feel like it’s the most encouraging thing to me.”

Malzahn said Thursday that he believes all his draft-eligible players will be suiting up for the bowl.

“I think all our guys want to play,” he added. “We’ve got a close bunch.”

Auburn’s seniors, Deshaun Davis and Ryan Davis both said, also want to go out with a win in their final bowl after Auburn’s lost its last two bowl games.

Auburn beat Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl to cap the 2015 season when Auburn’s true seniors were freshmen, before the Tigers lost to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and UCF in the Peach Bowl to end each of the last two seasons.

“It’s extremely important, man, especially for me and the seniors,” Deshaun Davis said. “We had high expectations early on in the year. Of course, 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. I mean, we just feel like a win’s going to be huge for the program. You got a fresh start with a new offensive coordinator. Defense is still going to be intact; got a lot of talent, a lot of youth still around. We feel like us getting this win and heading into 2019 with the offseason and everything, it’s going to be big for the program, so we’re trying to leave it in a better place.”