seniors get ready for final game

[aubiefifty 18,230]

Auburn's seniors get ready for final game

Updated Dec 30, 2019;Posted Dec 30, 2019

4-5 minutes

With every day that passes, the amount of time safety Jeremiah Dinson has in an Auburn uniform shrinks. That really started to hit him when he went home and spent time away from the team. Dinson called safety Daniel Thomas every day they were apart.

“I’m not used to kind of being away from the guys,” Dinson said. “It’s going to be kind of funny after Wednesday, just being away from this bunch.”

On Wednesday, New Year’s Day, 25 seniors will play their last game as Auburn Tigers. Some, like Dinson, have already started to realize the significance of that date. Others, like defensive tackle Derrick Brown, plan to look back on it after all is said and done — next week is when he expects it to hit him.

This isn’t necessarily the last football game for all the seniors. Some have the chance to make it in the NFL. But even if they do make it, it won’t be the same. Running back Kam Martin said he’s heard that it’s just different there. Guys there are older and have their lives outside the team, he’s been told.

Certain bonds will last forever — Brown said he’ll always be in friendly competition with defensive end Marlon Davidson — but talking or texting and occasional visits aren’t the same. As players scatter among the 32 NFL teams, they just can’t communicate with everyone the same way, left tackle Prince Tega Wanogho said.

That’s hard for Martin. A huge part of his personality is how friendly he is. One of his favorite things is just being able to talk with all the guys on the team every day. As his time with the program winds down, Martin is making sure he spends a little time with each of his teammates, “soaking things in.” Even with bowl preparations, Martin has had enough time to think about what it means that the Outback Bowl will be his final game for Auburn.

“I’ve been having little flashbacks and stuff (to) when I was a freshman,” Martin said. “Things have hit me a little bit. But I feel like I’m going to be alright.”

It’s been an emotional week for the offensive line, especially. They have seven seniors, four of whom are starters. Center Nick Brahms is the only starter on the offensive line who will be returning. For the rest of them, it’s their last hurrah.

“You can actually sense it from the older guys,” Wanogho said. “You can tell it’s been a little bit emotional. We’re trying to enjoy it. For me, that’s what I’m trying to do right now; just trying to enjoy my last game and the practices with my brothers and my friends.”

These emotions are something players have had to go through since college football began. The nature of the sport is that each year a group will leave and a group will arrive. Fullback Spencer Nigh has seen the seniors ahead of him go through it, and he participated as an underclassman saying goodbye and sending them off.

“It’s happening to me now,” Nigh said. He recognizes how special this is, and he’s living in the moment. “It’s something I’m trying to take advantage of and not look past."

Of course, the best thing would be for the seniors to go out with a victory over Minnesota. They’re chasing that elusive 10-win season and want to be part of the group that does it twice. Individually, they want to go out with big plays. As a group, they want to show how far they’ve come.

“It’s going to be a very amazing feeling just knowing all the work we’ve put in these last couple of years,” cornerback Javaris Davis said.

More than that, they want to leave a legacy. Martin said he’s trying to spend time with the younger guys, motivating them for the future, for seasons when he is no longer there to cheer them on from the field. The seniors have tried to work hard and do the little things right, and they want the younger players to continue to do so. All of these emotions, these goals and these memories are crammed into one game.

“This is it and we’re trying to go out with a bang and just start off for the up-and-coming class next year,” Davis said.