No signs of improvement but Chizik likes the Tigers’ fight

There is nothing tangible Auburn coach Gene Chizik could say his team improved on during what has been an historically bad season. Asked what his squad, which is 2-8 and 0-7 in the SEC – the worst performance for the program since 1952 – has improved on this season, Chizik could not cite a single team-wide improvement, instead complementing his team’s resolve.

“The thing that I can appreciate the most about this team is that through all of the adversity and all of the tough times that are obvious I feel like they’ve just kept fighting,” said Chizik, who is 37-37 as a head coach including 32-18 at Auburn. “There’s been some improvements I think more in probably individuals than groups because that’s one of the things that’s been part of the problem is the inconsistency of our play as a whole. But guys have improved, young guys have improved.”

It’s hard to square the proverbial circle of the stick-to-itiveness Chizik claims to see with all-time bad performance against Texas A&M and Georgia and a winless season in the SEC. The Aggies gained a record 671 yards against the Tigers and the Bulldogs were dominant in one of the most lopsided meetings of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

“I think that’s the frustrating part for everybody because it doesn’t always necessarily matchup on game day,” Chizik said. “The Georgia game and the (Texas) A&M game, two very tough games to swallow but two very, very good football teams. We see these guys on an individual basis every day trying to work and that’s not always what everybody sees at the end of the day with the scoreboard.

“Trying to mesh those two together is difficult I can understand for the fans and anybody else that watches us play. I feel very strong that the guys have really hung in there and try to keep swinging.”