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The Auburn Tigers are right where they were this time last year: 5-0, moving up the rankings and feeling pretty good about themselves.
Last time, they flopped. Coach Gene Chizik said the jury is still out on this year.
The eighth-ranked Tigers (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) visit Kentucky on Saturday night trying to extend the fast start that has led to their highest ranking in four years.
''I don't know what the difference is yet,'' Chizik said Tuesday. ''I'll know when we play Games 6, 7 and 8. I hope that we're a more consistent team. I hope that we continue to improve maybe moreso than we did at this time last year. But we're on a stretch now where this month of October we're going to find out exactly how far we have come in a year.''
They apparently got ahead of themselves in Chizik's debut season. Auburn won its first five games, entered the poll for a one-week cameo at No. 17 and promptly lost three in a row. That included a 21-14 loss to the Wildcats when mistakes - notably two straight false start penalties that helped kill a promising late drive - and a poor finish cost the Tigers dearly. Those proved to be recurring themes down the stretch.
Chizik didn't wait until this week to show his team clips from that game when Kentucky scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns - he did that months ago.
''At the beginning of the year, he made a video of just body language and mistakes that we had made that led to us not being great last year,'' left tackle Lee Ziemba said. ''Quite a big number of those plays came from this game last year. We need to eliminate that.''
If they haven't by now, they better do it soon.
The Tigers host SEC West rivals No. 11 Arkansas and No. 12 LSU the following two weeks in a stretch that will determine if they're serious division contenders. Those teams handed Auburn its two most lopsided losses of 2009 during that midseason swoon.
The Tigers insist the lesson was learned from that experience.
''We know what can happen after being 5-0 if you let your guard down,'' Ziemba said. ''Last year, we got to 5-0 and just fell off the face of the map. This year, we're going to try to prevent that from happening by first acknowledging that we're not there yet and that we need to keep working.''
Added center Ryan Pugh: ''I think it's one of those things where last year we didn't know how to be 5-0. It's kind of like it shocked us. Now, it's about building each week and keeping a steady climb to becoming a championship football team.''
Auburn does have a few reasons to believe this promising start can hold up better after struggling to a 3-5 finish. There's a dual-threat quarterback in Cam Newton, more depth on defense and the ability to close out three tight games in the fourth quarter already.
Newton's presence brings a big change to what the Tigers are doing offensively, Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said.
''Well, they were playing really good at this time last year, also, when we went down there and beat them,'' Phillips said. ''They're still playing well on offense. They are not throwing the ball the way they were last year.
''Actually they're more of a quarterback run game this year than they were last year. He's added that dimension to them.''
Defensively, the emergence of SEC sack leader Nick Fairley and other young linemen has bolstered the front group. The Tigers have allowed 10 points in the fourth quarter so far and rank 12th nationally in run defense.
But they've also struggled against the pass, which could be a significant issue the next two weeks. The Tigers, who rank 89th nationally against the pass, face the SEC's top passing offenses in Kentucky and No. 11 Arkansas.
Defensive end Nosa Eguae understands there are plenty of skeptics remaining.
''I'm sure we haven't won everybody over,'' he said.
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AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Lexington, Ky., contributed to this report.
