AUBURN, Ala. -- Gus Malzahn's eyes darted to the television hung on the wall outside the locker room, it capturing his attention, if only for a moment.
He was fielding questions after Auburn's season-opening win over Washington State when the flat screen on the wall cut to highlights of Alabama beating Virginia Tech, and Malzahn was drawn in.
It didn't last long, just a brief lapse that few if any among the crowd of reporters picked up on before Malzahn went on addressing the Tigers' win. But in that instance, the message was clear: The Crimson Tide have Auburn's full attention.
Now, they'll have Alabama's too.
The No. 7 Tigers edged No. 25 Georgia 43-38 in an epic finish at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday to improve to 10-1 and 6-1 in the SEC, setting up an Iron Bowl that will have an unprecedented place in the storied rivalry.
But Malzhan isn't willing to look there, at least not admittedly, not just yet.
"I'm going to enjoy this one. That one aged me, I've lost some years off my life," he said, drawing laughs from the throng of reporters. "Tomorrow morning I'm going to go to church and after church I'll flip the switch."
After the way the latest edition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry ended, Malzahn earned at least that.
*****
Ricardo Louis' message was a simple one.
Before the Tigers took the field on 4th-and-18 on their own 27-yard line, trailing Georgia 38-37 with any shot of an SEC title hanging in the balance, the wide receiver leaned in toward quarterback Nick Marshall.
"Nick," Louis said, "throw me the ball ... trust me."
It wasn't a set that Louis is usually involved in -- with Sammie Coates typically manning the inside spot -- and as he broke down the middle of the field, Marshall went through his progressions and saw Louis had a step on a defender. He floated the pass some 50 yards in desperation and it was ahead of Louis, with Georgia's Josh Harvey-Clemons and Tray Matthews closing in.
The ball was tipped by Harvey-Clemons and it careened forward, sailing over the left shoulder of Louis. He tapped it with his left hand, then without breaking stride, brought it into his body for a 73-yard touchdown.
"(Coach) says 'What's going to be your legacy?," Louis said. "I've dreamt about it all the time, making big plays ... I believe that's my legacy, that play there."
So too, for this Auburn team, will be an Iron Bowl where the stakes have arguably never been higher. For the first time in the 21 years of the SEC title game, Alabama-Auburn will decide who represents the division in Atlanta.
It's a game the very thought of which would have seemed unfathomable back in August when Malzahn peered over at Alabama on that TV.
His Tigers, coming off a 2012 season in which they went 3-9 overall and winless in the SEC -- resulting in Gene Chizik's ousting and the hiring of Malzahn -- were very much a work in progress in that win over the Cougars.
While they totaled 394 yards, including 295 on the ground, Marshall seemed reigned-in while making his Auburn debut, running just nine times while completing 10 of 19 passes for 99 yards.
He has shown flashes, throwing for 339 yards vs. Mississippi State, 224 yards in Auburn's lone loss, 35-21 to LSU, and 236 against Texas A&M, but in the three games before Saturday he had attempted a combined 16 throws.
Much of that came from the fact that the Tigers had run for 320 yards per game, third-most in the nation. Simply put: Why throw if they didn't have to?
Saturday, Georgia made him. Marshall went 15-for-26 for 229 yards and the game-winning score and he also ran for 89 yards and two more touchdowns.
"If there is a conversation for the best player in the country, I think he probably better be in the conversation," Malzahn said.
Marshall's name isn't appearing on many Heisman Watch lists, but he'll have plenty of time to make his case against the top-ranked Crimson Tide. Considering the pass defense has proven Alabama's biggest weakness, the Tigers will need Marshall's arm instead of a game plan that has largely revolved around exerting their will on opponents on the ground.
To his credit, Malzahn built a game plan against Georgia that had them on their heels early, running 13 of 15 times on their opening drive, then throwing on the first four plays the second time they touched the ball.
By halftime, the Tigers had run for 246 yards -- including 99 by Tre Mason -- and finished with 323, with Mason's 115 and a TD on 27 carries leading the way. This against a Georgia defense that yielded 177 combined yards in its last two wins, and was being lauded as the top rush D Auburn had seen thus far. It wound up being its fifth-highest rushing total of the year.
While Georgia (6-4, 4-3) opened up the third quarter with a 16-yard TD run by Aaron Murray to cut it to 27-17, the Tigers responded with Marshall's 5-yard score, seemingly putting the game back in their hands, a lead they'd build on with Cody Parkey's 32-yard fourth-quarter field goal.
But Auburn's offense stalled and its defense, which wound up allowing 532 yards and at least 35 points for the third time, was picked apart by Murray. He threw for TDs of 5 and 24 yards before adding a disputable 5-yard scoring run with 1:49 to play to give Georgia a one-point lead.
But before the Bulldogs could let their lead sink in, they watched Louis' miraculous catch and their chances of staying in the East race evaporating before their eyes.
"That's a freak play," Murray said. "It's like a nightmare. You try to wake up and we are celebrating victory. It's tough. This is going to be a tough one to get over."
Georgia would have a final try after Louis' go-ahead score with 25 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs' drive would end on the Tigers' 20-yard line as Murray's (33-of-49 passing for 415 yards) final attempt went sailing to the turf as he was hit by defensive end Dee Ford.
"This team has the it-factor," Malzahn said. "That's the bottom line."
Iron Bowls have carried plenty of weight before, standing as the last regular-season hurdle for the last four national champions. But it's failed to carry title implications for both teams.
In two weeks when they meet on The Plains, that will all change.
"I can't wait for (Alabama) get to town," Mason said. "I can't wait."
