For 60 minutes Saturday, Auburn left everything it had on the Jordan-Hare Stadium turf against the No. 2 team in the country.
As it turns out, the Tigers played the game with a heavy heart.
In the first remarks in his opening statement following the 12-10 loss to LSU, head coach Gene Chizik announced that student assistant coach Joe Bagwell passed away suddenly Saturday prior to kickoff. He was just 23 years old.
“It is with a very heavy heart for myself and a lot of our players and a lot of our coaches right now. The young man, who was a student assistant (coach) with us, in football passed away shortly before the game unexpectedly, and it is very tragic,” Chizik said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.”
Neither the cause of death nor the circumstance’s surrounding the young man’s passing have been released.
Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Bagwell’s family, friends and the entire Auburn football program.