Auburn's 2017 season can be encapsulated with one tried and true idiom: It's not about how you start; it's about how you finish.

That's been the case for the sixth-ranked Tigers, who jumped out to early leads in both of their losses this season in two different Death Valleys. It has also been the case the second half of the season, as Gus Malzahn's team has bounced back from its potentially crippling second loss with four straight convincing wins to set up a winner-take-all Iron Bowl next weekend to decide the SEC West.

When Auburn (9-2, 6-1 SEC) hosts No. 1 Alabama (11-0, 7-0) on Saturday, however, the Tigers know that it will be about how they start and finish against the Tide.

"With Alabama, I feel like we're just going to have to come ready and be prepared," Auburn receiver Ryan Davis said. "Alabama is a great team. We can't slug around with them and play around with them because they'll put points up on you. We just can't fall behind early."

In other words: Auburn's offense will need to avoid the same kind of lethargic start it had during this weekend's 42-14 win against ULM.

Against the Warhawks, Auburn came out and scored a touchdown on its opening drive, moving the ball down the field with aplomb while putting together a nine-play, 80-yard drive in less than 3 minutes. After that, however, the offense stalled for much of the first half.

"We came out a little slow, which is uncharacteristic of us," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Auburn's next four drives proved fruitless. Jarrett Stidham threw a rare interception to thwart Auburn's second drive, and then the Tigers punted on the three drives that followed, including a three-and-out with 4:11 to go in the half.

The offense finally got rolling just before halftime, after ULM pinned Auburn at its own 4-yard line with 2:01 to play in the second quarter. Auburn quickly put together a four-play, 96-yard touchdown drive that took just 34 seconds and was capped by a 50-yard touchdown pass from Stidham to Slayton to make it 14-7 going into the break.

While it gave Auburn the lead just before halftime, the 14 points were the Tigers' fewest in the first half of a game since scoring just 10 in the first half against FCS program Mercer back in Week 3.

"It was hard and we definitely struggled," running back Kerryon Johnson said of the first half. "... It happens, there's nothing you can do about it now. We've just got to make sure that we put that behind us."

Things changed for Auburn after halftime, as the Tigers remained a dominant second-half team -- a trend for Malzahn's team since that October loss to LSU. Auburn outscored ULM 28-7 in the second half, including 14-0 in the third quarter as the Tigers improved their third-quarter advantage to 70-17 over the last four games.

"Obviously you want to come out and start fast," Stidham said. "Our motto the second half of the season has been to start fast and finish strong. I thought finished really well today; we just didn't start very well. It is just part of the game."

It's part of the game Auburn will have to make adjustments for this week in preparation for the Iron Bowl. Alabama has allowed opponents to score first just twice this season -- against Texas A&M and Mississippi State -- and trailed just four times in the first half of its 11 games: against FSU, Texas A&M and twice against Mississippi State. Auburn, meanwhile, had outscored opponents 164-60 in the first half of its previous seven games prior to ULM.

"I think it was odd," Malzahn said of the slow start against ULM. "We didn't have that edge that we have. We talked about it, and we really had a good week of practice. We didn't come out like we have the last five or six times to start the game, but every game is valuable from a coach's standpoint. Even though we didn't start out real fast, we came out after halftime and took care of business."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.