The Auburn Tigers are one of the most talented teams in college football. They being the 2018 season with high expectations after winning the SEC West last season. The Tigers are ranked 12th in the LastWordOnCollegeFootball Preseason Top 25 and ninth in the A.P. Preseason Top 25. Those expectations will meet a grueling schedule, however.
Auburn Schedule Breakdown, Part One
The Tigers start the season in the same building they finished 2017 against the Washington Huskies in Atlanta. They are on the road against their two biggest rivals, Georgia and Alabama, and against upstart Mississippi State. We take a look at the first half of Auburn’s schedule here.
September 1: Washington (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia)
This season’s Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game is the marquee matchup of week one. It’s the first ever meeting between Auburn and Washington. This is also the only game in week one that features two top ten teams and one of only four Top 25 matchups.
Washington returns a lot of talent, including four-year starting quarterback Jake Browning and star running back Myles Gaskin. They also bring back nine starters back from a defense that was ranked eighth in total defense nationally in 2017.
Washington will obviously be a big challenge for Auburn. Auburn’s ability to establish a run game on offense and the ability to stop one of the Huskies two offensive stars will determine who wins the week’s premier game.
September 8: Alabama State (Home)
Auburn may really need this game for two reasons. If they beat Washington then they may need to rest some players still recovering from a physical first game. If they lose to Washington then they may need to figure some things out. Alabama State is coming off a 5-6 season and removed the interim tag on Head Coach Donald Hill-Eley.
This game won’t be about the Hornets, though. It’ll be all about Auburn. Also, with the new redshirt rule, this might be an opportunity to get some playing time for other players such as quarterback Cord Sandberg?
September 15: LSU (Home)
If Auburn has a revenge game this season, this is it. Fans in both Auburn and LSU have not forgotten that the Tigers from Auburn blew a 20-point lead last season in a 27-23 loss to LSU. The loss also made it nine straight wins for LSU over Auburn in Baton Rouge. This was the game that kept some heat off of LSU Head Coach Ed Orgeron.
Auburn learned their lesson from this game and began running more of an open offense for quarterback Jarrett Stidham. This is a game Auburn should win, but if they don’t the season could go south very quickly. With a tough opener, another loss to LSU could put Auburn at 1-2 after three weeks.
September 22: Arkansas (Home)
Auburn continues their home stretch with a game that they should win convincingly. It’s no secret that the Razorbacks are rebuilding under first-year head coach Chad Morris. The big mismatch in this contest is the Auburn defensive line against the Arkansas offensive line. Remember the Razorbacks gave up 35 sacks last season and they are transitioning from a more traditional offense to the spread.
Speaking of the spread, the most intriguing storyline of this game may be the relationship between Morris and Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn that dates back more than 15 years.
September 29: Southern Miss (Home)
Auburn takes a break from conference play to host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in week five. Southern Miss is coming off an 8-5 season that ended with a 42-13 loss to Florida State in the Independence Bowl. The Golden Eagles do return starting quarterback Kwadra Griggs. Griggs led the team with 16 touchdowns in 2017. If Southern Miss wants to be competitive in this game, Griggs must have a career-defining game.
The Auburn secondary could be the weakness of an otherwise great defense this year. The Tigers lost Carlton Davis, Tray Matthews, and Stephen Roberts from last year’s squad. While the Huskies will test the Tigers secondary in week one, it’s this game that will show just how good — or bad — the Auburn secondary is this year.
Auburn should take care of business here with a huge road test on the horizon.
October 6: Mississippi State (Away)
The first true road game for Auburn occurs in week six. The Tigers travel to Starkville to take on the Bulldogs. Just as the LSU game is Auburn’s revenge game in 2018, so to will Auburn be the target of revenge for Mississippi State this season. After a ton of build up to the 2017 contest, Auburn blew out the Bulldogs 49-10. If there is a team other than Auburn that can challenge the Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s Mississippi State.
Mississippi State returns talented quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and the entire offensive line from last season. Everyone will focus the Stidham versus Fitzgerald matchup, but the real matchup that will decide this game is the Auburn defensive front versus the Mississippi State offensive line. State only allowed 13 sacks last season and Auburn was able to get to the passer 37 times. Of course, 10.5 of those sacks belonged to Jeff Holland, who is now in the NFL.
If Auburn is able to win this big road test, they should be set up for another shot at a playoff berth with both Georgia and Alabama on the horizon.
First Half Summary
Conversely, this will be the third Top 25 team in the first six games for the Tigers. At least we’ll know pretty soon what to expect from the 2018 version of the Auburn Tigers.
The first half of the season sets up well for Auburn. They get Washington only two hours from campus in building they played in twice last season. They get their first two conference games at home. And games against Alabama State and Southern Miss give them opportunities to make needed adjustments early in the season.
If they find ways to defeat both Washington and Mississippi State, Auburn will go into the toughest part of the season with plenty of confidence.
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