Previewing Alabama Football regular season games: Auburn Tigers

This is the second post in a series previewing Alabama Football regular-season opponents. The first post, grouped together the three biggest underdogs, Mercer, Southern Mississippi and New Mexico State.

The remainder of the series will work back from Auburn to Miami, with each post previewing one Crimson Tide opponent.

Alabama Football at Auburn – Nov. 27

The always an enigma Auburn Tigers will meet the Crimson Tide for the 87th time. Alabama Football leads the series at 47-37-1. The Crimson Tide has won seven of the last 10 games. The three Auburn wins have all come in Jordan-Hare.

Since the Tigers’ 2010 National Championship, Auburn has arguably been the most unpredictable team in the SEC. Under new coach, Bryan Harsin, where the Tigers will be at the end of November is a hard call. Harsin’s head coaching success (76-24) has mostly come against foes that could not compete in the SEC. Auburn began the 2020 season with aspirations of being an SEC contender. Instead, the Tigers stumbled to a five-loss season.

Harsin begins a rebuild with an average amount of returning experience. Based on Phil Steele’s reliable calculations, Auburn will be the seventh-most experienced team in the SEC and No. 4 among SEC West teams.

Experience matters, but so does talent and the Tigers are short on talent in some position groups. The position group affording the most promise for Auburn is running back with Tank Bigsby and Shaun Shivers. Behind the two top Auburn runners are unproven players.

Bo Nix, at quarterback, is solid but not great. The offensive line, with the return of Super Senior, Brandon Council, from an ACL and a shoulder injury, is filled with seniors and starting experience. Wide receiver is a big question mark for the Tigers. Sixth-year transfer Demetris Robertson could be a boost to Harsin’s offense. Robertson was a 5-Star, top receiver recruit in the 2016 class. He did well as a freshman at Cal, and had a respectable season at Georgia in 2019. Otherwise, his college career has been unremarkable.

Defensively, the Tigers have some strength at linebacker and in the defensive backfield. Junior, Zakoby McClain and sophomore Owen Pappoe are tough, talented players. Defensive line could be a big problem for the Tigers. Big Kat Bryant left for UCF and Daquan Newkirk transferred to the Florida Gators. Recently it was announced Super Senior Tyrone Truesdell is not on the team. Bryan Harsin said,

"As of right now, he’s not a part of this football team. That’s where we stand at this point."

Harsin appears to be leaving the door open for a Truesdell return. The Tigers will need him. Sophomore defensive tackle, Jeremiah Wright tore an ACL in spring practice.

Position Groups – Alabama Football vs Auburn

• Quarterback – Even with Bryce Young being unproven – advantage Alabama
• Running Back – Bigsby is a great back but the Tide is SO deep with talent  – advantage Alabama
• Wide Receivers – The Tide must reload but even so – advantage Alabama
• Offensive Line – Pass blocking is a question for the Tigers – advantage Alabama
• Defensive Line – Decided advantage  Alabama
• Linebacker – Decided advantage  Alabama
• Secondary – Advantage Alabama
• Special Teams – Advantage Alabama

It is far too early to predict a score, but a broad prediction is a Crimson Tide win in a game that is not close.

How will the Tigers do overall? Four wins, six losses and two maybes is a quick guess.