Alabama fans are fully prepared for Auburn to pull out all the stops in Saturday's Iron Bowl to try and spring a major upset and knock the Crimson Tide out of the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff picture.
One of the biggest reasons for anxiety is due to Auburn's offensive improvement since the firing of Hugh Freeze, particularly with quarterbacks Ashton Daniels and freshman Deuce Knight showing promise, with Jackson Arnold now on the bench.
Daniels started for Auburn against Vanderbilt a few weeks ago to kick off the offensive resurgence. The Stanford transfer threw for over 350 yards and added 89 more on the ground, though Auburn ultimately lost to the Commodores in overtime.
Last week, Knight made his first career start against Mercer, throwing for 239 yards and rushing for 162 more with six total touchdowns. While Daniels is expected to start, it would surprise nobody if Auburn found snaps for both quarterbacks to keep Alabama off balance.
That's one of the surprises ESPN's Bill Connelly expects that could make life all the more challenging for the Crimson Tide in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.
"Both Ashton Daniels (against Vandy) and Deuce Knight (against Mercer) have enjoyed fantastic performances since Hugh Freeze's firing, and there isn't a ton of tape on either of them," Connelly writes. "If Auburn keeps this one uncomfortably close -- or pulls off a terribly damaging upset -- the element of surprise could be a major reason."
Is Alabama on upset alert in the Iron Bowl?
I don't think many Alabama fans feel comfortable heading into Jordan-Hare this weekend. Even though the Crimson Tide has won the last two meetings on the Plains, both games were nail-biters with Alabama needing to come from behind to win.
This weekend, any win will do, no matter how stressful. If Alabama wins, the Tide will play next week in the SEC Championship Game against either Texas A&M or Georgia. It doesn't necessarily guarantee Alabama's spot in the College Football Playoff, but it would be tough to keep them out at that point.
A loss knocks Alabama out of both and will cause some fans to begin losing faith in the direction of the program under Kalen DeBoer.
I'm firmly in the camp that DeBoer is the right guy for this job, no matter what happens on Saturday. But a second straight November collapse would be tough ot stomach if he can't lead Alabama to an Iron Bowl win.