The Western Carolina Catamounts are a 7-5 team that lost to Gardner-Webb and Elon. They beat Wofford by two points. Compared to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Catamounts might not be equal to Alabama's scout team.
Mercer beat Western Carolina by a score of 49-47. The Catamount quarterback, Taron Dickens, passed for 551 yards and seven touchdowns. Against Mercer, Auburn's freshman and sudden-phenom, Deuce Knight, passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns. A fair argument from Aubies would be that Knight could have passed for more yards, but didn't need to. He also rushed for 162 yards in the game.
Alabama football fans can count on a sure thing in the Iron Bowl. An Auburn defense that struggled to cover Western Carolina's receivers will struggle much more to cover Alabama's more talented receivers. Even if Ty Simpson does not fully snap out of his slump, Alabama will have passing success against Auburn.
Alabama Crimson Tide Expert Predictions
The college football experts picking Alabama to win, which is most of them, expect the margin to be less than a touchdown. Overall, the Tigers have one of college football's best defenses. The frenzy inside Jordan-Hare will make it difficult for Simpson to call his pre-snap adjustments. There is little reason to be confident that Alabama can be effective in running the ball. The game could be as close as experts predict. Hopefully, it will not come to the Crimson Tide needing a field goal to win.
There is another scenario for the Iron Bowl. It is less likely, but not impossible. It hinges on two things. One is that Auburn makes a mistake and starts Knight, or goes to him after minimal success by Ashton Daniels. The second result is the game's importance to the Auburn program, and Kane Wommack's much-improved defense rattles Knight into an inconsistent performance.
Auburn's offensive line is last among SEC teams in average sacks allowed. Remember the Auburn claims that with transfer additions, Hugh Freeze would have an NFL-bound offensive line? 17-year-old freshman center, Kail Ellis, now anchors that line. Ellis has had snap problems, and Saturday night, he will battle Tim Keenan III, giving the Crimson Tide another advantage.
Note: Games stats provided by ESPN