The biggest problem Auburn will pose to Alabama in Week 14

Despite winning 51 of the 89 all-time meetings, including the last five, no matter the state of the Auburn football program, the Iron Bowl is almost never an easy game for Alabama. The Crimson Tide managed a comfortable 28-14 win in 2024, but that was in Tuscaloosa. The last time the Tide went to Jordan-Hare, they needed some Jalen Milroe magic to escape with a victory and keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Now, heading into the 2025 edition of the Iron Bowl, the Tigers may see Alabama’s 9-4 season under Kalen DeBoer as a chink in the armor (despite their 5-7 record from a year ago), and maybe more importantly, Hugh Freeze’s team will be led by a quarterback who is 1-0 in his career against Alabama: Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold. 

Arnold’s Sooners stunned Alabama in Norman last season, keeping the Tide from a spot in the expanded 12-team CFP with an impressive game on the ground. But with Auburn’s weapons at wide receiver, Arnold will need to trust his arm a little more to lead Auburn to victory. 

Cam Coleman already owns Alabama’s secondary after his freshman year

Arnold only threw for 68 yards on 9/11 passing in a 24-3 win over the Crimson Tide last season. A week later, in a 28-14 Auburn loss, then-star freshman and soon-to-be Arnold’s favorite target, Cam Coleman, caught 7 passes for 78 yards himself. The 6-foot-3, 197-pound former five-star was a nightmare matchup for Alabama’s entire secondary, but he particularly gave Domani Jackson fits. 

Following a mass exodus after Nick Saban’s retirement, Jackson transferred from USC and played a major role in stabilizing the Tide’s secondary. Now, with Jackson and Zabien Brown back for 2025, the defensive backfield is a major projected strength for the Tide. Coleman, who finished last season with 37 catches for 598 yards and eight touchdowns, will be a major problem nonetheless. 

Coleman caught four of his seven passes with Jackson in coverage for 44 yards, and he torched Brown for a 29-yard touchdown. 

Freeze did an excellent job building up his wide receiver room after arriving at Auburn, landing Coleman, Perry Thompson, and Malcolm Simmons all in the 2024 recruiting class. Then, to replace Penn State transfer KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who left for the NFL after expending his final season of eligibility with the Tigers, Freeze brought in Eric Singleton Jr. from Georgia Tech. That group will be a major handful for the Crimson Tide, and if Arnold provides the upgrade at quarterback that Freeze so desperately needs, Auburn’s offense could be terrifying for opposing secondaries next season.