The Auburn Tigers will hit the practice field for the first time Friday as they begin preseason camp.
They’ll practice 14 times in 17 days mixing in four scrimmages that will most assuredly be closed to the public. After that, all energy will be focused on the Oregon Ducks.
But until then, let’s finish our look at Auburn’s schedule with what’s become the modern-day version of Amen Corner.
Ole Miss at Auburn, Nov. 2
Matt Luke begins his second official year as head coach in Oxford, Mississippi (third if you count the interim season) with two new coordinators and a hotshot freshman quarterback, Matt Corral. Rich Rodriguez is in charge of the offense and Mike MacIntyre is in charge the defense.
Is that a good thing? I honestly don’t know.
Rodriguez has fielded some potent offenses in the past, but it’s a very different style from his predecessor. The defense has absolutely nowhere to go but up as it ranks No. 111 or lower in every major statistical category.
Auburn is 30-6 against the Rebels since 1971. The Tigers always expect to win this game and this season is no different. But the Rebs will be coming off a bye week.
Georgia at Auburn, Nov. 16
Auburn has struggled with the Bulldogs in recent years going 3-11 since a dramatic victory at Sanford Stadium in 2005.
Georgia was a national power under Mark Richt, but Kirby Smart has turned them into a different animal in a short amount of time. Junior quarterback Jake Fromm threw 30 touchdowns last season with only six interceptions. D’Andre Swift is one of the best running backs in the country and he’ll be running behind one of the better offensive lines. There are some question marks at the receiver position, but the talent is there. Exceptional recruiting will also replace any missing production off the No. 13 defense in the country.
Like Ole Miss, UGA had to replace both coordinators but chose to promote from within (James Coley to offensive coordinator and Dan Lanning to defensive coordinator).
The Tigers will have two weeks to prepare for the Bulldogs and that could be extremely important late in the year.
Samford at Auburn, Nov. 23
Samford is a wonderful FCS school in Birmingham. Bobby Bowden (1949-52) and Jimbo Fisher (1987) played for the Bulldogs. Pat Sullivan coached them from 2007-2014.
That’s all I got.
Alabama at Auburn, Nov. 30
The Iron Bowl has always and will always be one of the most intense rivalries in all of sports.
Auburn won seven of eight games from 2000-07 and Alabama has now won eight of the last 11 matchups.
The Crimson Tide continues to be the class of the conference winning five of last seven SEC titles. The only thing keeping Alabama from seven straight appearances was Auburn winning the West in 2013 and 2017.
The Pachyderms are again predicted by the media to win the league and play for the national championship. To be perfectly honest, the Tigers are probably the only thing standing in their way.
The Tide doesn’t exactly have a difficult schedule and it would be a surprise if they were not undefeated coming to Jordan Hare. Talent abounds at every position in Tuscaloosa and Tua Tagovailoa was masterful last year for most of the season.
Auburn has been great against ’Bama when everything was on the line, but just getting it to that point is going to be the real challenge.