Skinny - Tommy Tuberville is out and Gene Chizik is in. Despite winning just 5 games last season, Tuberville led the team to 42 victories in a four season stretch before that and Chizik only won 5 games in two seasons at Iowa State. Chizik was a very successful coordinator, but getting an SEC job after proving nothing in the Big 12 isn't very logical especially since that was his first head coaching gig. To make things worse, Auburn is coming off a terrible year on the offensive side of the ball. They ranked 104th in total offense and 110th in scoring offense. Hiring a defensive coach won't help here either. On the brightside, the Auburn defense should be legit despite Sen'Derrick Marks leaving early. Auburn will be led by former Duke Head Coach and Minnesota coordinator Ted Roof, who vastly improved the Minnesota defense in his short stint there, and they return 7 starters from a team that managed to win a game 3-2.
Strength - The back 7
The linebackers and secondary should keep the team in games this season, as the offense attempts to put points on the board. Craig Stevens and Josh Bynes return at linebacker and highly touted junior college transfer Eltoro Freeman should provide an immediate spark. The secondary ranked 19th in the country in yardage last season, but did struggle in keeping the opposing team out of the endzone through the year. The brightside of last year's struggles were that they came as a result of injuries and inexperienced freshman. With 3 starters back and a de-facto fourth in Aairon Savage, the projected starter last season before a season ender, and a deep experienced group expect the secondary to finish in the top 15 yardage and keep the TD-INT ratio down much farther than last season.
Weakness - Quarterback
Does anyone want the starting job, because whoever seems to audition for the job seems to fall flat on their face. Kodi Burns will be the assumed started but not because he separated himself from the pack last season. Burns adds another dimension to the offense, as he can run evidenced by his 150+ yard performance last season versus UT-Martin but he had a 2-7 TD-INT ratio. He battled Chris Todd last season for the job and the pocket passer failed to stay healthy or keep a positive TD-INT ratio either (5-6). Neil Caudle will only further the uncertainty for the job, but he's never proven himself in a game environment. Auburn badly needs a quarterback to step up or they will see themselves at the bottom of the SEC
Key Game - October 10 @Arkansas
Auburn is lucky and dodges Florida from the East and gets to play Kentucky. Their SEC schedule really gets started the week before this game at Tennessee, but this game at Arkansas could really begin a downward spiral for the Tigers if they were to lose. Besides Furman and Kentucky, Auburn will be the underdog in their remaining games. The SEC West is one of the top 2 divisions in college football and Auburn, despite having a favorable schedule with teams, is unfortunate in the location of their games.
Key Player - Ben Tate
Tate has proved over the years that he has a lot of ability, but he only had 159 carries last season. Auburn has a good history lately with running backs with Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons, and Brad Lester but Tate must show why he was solid his first two seasons in his final season at Auburn by finally rushing for 1000 yards. Pending no unexpected injuries, he will run behind a solid line and 1000 yards is not out of any realm of possibility. The passing game will probably struggle, but Tate has the ability to take the game into his own hands if the defense can play like they did last season. It doesn't take many points to win at Auburn, but Tate only had 3 TDs last season and thats unacceptable.
Impact Freshman - Emory Blake
Predicted SEC finish - 5th (West)
Top 5 Players
1. DE Antonio Coleman
2. RB Ben Tate
3. P Clinton Durst
4. CB Walter McFadden
5. T Lee Ziemba
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