Each Friday leading up to the 2017 college football season, Sporting News will address five frequently asked questions about a player, coach, program or conference. This week, we'll address five questions about Auburn.
The Tigers are coming off an 8-5 season, and are 23-16 since winning the SEC championship and advancing to the final BCS championship game in 2013. But Auburn is certainly one of the "it" teams heading into 2017, checking in at No. 10 in Sporting News' Post-Spring Preseason Top 25, which is in line with several publications.
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"Outside we can't control but I will tell you this," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said on Monday's SEC teleconference. "Internally there's a lot of excitement, and really that's what matters. I know our offensive players are excited, our quarterbacks are, and I am, too. I'm really looking really to forward it."
Here are five FAQ about Auburn heading into 2017:
How will the new OC work out?
The relationship between offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey and Malzahn will be over-analyzed, but the Tigers' goal is to get back to the 39.5-points-per-game offensive machine they had in 2013 — or even the gold-standard of 41.2 ppg under Heisman Trophy-winner Cam Newton in 2010.
Split the difference, and Malzahn is looking for an offense that can hang 40 points on everybody.
Lindsey served as offensive coordinator at Arizona State last season and Southern Miss the two seasons before that. The Golden Eagles averaged 39.9 ppg in 2015 and the Sun Devils were at 33.3 ppg last season. The spring returns were favorable.
"Chip did a wonderful job, and the kids responded to him," Malzahn said. "They got a really good feel for him. Moving forward our goal was to be more balanced and we did that."
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Is Jarrett Stidham the savior at QB?
That's the rumor. Malzahn gave Stidham an endorsement without naming him the starting quarterback for 2017.
"First of all he's got to win the job," Malzahn said. "He's trying to do that, and we've got good competition, but there's nothing like game experience and getting out there and playing. Like I said, I've been pleased with his attitude, his leadership and his work ethic."
Stidham impressed in the spring game, looks like a breakout candidate and quarterback and checks in at No. 16 in Sporting News' Top 25 quarterbacks for next season. The fact that ranking comes with a short sample at Baylor shows the confidence we have in Stidham to win that job. He'll be one of the most-talked about players all summer.
Quarterback is everything for the Tigers. Newton and Nick Marshall led those SEC championship runs with fantastic play in both the passing and running game. Stidham won't run as much, but that doesn't mean he won't.
The impact needs to come in the passing game. Auburn quarterbacks have combined to go 357 of 589 (60.6 percent) passing with 23 touchdowns and 25 interceptions over the past two seasons. That's not the kind of play that's going to win an SEC championship. That's why the excitement around Stidham is almost impossible to contain right now.
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Does Auburn play enough defense?
Auburn's defense lost Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson to the NFL, so the first challenge for co-defensive coordinators Kevin Steele and Wesley McGriff is to find a pass rush. Nobody else had more than 2.5 sacks last season.
Auburn's offense can score all the points it wants, but the difference in close games is often is defense. Malzahn preached about close games before the 2016 season, and with good reason: The Tigers went 6-0 in the regular season in one-score games (8 points or fewer) in 2013. Auburn is 8-8 in such games the last three seasons, including tight losses to Clemson and Georgia last year, both defensive struggles the Tigers couldn't quite pull out.
Is Auburn the second-best team in the SEC?
You could make that argument. You also could make a case for Florida, Georgia or LSU at this point. Auburn got the Sugar Bowl nod last season, but that ended with a 35-19 loss to Oklahoma.
The Tigers likely will start in the preseason polls as either the second- or third-ranked team in the SEC. After the season opener against Georgia Southern, the Tigers will get a chance to prove their worth against defending national champion Clemson. That will be the referendum on Malzahn, Lindsey, Stidham and the defense early in the season.
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Can they beat Alabama?
That question gets asked 365 days a year in the state of Alabama, but this is the first year since "Kick Six" where there's any traction. Alabama has won the last three meetings by an average of 15 points per game, and the Crimson Tide is 7-3 in the Iron Bowl under Nick Saban.
Auburn is at home this year, so that helps. The best bet would be to play a controlled shootout. That worked both in 2010, a 28-27 comeback, and in 2013, a 34-28 thriller. It didn't work in 2014 when Alabama won 55-44. This is Malzahn's fifth crack at the Iron Bowl, and he'll have a better chance if Stidham pans out around a running game that features Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson. The Tigers seem to have a lot of the right pieces in place, and that's why the hype is building.
By the time the Tigers get to the Tide, you'll know if they actually have a chance. Our early read? This will be the biggest game in the series since the top-five showdown that ended with a "Kick Six."
We still like the Tide until proven otherwise.
