No. 1: Auburn, Nov. 29
2013 record: 12-2, 7-1 SEC
Last meeting: Auburn 34, Alabama 28 (2013)
Returning starters: 14 (8 offense, 6 defense)
Players to watch: QB Nick Marshall, senior; C Reese Dismukes, senior; WR Sammie Coates, junior; DL Gabe Wright, senior; DB Robenson Therezie, senior
Why Alabama fans should be concerned: The same Auburn team that steamrolled through the second half of 2013 and rode a tidal wave of momentum into the BCS National Championship returns largely in tact, especially on the side of the ball where it dominated opponents to the tune of 39.5 points and 328.3 rushing yards per game. The biggest returnee, easily, is Marshall, who seemed to play with more and more confidence as his debut season progressed. His ability as a runner, which he used to pile up 99 yards last year against Alabama, grows even more dangerous if he becomes a more consistent passer, particularly downfield to the likes of Coates and
Quan Bray. Though
Tre Mason was certainly a special player, runners have been largely interchangeable in
Gus Malzahn's system throughout the years. The Tigers have a number of options at running back, including five-star freshman
Roc Thomas. The arrival of junior-college transfer
D'haquille Williams should also make the Tigers more dangerous in the passing game. Malzahn is famous for his year-to-year adjustments and ability to maximize the production of his personnel.
On defense, the Tigers are strongest along the defensive line, where there's plenty of experience back for another year in
Ellis Johnson's 4-2-5 system. Therezie, in particular, will have a year under his belt at the all-important "star" position in Auburn's defensive backfield. This group of Tigers will certainly be seasoned to hostile road environments when they arrive at Bryant-Denny Stadium, as their other trips to Kansas State and Georgia will test them earlier in the season.
Why Alabama fans should be confident: Odds are, Alabama won't acknowledge that it's approaching this year's Iron Bowl any different, but that's hard to believe.
Nick Saban's "revenge game" record is well established and full of enough highlights to validate it as a legitimate trend. After last year's shootout victory at Texas A&M, Saban moved to 8-1 in games against teams he lost to in previous seasons while at Alabama. He was 8-1 at LSU, too. It's almost impossible to fathom that Auburn will enter this year's Iron Bowl with as much positive juice as it did in 2013. The Tigers' schedule is one of the toughest in the SEC and gets particularly nasty at the start of October with a six-game stretch against LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Georgia.
Though the Tigers return most of their offensive starters, they've got a massive hole to fill at left tackle, where
Greg Robinson bulldozed wide holes for Mason and Co. last season. There's also a couple of big losses on defense, one of which is definite while the other is up in the air.
Dee Ford won't be around to make life miserable for freshman
Cameron Robinson or whomever else starts at left tackle. The status of promising sophomore defensive end
Carl Lawson, who stuffed
T.J. Yeldon on fourth down late in last year's matchup, is up in the air after
offseason knee surgery. Even with Lawson, the Tigers' defense simply needs to be better in all facets if Auburn hopes to return to the SEC Championship. Like Alabama, the Tigers have question marks at kicker and punter, where they need to replace two of the SEC's best in 2013,
Cody Parkey and
Steven Clark.
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