The Auburn Tigers are off to an impressive 2-0 start after defeating Baylor on the road in week one and handling Ball State during the home opener against Ball State. After Baylor, it’s two weak opponents in Ball State this past weekend and now the South Alabama Jaguars coming to town this week.
Handling Ball State is one thing, however South Alabama is a much more formidable opponent who Hugh Freeze and his team must be taking with the utmost seriousness. The Jaguars drive up I-65 from Mobile fresh off a very close loss against one of the best teams outside of the Power Four in a Tulane Green Wave team many have in the College Football Playoff.
Auburn is more than a three touchdown favorite as they should be, however in comparison to Ball State, the Jaguars are in a different category of cupcake opponent. It would take a Herculean effort by South Alabama to have any real chance at keeping the game close, but this is the kind of game where a few mistakes and miscues can have it a whole lot closer than it should be.
Jackson Arnold established against Ball State a connection between his receivers, but now he is going to have to start to deploy it even more along with the kind of balanced attack and ability to run the ball they showed over the first couple of games.
After South Alabama, things get very, very real with road trips to Oklahoma and Texas A&M. It would be natural to get caught looking ahead and overlooking the current opponent with conference play on the horizon, but Freeze and his staff must emphasize that they have a game to win right now, and any sort of complacency will make it possible they don’t play well.
It’s one thing to say you are focused on the task at hand, however it’s a whole other to go out and live it on the field. This week should be a win barring a massive shock, but it will also show a whole lot about the focus and grit of this team before an absolutely brutal gauntlet portion of the schedule.
