ESPN Heavily Favors Auburn Tigers Ahead of Vanderbilt Matchup

The Auburn Tigers may not have started SEC play in exactly the way they wanted to, dropping their opener 44-39 against the Florida Gators, but they are still largely the favorite as they enter the second game of their SEC slate: a matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

As it stands, ESPN’s FPI currently predicts the Tigers to have a 75.3% chance of winning, which is their best odds to beat any SEC team except Arkansas at this time.

The Commodores had the Tigers’ number last year, beating them in a shootout 45-38 game, though, at the time, the Tigers had just fired then-head coach Hugh Freeze and were relying on defensive coordinator DJ Durkin to take the reins in the interim.

Now, the team, particularly on offense, looks completely different under new head coach Alex Golesh, while the Commodores are running their offense under true freshman quarterback Jared Curtis, so this game will almost certainly be quite different from last year’s showing, at least on paper.

The Tigers have struggled to rush the ball effectively throughout the first few matchups of the year, as Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown currently leads the team in rushing production with 180 yards worth of carries. Jeremiah Cobb, the Tigers’ RB1, is still looking for a breakout game this year, and he could very well have it against a weaker Commodores rushing defense.

The Tigers’ passing game has steadily improved over the past three games, though it is certainly not where Golesh would like it to be; both Keshaun Singleton and Chas Nimrod are finding large shares of targets, as they are tied for fifth among all SEC receivers in total receptions.

Defensively, the Tigers struggled to settle in against Florida, though the sheer size of the Gators’ offensive line and dominance of their top running back, Jadan Baugh, made it quite difficult for the Tigers to find their stride, and the Gators scored on all but two of their full-length drives last week.

Against a true freshman quarterback and a weaker rushing attack, though, the Tigers’ defense should be in a much more favorable position, though they will, by no means, be able to relax at any point in this game.

As Auburn on SI’s Gunner Norene described, this game is an absolute must-win for the Tigers in year one of Alex Golesh’s tenure on the Plains and, despite being early favorites, the Tigers will need to be firing on all cylinders in every aspect of the game if they want to earn their first SEC win of the year.

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