Game Time, TV Station Announced for Auburn Football’s Home Opener

The Auburn Tigers now have an official time to square off against Southern Mississippi next month, as on September 12, the Tigers’ matchup with the Golden Eagles will kick off at 6:45 p.m. CT and will be aired on SEC Network.

The Tigers will, ideally, be entering this matchup 1-0 after a season-opening win against Baylor, which was initially scheduled as an Auburn home game but was moved to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Auburn’s record against the Golden Eagles is a favorable one, and the fact that the program is paying Southern Miss $1.5 million to play in Jordan-Hare bodes quite well for the Tigers’ chances of winning. Auburn currently leads the all-time series 18-5 and has won each of the last four matchups between the two.

The Tigers, now under former USF head coach Alex Golesh, are set to boast quite a different offense than last season’s Hugh Freeze woes. Gone are the days of Jackson Arnold, Cam Coleman, Malcolm Simmons and even Eric Singleton, replaced by Byrum Brown, Jeremiah Koger, Jake Johnson, Chas Nimrod and a host of other new transfers.

Brown, perhaps most notably, was the only quarterback in football last year to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for an additional 1,000+ yards, and expectations are high on the Plains for the senior. The transition to the SEC has been a question that has haunted much of Brown’s support, but a matchup with the Golden Eagles should be a proper tune-up before the Tigers head to SEC play against Florida the following week.

The Tigers are set to run the ball quite heavily in 2026, at least if Golesh’s word is to be trusted, in an attack that will almost certainly feature Jeremiah Cobb, though the current status of Auburn’s RB2 spot is still up in the air. Omar Mabson, an Auburn returner, and Bryson Washington, a Baylor transfer, are the two most popular picks for the spot.

Defensively, not much has changed for the Tigers beyond a few notable losses, namely Keyron Crawford and Keldric Faulk, both of whom were snapped up in the NFL Draft earlier this year. They have been replaced, most notably by Cody Sigler and Da’Shawn Womack, though the effect of this replacement still remains to be seen.

Regardless of how the Tigers look after week one, this matchup against Southern Miss should be one that will help the group to find its footing, though in the modern age of college football, just about anything can happen.

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