After six games we have a really good feel for what this Auburn football team is all about. Now it’s time to set some realistic expectations for the 2016 season.
Auburn football had some ups-and-downs to start the season, but now they seem to have an identity on offense and defense.
With that, we now have a good idea of what to expect from this team as the season goes on.
Gus Malzahn and his staff are in a good position through the first month and a half sitting at 4-2 with losses to top 10 teams.
The defense has been great for this team all season, and continues to be the main reason Auburn is having success in 2016.
Offensively things were kind of ugly in the beginning, but now they seem to have an identity running the football. Kamryn Pettway has certainly been a nice surprise for this offense giving the Tigers someone who can take the ball up the middle for four or five yards a carry.
That has allowed Auburn to grind things out up the middle and wear down defenses, which opens things up for Kerryon Johnson on the outside.
The efficient running game has also allowed Sean White to become more comfortable throwing the football, as he’s been very accurate as of late.
In order for Auburn football to win games this year they have to play shutdown defense and run the football well, while dominating time of possession.
That makes this team a lot different from teams in the past under Malzahn, but no less effective.
I think what irritated Auburn fans the most coming into the season was that Gus Malzahn couldn’t find a way to win with the personnel he had. We all understand that his offense is best fit for a duel-threat quarterback, but he doesn’t have one.
If you’re a great coach you find ways to win with who you have, and after a bit of stubbornness to start the season, I think he’s finally figured that out.
The rest of the schedule looks like this: vs. Arkansas, at Ole Miss, vs. Vanderbilt, at Georgia, vs. Alabama A&M and at Alabama.
I’m going to go ahead and assume that Vanderbilt and Alabama A&M are wins. If they aren’t, we’ll be finding a new coach.
That gives Auburn six wins and guarantees a bowl berth.
Now there are four games that are still in question the rest of the way.
Here is how I rank the difficulty level of each game from 1-10 with 10 being the most difficult:
Arkansas – 6
Ole Miss – 8
Georgia – 5
Alabama – 9
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Auburn and Gus Malzahn really need to come away with two wins in those four games, and I think Arkansas at home and Georgia on the road are our best shots to win.
Realistically, those are games that Auburn fans should expect to win the rest of the way based on what we know about our team, and the opposing teams.
Wins over Ole Miss and/or Alabama would just be cherries on top as long as long as we beat Arkansas and Georgia.
Honestly, these were the expectations I had going into the season, but I’m glad to see that those expectations are achievable.
I would be more than happy as an Auburn fan if we finish the regular season with eight wins, possibly ranked in the top 25, and a decent New Year’s Eve bowl game.
War Eagle!