The ninth-ranked Auburn football team begins the season Saturday in Atlanta against No. 6 Washington in what is the only meeting in Week 1 between a pair of top-10 teams.
In other words, it’s big. Real big.
You know about the 2018 Auburn football schedule. It’s brutal. The game against Washington is just the start. But it should provide a good indication of what the Tigers will bring to the table this season.
There’s experience on both sides of the ball, some question marks and loads of young, unproven talent. Auburn is 4-1 in season openers under Gus Malzahn, but hasn’t always looked great in those Week 1 showings.
Auburn lost to Clemson to start the 2016 season and nearly blew a 24-point lead against Louisville in 2015. Last season wasn’t bad — a 41-7 win against Georgia Southern — but Week 2’s 14-6 loss to Clemson was an atrocious outing from the offense.
Which brings us to today’s topic: the most important players on offense for Week 1.
That’s not an easy list to pull together because you can make arguments for every starter along with multiple backups. It’s uncertain which running back will receive the bulk of the carries or which receivers will step up to complement Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton.