Auburn football: Official 2021 season schedule released

The Southeastern Conference released the official 2021 season schedule for Auburn football on Wednesday afternoon, and Coach Bryan Harsin will have a tough introduction to SEC football.

Thankfully, after a rough pandemic era 2020 football season, non-conference play is set to return in 2021, along with the normal 12 game schedule.

The first of Auburn football’s 12 games will be played at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 4, 2021 against the University of Akron Zips.

Auburn football will face six other opponents at home, hosting Alabama State University the next week before heading to Pennsylvania to face Penn State–the school that former Auburn commit Eric Wilson will be joining in the fall.

The last time Auburn football went toe to toe with Penn State was back in 2003. The Tigers beat the Nittany Lions 13-9 in the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando, FL.

In addition to Georgia State, Auburn football will face four conference opponents at home, including heavy hitters Georgia and Alabama. The Deep South’s Oldest rivalry will meet a little early this year, on Oct. 9 after a road game at LSU.

The Auburn Tigers will also make the trip to South Carolina, bringing with them two assistants Bryan Harsin hired away from the Gamecocks for his inaugural staff.

Notably, Auburn’s season stays grueling after week 5 with only SEC teams left on the schedule. This means Auburn will play four non-conference games early on, and then play eight straight SEC opponents.

This will be only the second time that Auburn football has played eight SEC games in a row, the first being the all-SEC schedule of the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

Auburn’s 2021 season finale come on November 27 when the Tigers will face the Crimson Tide at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Iron Bowl.

It will be a tough start to a long season for first year head coach Bryan Harsin, but his work in staffing and recruiting will mark a new beginning for Auburn football.