Week 1 was sobering in a few ways for Auburn.
After the Tigers scraped by Baylor in an instant classic, 17-16, from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, things certainly look good internally. Well, besides the offensive line. Externally, the SEC looks tough, though. The road to 10-2 and a CFP berth is still alive, but it's looking clear who the two might be.
Of course, Georgia in Athens was going to be a massive challenge before the season even began. The Dawgs haven't taken a loss to the Tigers Between the Hedges since 2005. UGA did nothing to make anyone think things would be different during its 63-3 win over Tennessee State at Sanford Stadium. All of a sudden, though, LSU looks like an unstoppable force in both trenches after their 51-10 win over Clemson.
It's not all bad news, though. The Iron Bowl looks like a winnable game in Tuscaloosa after how effective the East Carolina pass rush looked against Alabama, at least on the first few drives before things fell apart.
East Carolina had Keelon Russell on the run early
Before breaking down those first two drives, it needs to be pointed out how elusive Keelon Russell looked in the pocket and out of it all day. Russell is the best quarterback the Crimson Tide have rostered since Heisman winner Bryce Young left following the 2022 season. He finished with 342 all-purpose yards and a touchdown against the Pirates in the 48-10 win. Sure, that's not a world-beater opponent, but what Russell displayed will translate against most competition.
Still, if anything is going to hold Russell back, it's going to be the offensive line. Russell should've been sacked on the first Alabama drive on a third-and-six, but he was able to evade East Carolina's Kieran Davis, despite the latter having a clear path in the backfield. Later on, ECU's Torin Brazell was hit with a tone-changing roughing-the-passer penalty that opened the door for a 10-0 lead. The Tide marched down the field with ease after that call. Besides a sack late in the second quarter, the Pirates didn't have the same fight in them after that favorable ECU penalty for Russell and Alabama.
Auburn has the edge rushers to complete the tackles East Carolina couldn't. They have the size in the middle with nose tackle Dallas Walker IV and three-technique Cody Sigler to create more push in general.
Russell won't have it as easy against the Tigers' size and frontline violence. That may be Auburn's chance to strike against one of the top teams in the SEC.
Auburn cannot be carried by the defense
As the Tigers learned over the past two years, a great defense under DJ Durkin can't carry the load and win enough football games. Auburn needs more from the offense, which Alex Golesh took the job to fix.
The offensive line once again being a problem is disappointing, but maybe expected early on as a completely new group learns to play together.
It will be more of the same for the Tigers record-wise if Byrum Brown and the run game are given limited openings to work with all year. That trench improvement needs to come, and preferably, come quickly.
You can already expect Auburn to be overwhelmed by the top tier of SEC pass-rushes like LSU and Georgia, but even the lesser ones like Alabama will feast on the level of protection the Tigers got against the Bears on Saturday.
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