AuburnFamilyNews.com: Auburn Football: Tigers' Blueprint to Winning SEC in 2015

Friday, August 28, 2015

Auburn Football: Tigers' Blueprint to Winning SEC in 2015

In eight days, Auburn will begin its 2015 season in a venue that it wants to return to in December—the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The Tigers are the preseason pick by the SEC media to return to the Dome and capture their second conference championship in three seasons.

Some outlets are even picking Gus Malzahn's prolific offense to mesh well with Will Muschamp's new defense and earn a berth in the second College Football Playoff.

But Auburn will enter next Saturday's season opener against Louisville with a handful of question marks that need to be answered before a push for a title.

What do the Tigers need to accomplish in order to claim another championship in the nation's toughest conference? Here's the blueprint for success in 2015.

 

Establish consistent receivers not named Duke Williams

The hype surrounding Jeremy Johnson is real, and it is unstoppable.

Johnson could be the next Cam Newton or the best pure passer in Auburn football history, but it's going to be hard for him to prove that—and for the Tigers offense to hit the next level—with just one successful receiver.

Duke Williams lived up to his reputation as a physical receiver with a seemingly infinite catch radius last season. While his surprise return to the team has featured some bumps in the road, Williams will be the clear-cut No. 1 receiver on the Plains this season.

Part of what made Williams such a breakout star for Auburn last season was the presence of Sammie Coates, who is now in the NFL. Coates could stretch the field with his impressive speed, which left Williams to dominate the intermediate routes. 

Auburn needs to find that secondary threat to line up with Williams, or teams will be able to lock down the senior star. Ricardo Louis and Melvin Ray have shown flashes of becoming that vertical threat in their first few seasons with the team.

"Melvin is probably as steady a guy as we've had in the first two years," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said, per Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com. "He's not flashy, but every time you watch film, he's always doing right... Ricardo has loads of talent. He's made a lot of plays in the last two years; it's can he do it at a consistent rate."

One of the most underrated losses in the offseason was Quan Bray, a departed senior who was the team's No. 3 receiver over the last two seasons. He had five more receptions than Coates last year and just as many touchdowns.

Having Williams back is fantastic for the Tigers, but if Johnson is going to be the pass-first player who will change the way Auburn attacks opponents, he can't do it with just one star.

The 2013 run-first Tigers used multiple rushers—Nick Marshall, Tre Mason, Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant—to pave the way for a championship. Finding that vertical threat and an established No. 3 in what is a deep group of receivers is paramount for this year's offense, which is looking to get to the next level through the air.

 

Bring back the pass rush

Auburn's depth in the secondary is what it is. Malzahn called it one of his two biggest concerns heading into the season, per Brandon Marcello of AL.com, and new defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson has plainly stated that true freshmen will have to play at corner this fall.

Even with the addition of Blake Countess in the offseason, a secondary that has struggled with limiting big plays through the air over the last two years will be the Tigers' weakest link in 2015. And while the young corners could rise up and become better than expected this fall, it's hard to put a lot of faith in guys who were playing high school ball less than a year ago.

How far Auburn's defense improves under Muschamp in year one is what the team's championship campaign hinges on in the eyes of many experts across the country. The Tigers should be improved in run defense with the return of veteran defensive tackles and linebackers—the passing game is the biggest concern.

The lack of a pass rush was part of Auburn's undoing last season, and its return could mask the flaws of a thin secondary this fall. Auburn can't magically add new players to the defensive backfield, but it can ease the pressure by wreaking havoc in the opponent's backfield.

The return of the "unblockable" Carl Lawson should fix some of those woes. Per the team website, the former 5-star had four sacks and seven quarterback hurries in his true freshman campaign, but he missed all of 2014 with an ACL injury.

But, like Williams in the receiving game, Lawson can't do it alone. Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com nailed it with his take on the position battle opposite Lawson, who will take the stand-up "Buck" role in Muschamp's new defensive scheme.

"Yes, the secondary has depth questions, but Auburn has to find a consistent pass rush, and you know offenses will be keying on Lawson," Aschoff wrote. "He will need help if the Tigers are going to get to the quarterback better than they did last season."

Senior DaVonte Lambert, who led Auburn with just 3.5 sacks last season, is back at practice after an ACL injury of his own. The Tigers will need improvement from returning faces such as Lambert and possibly a breakout year from 5-star true freshman Byron Cowart in order to reach full potential in the pass rush.

Without it, this defense will be chasing receivers game after game this season.

 

If you lose, don't do it at the end

With several question marks heading into the season, it's hard to see a team like Auburn running the table in the brutal SEC West this season. Each team has a legitimate claim as a contender.

But one of the best aspects of Auburn's preseason resume is the end of the season, when it gets the "Amen Corner" duo of Georgia and Alabama inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Those two teams are Auburn's biggest competition for the SEC title this season, according to the preseason polls, and the Tigers will have an advantage for each matchup.

As the Tigers showed in 2013, having those home games is quite beneficial, especially if they lose a conference game early in the season. Two years ago, Auburn had time to rebound from a loss to LSU and start its run to the national championship.

Two losses probably won't cut it in the race for the SEC West, and winning the head-to-head against Alabama is important—it's hard to visualize a scenario where the Crimson Tide have two losses heading into the Iron Bowl against an unbeaten Auburn.

LSU could be a tricky matchup in Week 3, especially if the Tigers can find a quarterback and some momentum in Death Valley. Arkansas' ground-and-pound style will challenge the strength of the Muschamp defense.

And if Auburn can make it to College Station unscathed, a loss to air-it-out Texas A&M won't eliminate the Tigers from championship contention. A loss to Georgia might be the most acceptable—if there is such a thing as an acceptable defeat in Auburn—because it wouldn't damage a tiebreaker in the West.

Auburn's path to winning the SEC West and eventually the SEC championship is simply more than just "beat Alabama." The Tigers have to fight through a rigorous schedule with one loss at the most and then win another winner-take-all matchup with the Tide in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The 2013 Tigers drew up the blueprint—have multiple weapons on offense, use the pass rush to cover any major flaws on defense and rally back from an early loss to sweep an all-home "Amen Corner."

This year's team may do things a little differently, but the pieces are in place for another run.

 

All stats courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruit rankings courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.

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