By Acid Reign
Can the Red Wolves seriously threaten Auburn in week two?
War Eagle, everybody! It’s time now to look ahead to week two of Auburn’s fall football schedule. On September 10th, the Tigers open the home slate with defending Sun Belt champion, Arkansas State. As we saw last season, it’s a mistake to just dismiss any non-power-five opponent. Jax State came to Auburn last fall, battled their tails off, and nearly came away with a historic upset.
The past half-dozen seasons, Arkansas State has enjoyed a lot of success in the Sun Belt while enduring a revolving door of coaches coming through, winning a Sun Belt title and leaving for richer pastures. These coaches include Hugh Freeze, Gus Malzahn, and Brian Harsin. The current Red Wolf coach-du-jour is Blake Anderson, who went 9-4 last season and won the Sun Belt in his first season.
For the first time in a while, the Arkansas State coach did not get picked up by a power-five school to leave and move up. Anderson will be back, and State will look to continue at the top of the pile in the Sun Belt. Arkansas State has made a name for itself in recent years as an offensive juggernaunt. Last season the team set records down the stretch, scoring 59 against Louisiana–Monroe, 52 against New Mexico State, and 55 against Texas State at the end of the regular season. The team ran into a Waterloo of sorts in New Orleans in early December, taking a 47–28 loss to Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl.
Under Coach Anderson, the Red Wolves will spread teams out and score points. However, the defense has been suspect, at best, in the past year. Last season, Arkansas State gave up 30 or more points in 6 games. That will not help them facing Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Neither will an offense that was slowed down greatly on the road last season, scoring only 6 against Southern Cal, 20 against Missouri, and 7 against Toledo. Against a persistent pass rush, this team disappeared, offensively.
Frankly, this team has no chance against Auburn unless the Tigers play badly across the board. I think Jacksonville State had infinitely more positives going in last season. Auburn will win this game, probably handily. If they lose, we’ll be suffering all fall and waiting for the axe to swing on the current coaching staff.
What I’m more focused on this May are two super Auburn teams still in play. The Auburn women’s tennis and softball teams are still alive in the post-season, and they are doing great things! Quite frankly, the contributors to this blog are nearly exclusively football fans, and for a tennis or softball team to get notice here is like, Yes! You are doing great! I’ve had a chance over the past few years to enjoy the wonderful joint Auburn City/AU tennis facility off Shug Jordan Parkway. I also have taken in quite a bit of Auburn softball over the past two seasons on the SEC network. Frankly, those who aren’t watching are missing out on some great fun!
I’ll keep doing Auburn football previews this spring and summer, but know that my main focus in my free time is going to be on historically great teams of Auburn ladies heading into post-season glory, this spring. War Eagle! Hard work is its own reward, and kudos to these teams for embracing that!
The post Arkansas State Preview! (Or not. I’d rather comment on the fantastic ladies of spring, this week!) appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
May 18, 2016 at 11:40PM
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