Auburn 2010 Football Season: A Closer Look at "Favorite" Games

With the season now just one very long week away, the fans are starting to feel jittery about their teams.

Thanks to all the preseason talk by the coaches about “noticeable improvement” and “belief in the team” and all other such clichés, almost every fan expects their team to improve or repeat their performances from last year.

However, as the season grows near, one cannot help but think about those games that, even if favored to win, could go either way.

Now, there is not a single team on Auburn’s schedule that it cannot beat.

But there are also nine teams that are capable of beating Auburn (not that they all will).

I am going to look at five of these teams against whom Auburn is currently favored to win, but could be in for surprises.

Note that I have not included Georgia here, even though Auburn is currently favored against them. That is because I have a feeling that by the time the game rolls around, Georgia will have performed much better than expected.

1. Mississippi State

Dan Mullen had this game marked on this calendar well before even the beginning of spring practice.

With this being the first SEC game for both these teams, they will be eager to test their progress from last season.

However, the game is in Starkville, so most of the confidence will be coming from the Mississippi State fans, who have convinced themselves, and rightfully so, that they will be upsetting a couple of teams and going bowling.

First and foremost, the Auburn players are going to have to deal with the cowbells.

It is certainly a unique thing for them and, with severely optimistic Mississippi State fans screaming and ringing the cowbells, could disrupt their focus.

The Bulldogs also have a strong defensive line led by All-SEC Pernell McPhee, and a well-improved secondary.

But neither will it be the strongest defensive line nor the best secondary Auburn will face this season.

This will be the first true test for Cameron Newton and Mario Fannin.

If they perform poorly, it does not bode well for the Tigers.

If they perform very well, which I expect they will, then we are in for a very good season.

2. Clemson

Another rising team led by another rising coach.

The return of Kyle Parker has given Clemson fans optimism for a special season.

Replacing a guy like C.J. Spiller is not possible at this point, but Andre Ellington and Jamie Harper will give the Auburn Defensive line a big test.

Ellington is a speed back and Harper is a power back, so the defensive line will be tested both ways.

The real danger lies against the Clemson defense, which is deep, talented, and very aggressive.

Their defensive line is fast, athletic, and experienced.

However, it’s not very big.

Clemson’s nose tackle Jarvis Jenkins weighs in at 305 lbs, and if Auburn’s offensive line performs the way they are expected to, Jenkins should not command double-teams.

Clemson’s linebackers, while relatively inexperienced, are very fast.

However, I don’t expect their defensive line to give Auburn’s offensive line, and hence Newton and Fannin, too much trouble.

The real test for Auburn offense will be the Clemson secondary, which returns very talented defensive backs DeAndre McDaniel and Marcus Gilchrist.

However, for this secondary to make plays on the likes of Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery, their linebacker corps has to pass-rush Newton very well, which I don’t see happening.

But this corps has shown solid improvement in practice, and Clemson's high-risk, high-reward defense means that this game should be fun to watch.

3. South Carolina

Next up is Clemson’s most bitter rival.

Steve Spurrier will bring perhaps his best team at South Carolina to Jordan-Hare.

South Carolina provides another step-up in competition.

No doubt the Old Ball Coach has plans for Auburn, and that most likely features having Garcia test the Auburn’s secondary with his group of fast and athletic 6-foot-4 star receivers.

Alshon Jeffrey will most likely be covered by Neiko Thorpe.

Last year, Thorpe did a decent job, but was burned for long plays quite a bit.

This is the game where he has to show if he has taken over from Walter McFadden as the impact player in the Auburn secondary.

Jeffrey is an A.J. Green- and Julio Jones-caliber receiver, and how Thorpe and the rest of the secondary performs against him and his partners-in-crime could determine Auburn's fate on defense for the rest of the season. 

Cameron Newton will have to face an even stronger secondary, led by potential All-American corner Stephen Gilmore.

Newton will also have to keep a close eye on where defensive end Cliff Matthews is at all times.

The Gamecocks’ offensive line has come under severe criticism for allowing 36 sacks last year.

That also prevented the running game from developing any kind of momentum. Most still expect this to be the team’s weak spot.

However, the line is now filled with juniors and seniors, and thus, experience. While they won’t be dominating, they will improve just enough to give Garcia and the running game some breathing space.

This means Kenny Miles and Marcus Lattimore will provide some sort of a test for Auburn’s defensive line.

Auburn should still win this one, but I have a feeling it is going to be too close for comfort.

4. Kentucky

There is a lot of talk about how this is a “revenge” game for Auburn.

I personally hope the players do not look at it that way and disrupt their focus.

The fact is that last year Kentucky capitalized on Auburn’s inconsistency and lack of depth and won (as they should), but not because they were a better team.

I would have expected this Auburn team to steamroll Kentucky, but the game is being played in Lexington, and the Wildcats will try to make life tough for Auburn. 

Most of their offensive firepower lies with Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke, both of whom successfully burned the Auburn defense last year.

However, this year, with an inexperienced offensive line and (if Auburn defense has improved as expected), both these players won’t be making the same impact.

But they are still a force to be reckoned with.

If Newton performed well in the above games, this Wildcat defense should not pose a lot of problems.

More than anything, if Auburn won all the above games, then they should worry about complacency.

5. Ole Miss

For the first couple of games, I fully expect Nathan Stanley to be the primary quarterback until Jeremiah Masoli gets the hang of a vastly different (compared to Oregon) offense.

However, by the time Auburn rolls into Oxford, Masoli would have entrenched himself as the starting quarterback.

Facing SEC defenses is a different thing altogether than facing Pac-10 defenses. 

He also does not have the same firepower among the receiving corps at Ole Miss this year.

But he is still a playmaker, and all he will be told to do is to make couple of surprise plays and let the defense take over.

The battle between Ole Miss defensive line and Auburn offensive line will be the one to watch.

This will probably be the best and the deepest defensive line Auburn will come across thus far in the season.

Cameron Newton will be under constant pressure from Kentrell Lockett and their slew of linebackers.

Mario Fannin will have to prove his mettle here.

This is the game (along with LSU and Alabama) that will prove how much “for real” Michael Dyer is.

However, their secondary does not have as much experience or depth.

Cameron Newton might not need that much time to find his receivers.

Ole Miss offensive line also has issues to its own, so Auburn D-line should not have much trouble pressuring Masoli.

Again, this is a game I fully expect Auburn to win.

However, Ole Miss has the biggest tendency to surprise among all the teams in this list.

Houston Nutt has been known to do well in his “down” years.