Utah State vs. Auburn: Aggies Must Find Offense to Compete with Tigers

Saturday's game between the Auburn Tigers and the Utah State Aggies will be all about unproven players stepping into bigger roles.

Most of the focus has been on Auburn trying to find replacements for Cam Newton, two starting receivers and four of the starting five offensive lineman from last season, but they are not the only team with holes to fill. 

Utah State will be looking for many of the same things, but most of the missing production comes from the loss of one player, Diondre Borel. In his career at the school, Borel threw for 6,698 yards and rushed for 1,398 yards. He had 54 touchdowns in total.

For a program like Utah State, Borel is a rare player.

Statuesque junior quarterback Adam Kennedy has the unenviable task of being the one to replace Borel. At 6'5", he has all the size that you like to see in a quarterback, but as a junior college transfer, he will be new to the system, and to Division I football.

While he gets acquainted, the Aggies will lean heavily on running back Robert Turbin. In his two seasons as a starter, Turbin has rushed for nearly 1,800 yards. Stanley Morrison and Matt Austin return at wide receiver to give Kennedy a couple of steady players to throw to.

Even if Kennedy acclimates himself well quickly, it's hard to imagine Utah State having a lot of success on offense against Auburn. The Tigers simply have far superior athletes.

Fortunately for Utah State, they won't play teams like Auburn every week. Once they get into conference play, Kennedy, Turbin and the rest of the Aggies will have a much better chance at scoring points by the bunch.