Ad Disclosure
As it has over the last seven seasons, expect this year’s Iron Bowl to have a major impact on college football’s national championship once again. However, before we even get to November, at least one of these teams will need to survive a rigorous SEC West schedule to extend that streak.
The head coaches in college football’s fiercest rivalry game enter the season in entirely different places. Nick Saban comes off his fourth national title in nine seasons with Alabama, while Gus Malzahn, despite getting a contract extension last month, has gone 15-11 in the two years after leading Auburn to the BCS National Championship Game.
Saban has a 2-1 series lead over Malzahn and year-round bragging rights inside the state. In this year’s matchup, will Saban remind everyone that he is the best coach in the sport — and possibly of all-time — or will Malzahn pull off an upset and reward Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs’ faith in him?
It’s a game that every SEC fan — and many fans who don’t care about the conference at all — looks forward to watching. As we approach SEC Media Days, let’s take a look at five big questions for both teams in 2016 and determine where each program may have an edge.
1. WHICH TEAM FACES THE TOUGHER OPENER?
Auburn opens its season at home against Clemson, the team Alabama defeated for the 2015 national championship. Quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Deshaun Watson returns, as does Wayne Gallman, one of the top running backs in the country.
Standouts on defense for Clemson include redshirt senior defensive tackle Carlos Watkins and senior linebacker Ben Boulware. If the Tigers aren’t the preseason No. 1 team heading into 2016, they likely will be No. 2.
Meanwhile, Alabama kicks off its campaign with a neutral-site game against Southern Cal at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The only full-time starter the Trojans lost in the offseason is QB Cody Kessler. Meanwhile, cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is a leader and a standout on defense.
Vegas has installed Alabama as roughly a 10-point favorite and Auburn as a 7.5- to 10-point underdog. Opening the season at home helps Auburn, but until it shows otherwise, Clemson appears to be a considerably tougher opponent.
Answer: Advantage to the Crimson Tide.
2. WILL THE TIDE OR TIGERS FIELD THE BETTER QB?
Perhaps the more appropriate question is who will start at quarterback for both teams? The Tide has to replace Jacob Coker while Auburn has a much bigger decision to make.
Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin turned a seemingly mediocre fifth-year senior quarterback in Coker into a national-championship signal-caller in 2015. Considering the overflow of talent at every position on the Tide roster, it’s not a stretch to envision Alabama’s passing offense putting up impressive numbers with either Cooper Bateman or Blake Barnett at quarterback.
Malzahn has to decide whether to stick with one of Auburn’s returning QBs – either Jeremy Johnson or Sean White – or go with newcomer John Franklin III. It could be a career-defining choice for Malzahn, which might be a major reason why he has yet to make a decision.
Bateman’s lone start last year came in Alabama’s only loss of the season, when Ole Miss pulled off a stunner in Tuscaloosa. Johnson and White each got a decent number of snaps in 2015, but neither reinvented the game with their play.
If Franklin happens to be Auburn’s QB in the Iron Bowl, we’d probably have a much more definitive answer. We’re thinking it will probably be Bateman/Barnett vs. Johnson/White.
Answer: Push.
3. WHICH TEAM’S DEFENSE WILL PERFORM BETTER?
For the first time in a long time, both defenses have something in common – new coordinators. Jeremy Pruitt has left Georgia to replace Kirby Smart at Alabama, while Kevin Steele takes over for Will Muschamp at Auburn after spending a year as LSU’s defensive coordinator.
Pruitt was Florida State’s DC when the Seminoles won the national championship in 2013. He spent the last two seasons in Athens, where the Bulldogs improved from sixth in the SEC in total defense in 2014 to third last year, and he’s leading a group that returns plenty of talent despite losing the conference’s defensive player of the year in linebacker Reggie Ragland.
The Tide’s returning starters on defense include seniors Jonathan Allen, Reuben Foster and Eddie Jackson as well as sophomore Minkah Fitzpatrick. Pruitt will also get to work with senior linebackers Tim Williams and Ryan Anderson, among others.
Auburn’s strength on defense appears to be on the line, where Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams and Dontavius Russell all return. Cornerback Carlton Ford and safeties Rudy Ford and Tray Matthews will be back in the secondary, so Steele will have a good foundation.
But Alabama has led the SEC in total defense in six of the last seven seasons. The talent Pruitt has at his disposal — along with his championship pedigree — should produce another stellar season on D in Tuscaloosa.
Answer: Advantage to the Tide.
4. WHICH TEAM FACES THE TOUGHER OVERALL SCHEDULE?
This one is pretty simple, as there aren’t many differences between these two SEC West rivals.
Auburn gets Clemson, Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas and Vanderbilt at home, while the Tide has to travel to Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee and LSU. Plus, the Tigers’ non-conference slate features home games against Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe and Alabama A&M.
The Crimson Tide’s non-conference schedule consists of Southern Cal, Western Kentucky, Kent State and Chattanooga. Plus, Bama has to visit Tennessee on Oct. 15.
Answer: Advantage to the Tigers.
5. WHO IS THE BEST COORDINATOR SET TO COACH IN THE 2016 IRON BOWL?
For all the controversy that seems to follow him, along with all his supposed flaws and failures as a head coach, Kiffin in 2015 reminded the college football world why he’s such an in-demand offensive coach. It’s true, he benefited from having last year’s Heisman Trophy winner in Derrick Henry, but he also got similar production from his wideouts and quarterbacks as a USC assistant.
Once again, the Alabama offensive coordinator has a chance to make the biggest impact of the four men. Offense remains the trump card in college football these days, and Kiffin is a major reason why Alabama is still a force nationally.
Steele and Pruitt are newbies who will need time to implement their systems. Considering Auburn’s quarterback play last season, and the uncertainty at the position going into this one, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee could certainly use a bounce-back campaign.
Answer: Advantage to the Tide.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
