Before the season, Auburn (2-1) was widely mentioned as the SEC team best suited to unseat Alabama as the king of the conference. In the annual preseason media poll, Alabama secured 225 first-place votes to win the SEC West. Of the 18 who picked someone else, 13 went with Auburn. So far, Gus Malzhan’s Tigers have routed Georgia Southern 41-7, held their own on the road against defending national champion Clemson in a 14-6 loss and overcome five turnovers to narrowly beat Mercer 24-10. While the offense has been unsteady at times — Clemson piled up 11 sacks against the Tigers — Malzahn’s defense has turned into one of the SEC’s best units, allowing a league-low 3.
Auburn at Mizzou: A look ahead
