Auburn’s 44-39 loss to Florida in Alex Golesh’s SEC debut had plenty to sort through on its own, but Week 3 around the conference may have sharpened the picture even more for the Tigers’ 2026 schedule.
The short version: some of Auburn’s future SEC opponents looked like real problems, and a few looked even worse than that.
Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia all flashed contender-level form in ways Auburn will have to deal with later this fall. LSU dropped a 32-24 decision to Ole Miss in Oxford, but the Tigers from Baton Rouge erased a 24-7 deficit and made the rivalry game far more competitive than it looked early. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was the difference, piling up 363 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and the game-winning 14-yard touchdown run on the final play of the night.
Georgia, meanwhile, kept steamrolling whatever showed up in front of it. In Fayetteville, the Bulldogs handled Arkansas, and their 178 total points through games against Arkansas, Western Kentucky and Tennessee State ranks third all-time among SEC teams through three games. The schedule hasn’t delivered a true heavyweight yet, but UGA has crushed the opposition anyway.
Those three - Ole Miss, LSU and Georgia - stand out as Auburn’s biggest hurdles.
Elsewhere, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt did nothing to suggest they’ll be easy work. Mississippi State rallied from 16 down against South Carolina, while Vanderbilt climbed out of a 17-point hole against NC State in a wild finish that qualified as one of the strangest endings of the season so far. Both teams had started to look like possible schedule padding, but Auburn’s showing against Florida makes that feel a lot less certain.
Alabama also looked vulnerable, even in a 50-36 win over Florida State. The Crimson Tide gave up 377 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in the red zone to Ashton Daniels, and the combination of earlier protection problems in Week 1 plus the blown coverage issues against Daniels and Mike Norvell’s play-calling leaves plenty for Auburn to study heading into the Iron Bowl.
Tennessee, though, may be a different story. The Volunteers rolled past Kennesaw State 42-9 after beating Georgia Tech 45-24 the week before, and Auburn’s first road test plus Golesh’s homecoming to the first SEC school he worked for now looks like a difficult assignment.
Week 3 didn’t make Auburn’s path feel any friendlier. If anything, it did the opposite. There’s still room for the Tigers to build internally, but the SEC opponents waiting ahead look nasty.
In Other News...
Auburns Florida Loss Just Reignited A Bigger Debate Over John Cohen
Auburns loss to Florida did more than deepen the frustration around another SEC setback. It also pulled John Cohen back into the center of the conversation about where the program is headed, with Paul Finebaum pointing directly at the athletic director and tying the defeat to Auburns broader football troubles. The backdrop is familiar by now: since Cohen arrived in October 2022, the Tigers have been trying to climb out of a rough stretch, and the results have not matched the expectations that come with the job.
What makes the latest round of criticism sting is how close Auburn reportedly came to landing Jon Sumrall in December, before the deal fell apart amid a swirl of rumors. For fans already looking at the Tigers 6-19 mark in SEC play and 18-21 overall under Cohens watch, that near-miss has become more than just a footnote. It has turned into part of the larger debate over whether Auburns biggest problem is on the field, or in the decisions being made above it. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Florida Loss Looks Worse Once You See What Broke Down
Auburns loss to Florida was bad enough on the scoreboard, but the deeper look makes it sting even more. The Tigers scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and still came up short in a 44-39 game, a reminder that the late rally could not erase how much ground they lost earlier with the defense unable to get stops and the offense forced to fight through pressure all day.
The numbers behind the performance point to a breakdown on both sides of the ball. Auburn missed 24 tackles, and the offense had trouble finding rhythm when the passing game was under duress and the rushing attack could not consistently move the chains. The snap counts and Pro Football Focus grades only sharpen the picture, and they leave plenty for Auburn to sort through as it tries to turn a frustrating loss into something more usable going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Has A Defensive Problem Golesh Did Not See Coming
Auburns SEC opener against Florida left the Tigers searching for answers on a side of the ball that has usually been a point of pride. Instead, Alex Golesh said he did not see the emotional, unsettled defensive performance coming, as Florida rolled up 44 points and 495 yards in a game that exposed issues Auburn rarely wants to carry into conference play.
DJ Durkin said the defense was too amped up, and it showed in the basics, from missed tackles to shaky communication. Auburn now has to reset quickly before Vanderbilt comes to town, because the next SEC matchup is less about explaining what went wrong in Gainesville and more about proving the problems can be cleaned up fast. [Read more 🡒]