Auburn’s open week has given everyone a little too much time to think, and for plenty of fans, that means staring straight at the schedule and seeing trouble.
The Tigers don’t play this week, so the noise shifts to next Saturday’s trip to Georgia, a 2:30 CT kickoff that lands in the same window as Alabama-Tennessee. That created the usual storm of reaction online, with plenty of Auburn fans already bracing for the worst before a snap is even taken.
Alex Golesh has only been Auburn’s head coach for five games, and the early ledger is 3-2. There’s a solid win over Baylor, a respectable win over Vanderbilt and the expected result against Southern Miss. The two losses came at home against a better Florida roster and on the road against Tennessee, where his more seasoned mentor was on the opposite sideline.
There have been signs Auburn has been able to do a couple things it has struggled with lately. Golesh’s team has won two one-score games, something Auburn teams had not been able to manage consistently over the last five years. But the Tigers also dropped their first game against a ranked opponent, which keeps the broader concern alive.
That concern is hard to ignore. Auburn has lost 22 of its last 23 games against ranked opponents, and the road gets rough fast after the open date. Georgia, LSU and Ole Miss are next, all top-10 teams.
Against top-10 opponents, Auburn has now lost its last 10 and 15 of 16. That is the backdrop Golesh inherits, and it is not a soft one.
The bigger question is not whether Golesh owns that history. He doesn’t.
The question is whether he can start changing it. Nothing about the Tennessee game suggested Auburn is ready to walk into Athens or Oxford and flip the script.
The late push against Florida and the decision against Vanderbilt offered some hope, but not much proof.
Still, the people who care most about Auburn seem willing to give him a real chance. They want to see him succeed, and they’re prepared to let him show whether he can. Even so, a little evidence over the rest of the season would go a long way.
That said, fast starts at Auburn can be misleading. Bryan Harsin won four of his first five games, including the program’s first win in LSU’s Death Valley in 22 years, and still finished 5-11 from there before being shown the door before the end of his second season.
Hugh Freeze was gone before the end of Year 3, which undercuts the idea that Auburn is somehow fine with settling into mediocrity. The pressure is real, the timeline is tighter than ever, and this is not a program built to shrug and accept average.
Mediocre would be an improvement.
In Other News...
Alabamas Receivers Are Already Showing Why This Staff Hire Matters
Derrick Nixs move from Auburn play-caller to Alabama receivers coach is already drawing attention because of how quickly his fingerprints have shown up on that room. Auburn saw its most productive offensive stretch over the final three games of the 2025 season after Nix was promoted to call plays, and Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer moved to bring him in after JaMarcus Shephard left for Oregon State.
Rico Scott, Ryan Coleman-Williams and Lotzeir Brooks have all looked better under Nixs coaching, a development Alabama followers and Auburn observers alike will notice because of what it says about his teaching and his fit. The early returns are encouraging, even if the bigger question is still how far that influence can carry once the competition stiffens. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Fans Just Got A Telling Read On Tennessee
Tennessees 24-14 win over Auburn offered a useful snapshot of where the Volunteers stand early this season. At 4-1, with their only loss coming against the top-ranked team, Tennessee has already shown it can survive a rough offensive stretch because the rest of the roster keeps giving it a chance. The defense has been the bigger separator, with players like Xavier Gilliam and Arion Carter helping steady things while the offense works through some growing pains at quarterback.
The most interesting part for Auburn fans is how the Volunteers handled the change under center. Freshman Faizon Brandon had a difficult night against Auburn, and Tennessee turned to redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, who looked better in the role. That kind of move says plenty about Tennessees willingness to adjust on the fly, and it leaves open a bigger question for future opponents: if the defense keeps playing at that level, how much does the quarterback situation actually need to be settled for the Volunteers to keep winning? [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Frontcourt Just Got A Huge Boost With One Roster Wrinkle
As Auburn gets ready for its preseason opener, the Tigers have added a notable piece to the frontcourt mix: Narcisse Ngoy has been cleared by the NCAA and is now eligible to suit up after arriving as an overseas transfer. The French center brings the kind of size Auburn has been looking to plug into its interior rotation, and the timing matters with the season about to begin.
Ngoys path is unusual even by modern college basketball standards. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers before choosing Auburn, and his eligibility window is limited to two years, which adds a little urgency to whatever role he carves out. For a Tigers team trying to solidify its front line, his arrival gives the roster a bigger presence inside and another option to lean on as the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]