2011 Auburn Tigers Football Preview

It was just two years ago that fans were so upset with the hiring of Gene Chizik that some of them met him at the airport to boo his arrival. Two years later, Chizik has delivered a Heisman Trophy winner and national championship to the Plains, and now everything seems pretty good with Auburn fans. This year, the real hard work begins. The Tigers kept the coaching staff mostly in place, but only eight returning starters are still around, which means the Tigers will be all but starting over in 2011. Players like Cam Newton come around just once in a generation, so to expect another would be unfair. However, Chizik and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn have recruited extremely well and have a lot of young talent to work with. They’ll be out to prove their coaching mettle again in 2011.

Barrett Trotter was actually the starter heading into fall in 2010 before giving way to Newton. He might be in the same position again, only this time the challengers are sophomore Clint Moseley and highly rated freshman Kiehl Frazier. Trotter will manage the offense well but isn’t much of a threat to run the ball. Moseley and even more so Frazier are true run threats and that’s something Malzahn has shown a propensity to use. Whoever gets the job will be handing the ball off to a bevy of talented running backs led by sophomore Michael Dyer, a powerful runner who is short and hard to find between the tackles. The change of pace back will be junior Ontario McCalebb, who is incredibly fast and a very good receiver out of the backfield. The Tigers also added blue-chip freshmen backs Quan Bray, Tre Mason, and Mike Blakely (who originally signed with Florida). Few teams will have a better group of young running backs than Auburn. Blue collar fullback/tight end Phil Lutzenkirchen also returns in the backfield.

In addition to the questions at quarterback and receiver, Auburn has the difficult task of replacing four offensive linemen from last year’s veteran group. Senior Brandon Mosley at right tackle is the only returning starter. Presently, Auburn is looking at starting a former walk-on at center. The line will continue to be a patchwork job until fall camp arrives. Don’t be surprised if freshmen Greg Robinson and Christian Westerman both see early playing time.

The picture on the defensive side of the ball isn’t much better, and truth be told, it wasn’t a very good defense in the first place. Defensive Tackle Nick Fairley was a dominant defensive tackle and left for the NFL after just one season. The only returning starter up front is Nosa Eguae. Across from him is sophomore Corey Lemonier who played a lot as a freshman and is poised for big things in 2011. The picture at tackle is a little murkier where Jeffrey Whitaker and Kenneth Carter are the likely starters. Freshman Gabe Wright was one of the nation’s more sought after defensive tackle prospects and he will undoubtedly see the field as a freshman.

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In the back seven Auburn is still looking for answers at linebacker, but does return a pair of quality defensive backs in T’Sharvan Bell and Neiko Thorpe. In particular, Thorpe is an excellent tackler who will move from cornerback to safety. Like most of the other positions, Auburn signed a handful of potential impact freshmen that will provide immediate depth and see meaningful snaps from the minute they step onto campus. The Auburn defense relied on Fairley to get to the quarterback on his own, and was therefore able to avoid having to blitz often. The Tigers won’t have that luxury in 2011. With the new faces up front, Auburn will have to generate pressure with numbers and that means having to leave the secondary in a lot of man coverage.

The schedule is a load for a team that will be so remarkably young in 2011. Auburn hosts Mississippi State and then travels to Clemson in weeks two and three. October features the daunting task of games at South Carolina, at Arkansas, home against Florida, and at LSU all in consecutive weeks. The Tigers travel to rival Auburn two weeks later before hosting Alabama in the Iron Bowl to finish the season. It’s a load for such a young team, and anything more than eight wins will be a remarkable job by Chizik and company.