Auburn Football: 2025 Season Preview for the Tigers

With Auburn football starting in just a few long days, now is the perfect time to preview the Tigers’ program ahead of the college season. Auburn’s schedule is nothing to scoff at, the offense is loaded with weapons, and the defense could be one of the best in the country. How do Hugh Freeze and company prove that these recruiting classes have been worth the wait? We’ll cover that in this 2025 Auburn football season preview.

Auburn Football: 2025 Season Preview

The Coaches

Hugh Freeze is going into his third year as the head coach, where winning less than eight games may decide his job (unless he’s able to beat Alabama and Georgia). Despite two subpar seasons, Freeze has been able to recruit well, which has been a boost to his stock.

The offensive coordinator for Auburn is Derrick Nix, who is also the running backs coach. Nix is in his second season at Auburn and looks to have the offense much improved from last year. With certain comments made this week, the play calling of the offense will be heavily scrutinized, so Nix better bring his A-game.

DJ Durkin might be the safest man on this staff as the defensive coordinator. Durkin will have the Auburn defense competing to be one of the best in the country, and camp reports have that fact solidified.

The Schedule

There’s no secret that Auburn has a tough schedule entering 2025. And for this 2025 season preview, we’ll quickly go through the Auburn football schedule and break down its possible outcomes.

It starts with a tough test against Baylor in Waco, Texas. This game will be the indicator for the rest of the season, as a win sets the Tigers up to be 3-0 going into conference play. Meanwhile, a loss almost guarantees a 5-loss season and changes within the program.

The following two games are against Ball State and South Alabama. These games should result in two wins and help the Tigers prepare for the next game, which is a huge matchup against Oklahoma in Norman. This will be a homecoming for presumed starter Jackson Arnold and the opening of SEC play. If Auburn can win this game, it sets up for a great season for Auburn.

Following Oklahoma, the Auburn Tigers go to Kyle Field to play the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies will be looking to avenge the four-overtime loss from last year, and will get it done.

Auburn then gets a well-deserved bye week, but it comes with gobs of pressure. That’s because the following game is one of the most important for Auburn. The Georgia Bulldogs come to Jordan-Hare to face Auburn on October 11. John Cohen, Auburn’s AD, has added fuel to this fire for as the Tigers are retiring Cam Newton’s number and jersey at this game. With two weeks to prepare and the added motivation to win for Cam, Auburn should win against Georgia (also because Kirby always loses one he shouldn’t).

The tough games don’t stop as Auburn hosts Missouri for a Tiger versus Tiger clash. Others have predicted Auburn losing this matchup, but not so fast! Auburn lost a close one last year, and with an improved kicking game, they should compete in this game.

Auburn has three more games before another bye, with the first game on the road against Arkansas. The Tigers turned the ball over five times in a loss against Arkansas last year, and should be looking for a huge revenge game. Arkansas will not be easy but the Tigers should handle business.

The following week at home they play Kentucky, led by former Auburn quarterback Zach Calzada, Auburn should handle business against the Wildcats at home.

Wrapping up these three games, Auburn faces Vanderbilt on the road. Diego Pavia, the wizard that he is, has another year of eligibility. While he will haunt defensive coordinators everywhere, the one exception is DJ Durkin. Last year, Durkin’s defense held Pavia to 9-of-22 passing for 143 yards. Unfortunately, Auburn’s offense only scored seven points in that game. This year, the Tigers should be looking for revenge.

Following a bye week, Auburn will get a tune-up game against Mercer at home prior to rivalry week. The season will be wrapped up with The Iron Bowl – Auburn versus Alabama. Both teams could be in playoff contention if things shake out right. Both have talent, but question marks at the quarterback position, which will definitely answered by this game.

The Offense

Auburn has returning talent at wide receiver, running back, and the offensive line. Key transfers have also come to the Tigers. Yet none of that will matter if Jackson Arnold is not “the guy”. If Arnold starts off slow, Deuce Knight should start going forward, even if Freeze doesn’t want that to happen.

Sophomores Cam Coleman, Perry Thompson, Malcolm Simmons and Bryce Cain are all improved, according to camp. Meanwhile, transfer wide receiver Eric Singleton may be the best route runner of all of them and will be a starter.

Damari Alston, Jeremiah Cobb and Durell Robinson provide a three-headed monster at running back, and that excludes true freshman running backs Alvin Henderson and Omar Mabson (who is having a phenomenal camp, according to reports).

The offensive line is comprised of two juniors and three seniors, which historically has been great for Auburn. Freeze, unlike previous coaches, has also recruited to have depth on the offensive line. This all leads to one position being able to get the ball to these playmakers.

Jackson Arnold in 10 games at Oklahoma had 154 completions on 246 attempts with a 62.6 completion percentage. He threw for 1421 passing yards with 12 touchdowns to three interceptions and had 150 carries for 444 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Arnold also took 34 sacks. Much has been made about his nine fumbles, but only five of those were lost.

Auburn had 12 interceptions thrown and 15 fumbles (losing 9), for a -9 turnover margin. Arnold seems like he will protect the football more than he did last year. If he can do that and execute the offense, he has enough talent around him to lead Auburn to a successful season.

Arnold has competition that hopefully will cause the entire room to be better. Five-star freshman Deuce Knight is a mobile lefty with a live arm. Deuce is the future of the position, and that may come soon if Arnold does not have success.

Ashton Daniels also transferred in from Stanford and the senior is known for his legs. He will likely get packages in the offense to help remain creative and utilize his mobility in certain situations.

The Defense

Auburn’s defense was ranked 31st nationally in yards per game allowed last year. They lost five players to the NFL, with four of those playing significant snaps. However, the prowess of the remaining defensive stars will be highlighted.

First and foremost, the Auburn defense is led by potential top-15 NFL draft pick, Keldric Faulk. Faulk had 45 total tackles and seven sacks last year and his impact will be felt on the defensive line this year. Teams will have to double team him which will allow Malik Blocton, Amaris Williams, Jared Smith (true freshman), Bobby Jamison-Travis, and Jourdin Crawford to have an easier path into the backfield. Hugh Freeze has recruited a strong defense with plenty of depth.

Losing Dorian Mausi and Eugene Asante to the NFL has depleted the linebacking group. However, Demarcus Riddick came on last year and can easily fill in for one of these two. Keyron Crawford and Robert Woodyard round out the starting linebackers. Meanwhile, Bryce Deas and Elijah Melendez are two true freshman who could also see playing time along with transfers Xavier Atkins and Chris Murray. These seven players have big shoes to fill, but with the way DJ Durkin has developed the players on defense, it should be an easy task.

The two starting corners are junior Kayin Lee and sophomore Jay Crawford. They led the team in pass deflections in 2024 with seven apiece, and Lee led the team with two interceptions. Meanwhile, Champ Anthony is returning from injury and will provide depth and hard hitting prowess. True sophomores Kaleb Harris, Kensley Louidor-Faustin and redshirt sophomore Sylvester Smith round out the starting secondary.

The depth that this position group has is ridiculous with freshmen Blake Woodby, Eric Winters, and Anquon Fegans all having excellent camps. Until recently, the secondary was playing so well in camp that reports indicated that they were frustrating the wide receivers.

Special Teams

Special teams in 2024 was actually a dark mark on the Auburn report card when it’s normally been a highlight. Kicker Alex McPherson is back and healthy, and has Towns McGough to back him up. Hudson Kaak, Australian transfer, will handle the punting responsibilities with freshman John McGuire backing him up.

Jeremiah Cobb will handle kick returns while Eric Singleton will handle punt returns. Cobb had some explosive returns in 2024, so the continuity should provide more explosiveness.

Recruiting Roundup

It wouldn’t be a proper Auburn football season preview without a recruiting roundup for the 2025 season!

Auburn just received a commit from five-star safety Bralan Womack. Womack has chosen the Tigers over Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Florida. Other recent commits include four-star wide receiver Jase Matthews, four-star edge rusher Jaquez Wilkes, and four-star offensive tackle Wilson Zierer.

Auburn currently holds the 22nd ranked recruiting class for 2026, and holds one commit for their 2027 class.