2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 12: Auburn

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Alabama football plays at Auburn — Alabama Crimson Tide running back Daniel Hill (4) is tackled by Auburn Tigers safety Kaleb Harris (8) as Auburn Tigers take on Alabama Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Auburn Tigers 27-20. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Iron Bowl is one of the best rivalries in college sports. Alabama and Auburn have produced some epic matchups over the last two decades, but the Tigers have not won inside Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2010.

First-year head coach Alex Golesh has a tough task ahead of him, but he brought over 13 players with him from USF, including quarterback Byrum Brown. Golesh is Auburn's third head coach since firing Gus Malzahn in 2020. He will ook to become the first one since Malzahn to beat the Crimson Tide.

We are still a long way away from the 2026 Iron Bowl, but here's any early overview at what the Tigers will look like this season:

Offense

Golesh is an offensive-minded coach, serving as an offensive coordinator at UCF and Tennessee (including a win over Alabama in 2022) before taking the head coaching job at USF. He will be tying to replicate a lot of his offense from Tampa in Auburn.

Because of that, it's not a surprise that 11 of the 13 USF transfers are on the offensive side of the ball, including five wide receivers. The headliner of the group though is the quarterback. Brown threw for 3,158 yards with 28 touchdowns to just seven interceptions with another 1,008 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground for the Bulls. He has two previous starts against Alabama in 2023 and 2024.

After losing leading receiver Cam Coleman to the transfer portal, it was important for Golesh to bring in so many of his guys at the position. USF's top four receivers with eligibility remaining at the end of last season, Keshaun Singleton, Jeremiah Koger, Chas Nimrod and Christian Neptune, all followed Golesh to the Plains. Singleton and Koger tied for the team lead with eight receiving touchdowns, and Singleton hauled in 50 passes for 877 yards.

Auburn will be rebuilding its entire offensive line after two linemen were selected in the NFL draft and a few others transferred out. With all the new faces on offense, Auburn does bring back its leading rusher from last season as the lone returning starter on offense: Jeremiah Cobb. The senior running back out of Montgomery finished sixth in the SEC last year with 969 rushing yards.

The Tigers will look very different on offense than it did under Hugh Freeze, but offense is what Golesh does best, and he has a lot of players from USF that are already familiar with his system.

Defense

The defense put on the field the last two seasons has not been the reason Auburn finished with a losing record. That's part of the reason DJ Durkin was retained as defensive coordinator during the head coaching change.

Auburn has more experience returning on defense than offense, starting with sacks and tackles leader Xavier Atkins. He led the Tigers with led the team with 84 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks in 2025, earning First Team All-SEC. The junior inside linebacker will be an anchor Durkin can build the defense around in 2026.

The Tigers bring back some veteran experience on the back end of the defense in senior cornerback Rashawn Pleasant and junior safety Kaleb Harris. Pleasant only started twice at corner last season but appeared in 11 games, with two interceptions in Auburn's lone SEC win over Arkansas. Harris was third on the team with 50 total tackles and also had an interception.

Auburn is replacing a first-round draft pick up front in Keldrick Faulk and will be looking from some help from Ole Miss edge transfer Da'Shawn Womack and Arkansas State transfer Cody Sigler.

With some of the help from the portal, plus returning experience, Durkin will be trying to build on the success of an Auburn defense that finishe inside the top 30 nationally last season in total defense.

Schedule

This will change in 2027, but as has been tradition for most of the last few decades, both Alabama and Auburn will play FCS opponents the week before squaring off in the Iron Bowl. This allows the teams the opportunity to try to get players healthy for the final game of the regular season.

Overall, Auburn has a relatively easy month of November before facing the Crimson Tide. The Tigers open up the month with Arkansas at home before traveling to Mississippi State. They are two of the three conference foes to finish with the same or worse record than Auburn last season. Auburn closes out the home slate with Samford.

However, the Tigers' six conference games before that are anything but easy. Auburn opens SEC play with two straight home games against Florida and Vanderbilt before back-to-back challenging road games at Tennessee and Georgia. The next two games are against LSU and Ole Miss.

With Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss on the schedule, Auburn has to face three of the five SEC teams that made the College Football Playoff last season with all three matchups on the road.

Outlook

Crazy things can (and do) happen in the Iron Bowl, but combining the fact that it is Golesh's first season with the game being in Bryant-Denny Stadium makes it hard to picture the Tigers coming out on top in this game. However, Golesh did take the Tide to the fourth quarter in a tight game with USF in 2024.

Brown has not had much success in his two previous starts against the Crimson Tide and will probably need a big game on the ground and and through the air if Auburn wants to snap its six-game losing streak to Alabama.

The Game

Date:Nov. 28

Time:TBD- FLEX (2:30-3:30 p.m. OR 5-7 p.m.)

TV:TBD

Location:Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Series history: Alabama leads, 52-37-1

Last meeting: Alabama escaped Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 27-20 win over Auburn on Nov. 29, 2025 thanks to a 15-play touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter to seal the game and the sixth straight Crimson Tide victory in the Iron Bowl.

The Team

Coach:Alex Golesh, first season

Offensive coordinator:Joel Gordon (first season)

Defensive coordinator:DJ Durkin (third season)

2025 record: 5-7 (1-7 SEC)

2025 rankings:Total offense (79th), Total defense (29th)

Returning Starters

5 (1 on offense, 2 on defense, 2 on special teams)

Players to Watch

RB Jeremiah Cobb, WR Keshaun Singleton, K Alex McPherson, LB Xavier Atkins

Top Newcomer

USF transfer QB Byrum Young will have the biggest impact of any newcomer on Auburn's success this season.

Biggest Question

Can Golesh get Auburn back to a bowl game in Year 1?

The School

Location:Auburn, Alabama

Founded:1856

Enrollment:34,145

Nickname:Tigers

Colors: Orange and blue

The Program

Last time beat Alabama: 2019

Last time won SEC:2013

Last time won SEC West: 2017

National championships:2 (1957, 2010)

Playoff Appearances:None

Conference championships:12- ( SEC: 2013, 2010, 2004, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1983, 1957, Southern: 1932, SIAA: 1919, 1914, 1913)

Bowl record: 24-21-2

Last season missed bowl:2025

Heisman trophies: 3 (Pat Sullivan 1971, Bo Jackson 1985, Cam Newton 2010)

2026 NFL Draft:

DE Keldrick Faulk (Round 1, Pick 31- Tennessee Titans)
EDGE Keyron Crawford (Round 3, Pick 67- Las Vegas Raiders)
OL Connor Lew (Round 4, Pick 128- Cincinnati Bengals)
OL Jeremiah Wright (Round 4, Pick 132- New Orleans Saints)
DT Bobby Jamison-Travis (Round 6, Pick 186- New York Giants)

Last Four Recruiting Class Rankings

No. 31 (2026), No. 8 (2025) No. 10 (2024), No. 18 (2023)

The Schedule

Sept. 5: vs. Baylor (Atlanta)
Sept. 12: vs. Southern Miss
Sept. 19: vs. Florida
Sept. 26: vs. Vanderbilt
Oct. 3: at Tennessee
Oct. 17: at Georgia
Oct. 24: vs. LSU
Oct. 31: at Ole Miss
Nov. 7: vs. Arkansas
Nov. 14: at Mississippi State
Nov. 21: vs. Samford
Nov. 28: at Alabama

This is the 12th and final tory inBamaCentral'ssummer preview series of all 12 regular-season opponents for Alabama football in 2026.

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 1: East Carolina

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 2: Kentucky

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 3: Florida State

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 4: South Carolina

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 5: Mississippi State

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 6: Georgia

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 7: Tennessee

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 8: Texas A&M

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 9: LSU

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 10: Vanderbilt

2026 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 11: Chattanooga