5 reasons Gus Malzahn doesn’t make it past 2016 season
By John Buhler
2. Brutal SEC road Games in the second half of the season.
Though starting with Clemson in Week 1 at home will be a difficult matchup for Auburn, the Tigers can offset a Week 1 loss with relatively easier games in the first half of their season. They are only considered relatively easy because Auburn draws three absolutely brutal SEC road games in the second half of their season.
On October 29th, Auburn will have to travel to Oxford, Mississippi to take on a presumably top 10 team in the Ole Miss Rebels at newly renovated Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The lower level of Ole Miss’ stadium is now fully enclosed and with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback in Chad Kelly, Ole Miss will be very tough to beat in Oxford in 2016.
On November 12th, Auburn will have to deal with the newest installment of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry versus the Georgia Bulldogs when the Tigers venture to Athens. Athens has not been kind to the Tigers for the last decade. While the head-to-head series is now at a gridlocked tie, Auburn has rarely won in the Classic City this century.
And then there’s the 2016 version of the Iron Bowl against arch rival Alabama. On November 22nd, the best rivalry in college football will be played out at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as the Crimson Tide probably try to position themselves for yet another trip to Atlanta as SEC West Champions.
In short, Auburn would be lucky to win even one of these late season games. If combined with a Clemson loss at home in Week 1, Auburn sits at 8-4 (5-3) before even factoring in games against Arkansas, LSU, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M. Auburn’s 2016 slate of games are brutal, especially in the second half.
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