College football: Biggest Achilles’ heel for every Top 25 team

College football 2018: Biggest Achilles’ heel for every Top 25 team

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (13) celebrates and holds up the CFP Trophy after the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs on January 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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8. Auburn

Achilles’ heel: SEC schedule quite unfavorable

Certainly, a big concern that has been addressed all offseason for the Auburn Tigers is that they need to replace what they lost to the NFL in the run game. Gus Malzahn’s team found tremendous success last season riding the duo of Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway in the run game. With both of those guys now gone though, they need Kam Martin to come in and make some noise in addition to other bodies they have on the roster.

Even still, there are options for the Tigers there, one of which includes simply relying on quarterback Jarrett Stidham to do more this season. The Baylor transfer flashed tremendous promise throughout last season, albeit with bouts of inconsistency. Still, he is being talked about as an NFL-caliber signal-caller and could potentially lead the way himself on offense. And with him being bolstered by an impressive defensive unit on the other side of the ball, this Auburn team appears to be sitting pretty.

And then you look at their schedule, and there is absolutely nothing pretty about that for the Tigers.

Things get tough right out of the gate for Auburn as they play the Washington Huskies in Atlanta. That’s going to be a big test for a team with initial questions to answer on offense right out of the gate. Their Sept. 15 matchup with LSU will be the same, even if it’s at home. But the real kicker for the Tigers is that three of their toughest SEC games (Mississippi State, Georgia and Alabama) are all on the road this year. If this team is a CFP contender, they’re going to have to prove it early and then on the road time and again.