Auburn Football: 5 reasons the Tigers will struggle in 2017

All the headlines surrounding the Auburn football program can finally get put to the test soon with the start of the college football season coming up.

With Baylor transfer Jarrett Stidham, the Auburn Tigers have a quarterback that can run Gus Malzahn’s offense efficiently. The stable of running backs Auburn has makes them even better. Combining Kamryn Pettway and Kerryon Johnson makes for a devastating duo for opposing defenses.

Auburn is ranked inside the Amway Coaches Poll, at No. 13, after an appearance in the Sugar Bowl in 2016. The appearance in the Sugar Bowl resulted in a 35-19 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. Yet, Malzahn was already focused on building toward the 2017 season at the end of the game against OU, when Auburn was down 35-13 at the end of the fourth quarter.

You cannot find many holes in the Auburn roster in 2017. They look the part for the first time since former quarterback Nick Marshall’s last year with the Tigers, in 2014. Since then, Malzahn has tried a variety of different quarterbacks that did not work out.

Former quarterbacks like Jeremy Johnson, John Franklin III (now at FAU), and Sean White did not live up to their hype. All three also had trouble keeping their starting job for more than a handful of games at a time.

Auburn is one of those teams that build up a hype train that falls short often. Tennessee is another example of an SEC team that cannot live up to the large expectations put on their shoulders year in and year out.

Fans have to start getting impatient with the results that Malzahn is putting out on the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium. A fan base that large deserves better than that and his seat might heat up very soon.

Now, let’s take a look at five reasons why the Auburn Tigers will struggle in 2017.