Auburn Football: Game-by-game predictions for Tigers in 2018
The SEC Championship Game will be another rematch between Auburn and Georgia. The Bulldogs and Tigers will face off in Auburn’s second game of the 2018 season in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Gus Malzahn lost the rematch in 2017 but this time the Tigers pull out all of the offensive stops and trick plays and play to win instead of lose.
At this point in the season, Jarrett Stidham will be a Heisman Trophy candidate as will Jake Fromm. Whichever quarterback emerges from the competition victorious will have a clear shot at the title. Auburn’s offense is going to be in full swing with Devan Barrett playing a wingback type position, Kam Martin serving as the bruiser back and Chandler Cox as the lead blocking H-Back.
Cox, who played single-wing quarterback in high school, can even be used in short-yardage situations to pick up a first down. The receiving corps is going to be elite with Slayton, Davis and Craig-Myers and they’ll pick up a few big play first downs.
On defense, Auburn will struggle to slow down the hard-nosed scheme Kirby Smart has installed in Athens. However, the Tigers always seem to have penetrating, run-stopping defensive tackles. UGA won’t pull out the amount of tricks and onside kicks that I can see Coach Malzahn relying on and the Tigers will pull out a close one.