By Brant Daughtry
It’s that time again friends.
Auburn football is set to begin the 2022 season with several question marks. The quarterbacks, wide receivers, and linebackers are all largely unproven. The offensive line has been the butt of several jokes since 2018. And head coach Bryan Harsin is on the hot seat.
But that’s not what we’re here to talk about.
Last year I began a weekly series writing about the upcoming opponents for Auburn football and basketball. I gave a background on the team’s history with Auburn, if there was any, talked about the head coach, and gave some players to watch for. And I had a lot of fun with it, so I plan on continuing. This is the football preview for the week 1 contest against Mercer.
Bear-ing Down
Drew Cronic is entering his third year as the head coach at Mercer, and he’s attempting to create something of a regional power. Playing at the FCS level, the Bears secured their best conference record since entering the SoCon in 2021, going 6-2 in conference play, finishing second. Cronic also saw the first player in school history go to the NFL, as All-Conference offensive lineman Jason Poe signed with the 49ers following the 2022 Draft.
Mercer and Auburn have a very limited history, with the two schools only playing 12 times. Auburn has a 12-0 record vs. the Bears, with the last game coming in 2017 24-10. The last time the two played before that however, was 1922. That last game was something of a nail biter for Auburn fans, as the Tigers turned the ball over 5 times, making the contest closer than it should have been against an FCS team.
Last year, the Bears went 7-3, with a 6-2 conference record. Their offense scored 32 points per game with the defense holding opponents to 23. The offense was well-balanced, throwing for 200 yards per game and rushing for 209 yards per game.
This year, the Bears return most of their production, as most of their yardage came from redshirt freshman and sophomores last season. On defense, they should have a similar story. The front seven is young while still being experienced, while the secondary has a mix of young and old. All in all, this figures to be a strong year for the Bears.
The team had a successful week 1, blowing out Morehead State 63-13. The Bears offense put on a show, rushing for almost 400 yards and throwing for over 250. They also forced a few turnovers, and held on 3rd down consistently.
Players to Watch For
Running Backs Al Wooten and Austin Douglas, #2 and #5- Normally, I only give one player for each side of the ball in this segment, but the two headed monster at tailback is the feature here. Wooten was the work horse for Mercer in game 1, rushing 13 times for 108 yards, and Douglas was the home run hitter, rushing 5 times for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Linebacker Isaac Dowling, #3- Dowling burst onto the scene for Mercer last year, becoming a starter in his first game on campus. As a freshman, he led the team in in total tackles with 73, and tied the team lead in tackles for loss with 7.5. He’s started his sophomore campaign strong, gathering 5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and forcing a fumble in game 1.
I’ve often said I’m not in the business of making predictions, especially not in something as wonderfully unpredictable as college football. However this year I’ll give my general thoughts on the game and what I expect the point spread to be based on the matchup between the two teams. I like this choice for a paycheck game. Mercer showed in week 1 they aren’t afraid to lean on their rushing attack, and Auburn needs to ease its young linebackers into play against a good team. They also run a lot of RPO schemes, something else the linebackers will have to read and react to quickly.
Fans may remember the 2017 24-10 game, and think this may be more of the same. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think we should expect that this time. Auburn committed five turnovers in that game, several of them occurring in the red zone, and that number will skew any score line. Vegas lines haven’t been released yet, but they should favor Auburn by somewhere in the range of 30-35 points, and I think Auburn will send fans home as happy as they can with a week 1 paycheck game.
