AUBURN — The Auburn Tigers are hoping to put a different display of football on the field for the California Golden Bears this year as the Tigers barely scraped away in Berkeley last year, winning 14-10.
This time, it’s Cal making the cross-country trip to play in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Here are five things to look for in the game.
Will Auburn’s offense continue to look efficient?
The Tigers lit up the scoreboard last week, racking up 628 yards of total offense along the way. The quarterbacks combined for 451 yards through the air, with Payton Thorne throwing for 322 yards in the first half before handing it over to Hank Brown and Holden Geriner.
Auburn’s receivers outmatched an inferior opponent a week ago, taking advantage of the 1v1 matchups on the outside, and proved that the passing game is going to be a staple of the offense.
It will be interesting to see if this holds up against Cal, a much-improved opponent from a week ago.
Will Jayden Ott be available?
Cal’s starting running back went out of the game last week with an apparent ankle injury in the second half of the game against UC Davis. Head coach Justin Wilcox said Ott is “probable ahead of Saturday’s matchup.
Ott, who rushed for 1,305 yards last season, only mustered up 70 yards against the Tigers’ defense a season ago.
Will the Auburn running backs break out this week?
The running game for Auburn didn’t see a whole lot of action last Saturday as Jarquez Hunter led the team with only four carries for 53 yards. Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb each had three carries, combining for 37 yards.
Hugh Freeze will likely lean on his ultra-talented running back room to carry the load in this game to keep from being so one-dimensional - something the Tigers did not do in last year's game with Cal.
Which quarterback will Auburn see from Cal?
Fernando Mendoza got the start last week for Cal and got the majority of the reps in the 31-13 win. Mendoza threw for 158 yards on 15 completions. North Texas transfer Chandler Rogers played 20 snaps, throwing for only 21 yards and adding 17 on the ground.
Wilcox did not dismiss the idea of rotating quarterbacks against the Tigers, saying, “We like both of those guys. We like that quarterback room, and we’ll see how this week goes and how the game goes on Saturday.”
Can Auburn win the turnover battle?
One negative that Hugh Freeze talked about after Auburn’s win last week was that they lost the turnover battle. Auburn coughed the ball up twice on its final two possessions of the game and did not turn the Alabama A&M offense over once.
That’s an area Freeze wants to see improvement in, whether it's in the final few minutes of the game or not.
Look for DJ Durkin and his defense to create some turnovers against this Cal offense early in this game to shift the momentum in the Tiger’s direction.
Kickoff for Saturday is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email logan.fowler@1819News.com.
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