The Auburn Tigers are coming off a very impressive opening night win over Alabama A&M in week one. The 73-3 victory, which forced both head coaches to agree to a shortened second half, vaulted the Tigers up three spots in the ESPN Football Power Index, as Hugh Freeze’s squad now sits at No. 16 heading into the second week of the season.
Auburn’s week one win included nine offensive touchdowns, a special teams score, and a field goal. The offense erupted for 628 receiving yards, including 428 yards through the air, in possibly their best performance of the Hugh Freeze era. ESPN’s FPI liked what it saw from Auburn in week one, and the Tigers could have an opportunity to creep further toward the top 10 with a win over Cal on Saturday.
The FPI ranks each college football team by a variety of factors; Strength of record, strength of schedule, offensive efficiency, defensive efficiency, and overall efficiency.
Here is where Auburn ranks in each category ahead of the Tigers’ week two matchup with California at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Overall Ranking: No. 16
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The Football Power Index seems to always like Auburn more than most Polls because of the advanced metrics that go into the Power Index ranking. That is once again the case this year, as the Tigers opened the season at No. 19 in the FPI and now sit at No. 16 after a 70-point week one win.
Auburn was dominant on offense, defense, and special teams in the victory against Alabama A&M. Now the 8th highest ranked SEC Team, the Tigers have the chance to leap frog Missouri (12) with another big victory this week over Cal.
Besides Missouri, Georgia (1), Alabama (2), Texas (3), Tennessee (7), Ole Miss (8), and Oklahoma (9), all rank ahead of Auburn as it currently stands.
Strength of Record: No. 93
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Alabama A&M plays their conference schedule in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Even if the Tigers won this game by 170, it’s nearly impossible to improve in the strength on record category against any school in the FCS, let alone one that plays in one of the inferior conferences in the division.
Whether the Tigers win or lose in week two against Cal, their ranking in the “Strength of Record” category will improve drastically.
Remaining Strength of Schedule: No. 6
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One of the key factors allowing Auburn to continently rank among the top teams in the Football Power Index is the grueling schedule the SEC offers. While Hugh Freeze’s squad has a few more weeks to warm up, the in-conference tests will begin as soon as week four against Arkansas.
After that, Auburn hosts Oklahoma (9 in FPI) then travels to Athens to take on Georgia (1) before continuing its road trip against Missouri (12) in Columbia. Of course, a road Iron Bowl against Alabama (2) awaits the Tigers at the end of November as well.
Overall Efficiency: No. 3
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Auburn had just over half as many touchdowns (10) than they did first downs (18) on Saturday. Quarterbacks Payton Thorne, Hank Brown, and Holden Geriner completed 18 passes in the game, 6 of those 18 passes were touchdowns. Jarquez Hunter and the running backs averaged just under 10 yards per carry and scored three house calls of their own.
Alabama A&M quarterbacks on the other hand completed 16 of 34 passes for just 204 yards. The Bulldogs rushed 36 times as a team, collecting a grand total of 36 yards.
Auburn scored a special teams touchdown as well, creating quite possibly the most efficient win in the last decade of Tigers football.
Offensive Efficiency: No. 1
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Auburn’s offense came into this game with plenty of question marks across the board, but an abundance of optimism as well. A revamped receiving core led by transfers KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Robert Lewis was the talk of much of the offseason. That pass catching nucleus left plenty of reason for further optimism on Saturday.
The aforementioned duo combined with freshmen Cam Coleman and Perry Thompson to haul in 315 yards through the air on just 10 catches. 5 of those 10 catches resulted in 6 points. You cannot get much more efficient than that as an offense.
Defensive Efficiency: No. 64
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While Auburn’s defense was fantastic on Saturday, the explosion on the offensive side forced the Tigers to stay on the field for nearly 80% of the contest. Alabama A&M’s time of possession (36:34) combined with the fact Auburn did not force a single turnover reflected poorly on the advanced statistics that go into the defensive efficiency category.
The Tigers should be able to jump quite a few spots next week after what should be a much more competitive matchup against Cal.
