2007 Auburn Tigers

The 2007 Auburn Tigers football team will represent Auburn University in the 2007-2008 college football season. Head coach Tommy Tuberville returns for his ninth season at Auburn, the third longest tenure among current SEC head coaches. He is joined by returning offensive coordinator Al Borges and returning defensive coordinator Will Muschamp. Auburn will play its eight-game home schedule at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the ninth largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA seating 87,451. Conference foe Vanderbilt returns to the schedule while non-conference opponents South Florida and Tennessee Tech will play the Tigers for the first time.

Pre-season
Senior quarterback Brandon Cox returns for his third and final season as a starter. Finally healthy after being hampered the entire 2006 season with injuries, Auburn hopes he returns to his sophomore form. Cox is joined in the backfield by a stable of talented backs including Brad Lester, Ben Tate and freshman Mario Fannin. While wide receivers other than former walk-on Rod Smith need to step up, Auburn's tight ends are considered the "best in the [SEC]".

Auburn returns one of the best defensive lines in the SEC, if not the country, anchored by senior nose tackle Josh Thompson (43 tackles), senior defensive end and sack-leader Quentin Groves, and sophomore(RS) sensation Sen'Derrick Marks, who moves to end from defensive tackle where as a freshman he was named to the Sporting News and Coaches' SEC All-Freshman Teams.

Prior to the season, a new $2.9 million, 30-foot high by 74-foot wide high definition(HD) Daktronics LED video display was installed in the south end-zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn is the first SEC school to install an HD video display and the second in the NCAA (after Texas' Godzillatron).

Rankings
Auburn was ranked #14 in the initial USA Today Coaches Poll, a component of the Bowl Championship Series, released on August 3 2007. Auburn's initial position in the AP poll was #18. Other preseason rankings for Auburn include:


 * 1) 11 - Sportsline


 * 1) 12 - Rivals.com


 * 1) 12 - CollegeTOP25.com


 * 1) 14 - CollegeFootballNews


 * 1) 16 - Sports Illustrated


 * 1) 16 - ESPN


 * 1) 16 - The Sporting News


 * 1) 16 - NationalChamps.net


 * 1) 17 - Congrove


 * 1) 21 - Athlon Sports


 * 1) 23 - Lindy's Sports

Watchlists and honors

 * Outland Trophy watchlist - King Dunlap
 * Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlist - Quentin Groves
 * Chuck Bednarik Award watchlist - Quentin Groves
 * Ted Hendricks Award watchlist - Quentin Groves
 * Manning Award watchlist - Brandon Cox

Pre-season All-SEC Team

 * Coaches First Team, Defense - Quentin Groves (DE)
 * Media Days First Team, Defense - Quentin Groves (DE)
 * Coaches Second Team, Defense - Jonathan Wilhite (CB)
 * Media Days Second Team, Offense - King Dunlap (OL)
 * Media Days Second Team, Defense - Jonathan Wilhite (CB)
 * Coaches Third Team, Offense - King Dunlap, Brad Lester (RB)
 * Coaches Third Team, Defense - Josh Thompson (NT), Eric Brock (S), Patrick Lee (CB)

Schedule
The 2007 Tigers schedule was ranked the 5th hardest in the country by Sports Illustrated and 6th hardest by ESPN. The road schedule with all four opponents finishing in the Top 25 in 2006 including the defending BCS champion Florida Gators, was ranked as the 2nd toughest.

09/01/2007    Kansas State 13                  Auburn 23

09/08/2007*    8:00 p.m.     South Florida         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     ESPN2[27]

09/15/2007    11:30 a.m.     Mississippi State         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     LFS[27]

09/22/2007*    6:00 p.m.     New Mexico St.         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     -

09/29/2007        @ Florida         Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL     TBA

10/06/2007        Vanderbilt         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     TBA

10/13/2007    6:45 p.m.     @ Arkansas         Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR     ESPN[28]

10/20/2007    6:45 p.m.     @ LSU         Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA     ESPN[28]

10/27/2007        Ole Miss         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     TBA

11/03/2007*†    1:30 p.m.     Tennessee Tech         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL     -

11/10/2007        @ Georgia         Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (Deep South's Oldest Rivalry)     TBA

11/24/2007        Alabama         Jordan-Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL (Iron Bowl)     TBA

Coaching staff
*Entering season

Kansas State
Auburn is undefeated in two previous meetings with Kansas State in 1978 and 1979.

South Florida
This will be Auburn's first game against the Big East's South Florida Bulls.

Mississippi State
Mississippi State last won at Auburn in 1999 as Auburn leads the series at home 25-5 and 56-22-2 overall.

New Mexico State
The Aggies lost to the Tigers in the teams' only previous meeting in 1993.

Florida
Auburn makes its first trip to The Swamp since 2002. Auburn's defeat of Florida was the Gators' only loss in their 2006 BCS Championship season. Auburn holds a slight edge in the overall series with a 41-38-2 record.

Vanderbilt
The Commodores rotate back onto Auburn's schedule for the first meeting since 2003. Auburn's all-time record against Vanderbilt is 20-19-1.

Arkansas
Auburn looks to avenge last year's 27-10 home loss to Arkansas. AU signed the top two Arkansas high school football prospects out from under the Razorbacks during the off-season.

LSU
Auburn has scored only five wins in eighteen attempts at tough Tiger Stadium. The stakes are high, as this game has become a key matchup for a berth in the SEC Championship Game.

Ole Miss
Ole Miss has only beaten the Tigers in Auburn twice in 1999 and 2003; Auburn leads the series 23-8.

Tennessee Tech
The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles will travel to Auburn to meet the home-standing Tigers for the first time. Tech will be greeted by Auburn's own golden eagle, Nova - War Eagle VII, who will circle the field prior to the game in what is one of college football's most exciting traditions.

Georgia
AU travels to Georgia for the 111th meeting of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. Oddly, Auburn leads the series in Athens 18-9 and has won 10 of the last 12 matchups in Sanford Stadium.

Alabama
Though this in-state rivalry known as the Iron Bowl is considered one of the most bitter and intense in all of sports, this will be only the ninth meeting at Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium and the first meeting at JHS on Thanksgiving weekend.

Related pages

 * Auburn Tigers
 * Auburn University
 * Southeastern Conference
 * 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season
 * 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings