What the new SEC schedule means for Auburn in 2020

Auburn’s opponents for the 2020 season are set, though the exact dates of the games remains to be determined, following the SEC’s unveiling of the league’s new cross-division matchups for the 10-game conference-only slate this fall.

Auburn, which already had cross-division games scheduled at home against Kentucky and on the road against perennial rival Georgia, picked up matchups at home against Tennessee and on the road at South Carolina to round out its slate of opponents this season. It will be the second meeting in the last three years between the Tigers and the Vols at Jordan-Hare Stadium, as well as Auburn’s first game against South Carolina since 2014.

After much speculation the last week or so about which teams would be added to Auburn’s schedule, Friday’s reveal was not a terrible draw for Auburn, all things considered, though the Tigers will now likely face three of the top-four teams in the SEC East this season.

Here’s a quick look at Auburn’s two newest SEC East opponents in the wake of Friday’s news:

South Carolina

Auburn and South Carolina haven’t met on the gridiron since 2014, when the Gamecocks traveled to the Plains and were handed a 42-35 loss by the Tigers in a game that ended on a Jonathan Jones interception in the end zone on South Carolina’s 41-yard heave on the final play. The two teams haven’t played in Columbia, S.C., since the 2011 season, when Auburn came away with a 16-13 win.

Although the two cross-division foes don’t meet often, Auburn has dominated the series of late, with the Tigers rattling off eight straight wins and leading the all-time series 10-1-1. The Gamecocks’ lone win in the series came all the way back in 1933.

With the sporadic nature of the series between these two teams, this year’s somewhat unexpected meeting will also mark the first time Auburn will be facing its former defensive coordinator from the 2015 season, current South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp. Of course, Muschamp, who left Auburn for the head gig in Columbia after a one-year stint as Gus Malzahn’s DC, won’t be the only familiar face on the home sideline at Williams-Brice Stadium. Muschamp’s coaching staff also includes Travaris Robinson, who served as the Tigers’ defensive backs coach in 2015 before following Muschamp to South Carolina as defensive coordinator and secondary coach, as well as tight ends coach Bobby Bentley, who was an analyst on Malzahn’s staff before being given an on-field position with the Gamecocks. Bentley was also a candidate to be Auburn’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2019 before Malzahn hired Kenny Dillingham to the role.

Another link between the programs is South Carolina defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, who won both the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy at Auburn in 1988 while also being named a consensus All-American.

Here are a couple other things to know about South Carolina, which will likely be slotted as the fifth-best team in the SEC East this season:

— The Gamecocks already have had two offensive linemen opt out of the 2020 season in Jordan Rhodes and Mark Fox. Rhodes was a starter for South Carolina last season.

— Although South Carolina returns sophomore quarterback Ryan Hilinski, the Gamecocks will likely have a three-man battle for the starting job this year, with Colorado State grad transfer Collin Hill (who followed new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo from CSU) and four-star dual-threat freshman Luke Doty also in the mix.

Tennessee

Auburn and Tennessee will be meeting in Jordan-Hare Stadium for the second time in the last three years following the Vols’ trip to the Plains in 2018, where they salvaged a disappointing season and snapped an 11-game SEC losing streak thanks to a 30-24 win over the Tigers. This year’s matchup will mark just the third time this decade the two teams have played each other, with Auburn winning the other meeting in 2013 at Neyland Stadium.

Auburn leads the all-time series, 28-22-3, and has won six of the last seven matchups; prior to the 2018 loss — which served as rock bottom for the Tigers that season — Auburn had won six in a row against Tennessee.

Though these teams are certainly different than they were two years ago, and feature lots of new pieces on both sides of the ball, there will be an air of familiarity when they meet in Jordan-Hare Stadium again this year, as several Auburn players were key contributors during that 2018 season, including receivers Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz, as well as safeties Smoke Monday and Jamien Sherwood, edge-rusher Big Kat Bryant, linebacker K.J. Britt, defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell and nickelback Christian Tutt, among others.

Speaking of Bryant, his former high school coach, Shelton Felton, now serves as outside linebackers coach on Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee.

Here are a couple more quick notes on Tennessee heading into the season:

— The Vols feature offensive lineman Trey Smith, a preseason All-American and likely early-round draft pick in 2021.

— Tennessee also returns quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, who led that upset at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2018, when he completed 21-of-32 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns in what was his best performance of the season.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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