Auburn Football Season Preview 2024: Biggest games, key players to watch, predictions and more

The Auburn Tigers are looking to turn a lot of heads in the 2024 college football season after a mediocre 6-7 campaign last year. The team has shown the ability to remain competitive against some incredibly difficult programs and significantly changed their wide receiver room to help quarterback Payton Thorne step up.

Let's take a closer look at what we should expect out of head coach Hugh Freeze's program entering the 2024 college football season.

Auburn's biggest games in the 2024 season

The Auburn Tigers have a tough schedule in the conference, but one benefit is three of their games against AP Preseason Top 25 teams are at home. However, they have road games against the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

They also have a brutal three-week stretch from the end of September to mid-October as they face the Oklahoma Sooners, Georgia Bulldogs, and Missouri Tigers.

Below is their full schedule broken down, with the road games being extremely tough.

Auburn Home Games

• 8/31: vs. Alabama A&M
• 9/7: vs. California
• 9/14: vs. New Mexico
• 9/21: vs. Arkansas
• 9/28: vs. Oklahoma
• 11/2: vs. Vanderbilt
• 11/16: vs. UL Monroe
• 11/23: vs. Texas A&M

Auburn Road Games

• 10/5: at Georgia
• 10/19: at Missouri
• 10/26: at Kentucky
• 11/30: at Alabama

Key Auburn players to watch out for in the 2024 season

#1. Payton Thorne, QB

Senior quarterback Payton Thorne is going to have a lot of eyeballs on him and needs to showcase he can be better than he did last year. He finished going 149-of-238 (62.6%) with 1,671 yards with 15 touchdown passes to nine interceptions. Thorne showcased the ability in 2021 and 2022 that he could do better, and with another year in the SEC under his belt, things should look better for him under center.

#2. Jarquez Hunter, RB

Senior running back Jarquez Hunter is expecting to take the brunt of the carries this season and continue improving. He finished 2023 with 146 rushing attempts for 865 yards (5.9 yards per carry) with seven rushing touchdowns as well as 16 receptions for 111 yards (6.9 yards per catch).

Expect to see Hunter be utilized more toward 200 total touches this season as he is one of their biggest playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.

#3. Alex McPherson, PK

Not a lot of teams have a kicker that is going to be on their key players' list — but not every team has Alex McPherson on its roster. He had 79 points last year and did not miss a single extra point or field goal. That includes going 4-for-4 on 40+ yard kicks. Expect him to continue having excellent kicks as he has gone 19-of-20 throughout his first two college football seasons and will keep adding points to the Tigers' score.

Auburn prediction for the 2024 season

The Auburn Tigers have a tough schedule and are going to be fighting for some wins throughout the season. The Tigers have enough talent to go better than .500 as their non-conference schedule and late October to mid-November stretch should all be wins. Do not be surprised if Auburn can pull off an upset against one of the five games against preseason ranked teams as well.