Sneak peek: California
AUBURN | Year two of the Hugh Freeze era gets underway with five consecutive home game before spending the entire month of October on the road.
The schedule includes big home matchups against Oklahoma and Texas A&M, and road contests at Georgia and Alabama.
Today, we continue an early look at Auburn’s 2024 schedule with a matchup against a new ACC program from the West coast.
WHO: California (6-7 last season, 4-5 Pac-12)
WHEN: Sept. 7, 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2
WHERE: Jordan-Hare Stadium (88,043)
SERIES: Auburn leads 1-0
WHAT’S NEW: Cal signed North Texas transfer quarterback Chandler Rogers, who completed 262 of 422 passes for 3,382 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions last fall. He also rushed for four TD’s. He was brought in to compete with Fernando Mendoza, who took over the starting position midway through last season and completed 153 of 243 passes for 1,708 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
WHO TO WATCH, OFFENSE: A preseason All-American, running back Jaydn Ott is coming off a huge sophomore season that saw him total 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns on 246 carries. He also caught two touchdown passes and returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against UCLA. He had 78 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries against Auburn last season.
WHO TO WATCH, DEFENSE: After not recording a tackle in the first six games, middle linebacker Cade Uluave was named Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year after totaling 66 tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced turnovers last season. He returned a fumble 51 yards for a touchdown against Washington State.
OUTLOOK: Auburn won at Cal 14-10 last season after Payton Thorne helped engineer a 69-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, connecting with Rivaldo Fairweather for the winning score. Cal should be an improved team with seven starters returning on offense and eight more on defense, but so should Auburn. And playing in Jordan-Hare Stadium on a Saturday afternoon in early September should be a pretty big advantage for the Tigers.
This is a big early game for the Tigers as it’s the first real test of the season and the first hurdle in starting the season 4-0 going into what could be a huge home matchup against Oklahoma to end the month of September.
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