Clemson at Auburn Preview: Q&A with College and Magnolia

STS: What one thing, aside from luck or injuries, has to go right for Auburn to beat Clemson?

C&M: Sean White has to be able to effectively throw the football, and the receivers have to actually catch it. Sean acquitted himself well as a redshirt freshman last year. He's got a very accurate arm, and was starting to gain a real command of the offense before his injury in overtime of the Arkansas game. His receivers let him down way too often in that one. Auburn will have to establish a passing game to beat Clemson.

STS: What one positional matchup concerns you the most heading into week 1 against Clemson?

C&M: Deshaun Watson against the entire Auburn defense. I believe this is going to be the best Auburn defense since the mid-2000s when Auburn was built on defense, but a QB like Watson is able to make even great defenses look stupid. Auburn's defense is great in potential, but severely lacking in proof of greatness on the field. There's so much talent and potential, but they really only put it together twice in 2015: the first half against Louisville and the bowl game against Memphis. Those were, incidentally, the only times the defense was fully healthy.

STS: What positional matchup is Auburn best suited to exploit?

STS: A few things stand out about my trip to Auburn in 2010. One of those was a very respectful Auburn fan patting me on the back after the game and telling me "if you all play like that all season you'll win the ACC." We went 4-4 in the ACC. In 2012, I recall watching two Auburn fans on MARTA debate just how embarrassing it was to lose to the ACC Tigers.

Auburn fans have always been particularly respectful and classy, so I ask this with the most reverence possible. Based on your experience, do Auburn fans assess Clemson on the same level of elite-ness as their SEC rivals (save Alabama) or do you sense there is still a stigma around being part of the (improving but still not SEC-level) Atlantic Coast Conference?

C&M: Honestly, I'm not real sure. I think many Auburn fans view Clemson as brethren in the "almost always pretty dang good, but for some reason just can't consistently be great like we should." Most Auburn fans have no love for Dabo Swinney, but I think they still do respect the coaching job he's done at Clemson, and view our fellow Tigers as definitely being equals on the playing field in elite-ness with most SEC teams.

STS: Any advice for Clemson fans traveling to Auburn?

STS: In our season preview, we got a handful of bloggers from various SB Nation blogs together and forecast the chance that each of Clemson's opponents upend the Tigers. We gave Auburn a 21% chance to beat Clemson. Does that feel too high, too low, or just right to you?

C&M: I think that's a bit low. Most of the pieces are still in place on this Auburn team from the one that was expected to compete for the championship last year. Gus & Company were starting to figure out what to do with Sean White before he got injured. There's a whole lot more talent at the WR spot (even if most of them are freshmen) than Auburn has had in my memory, the defense will be (as noted) one of the better ones we've had in a long time, and it's a home night game. Auburn has a pretty stellar record in non-conference games at home; particularly sellouts. I'm not saying Auburn will win, but I do think it'll be a close game regardless of the final outcome.

STS: A big thank you to Walt for rushing home from his honeymoon to answer our questions (we kid!). If you'd like to see our answers (by Brian) to his questions, click here.

All the research and reading that has gone into creating game preview posts has scared me into thinking, Auburn may be (rightly) projected sixth or so in the SEC West, but they have a lot of upside and are a dangeous week 1 opponent. I'm not changing my pick, but I'm growing more anxious by the day.