Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban in Agreement on Which SEC Team to ‘Watch Out for’

Plug your ears, Alabama fans.

The last thing the Crimson Tide faithful likely expected to hear was former head coach Nick Saban singing the praises of Alabama’s top SEC rival Auburn, but that’s exactly what happened Saturday morning on “College GameDay.”

While discussing the landscape of the SEC this season, Saban and Kirk Herbstreit were in agreement there’s one team that could take the league by surprise: Auburn.

“There’s going to be a lot of Alabama folks who won’t like what I’m about to say here, but I think Hugh Freeze is going to do an outstanding job at Auburn,” Saban said. “I think they’re going to be one of the most improved teams in the SEC, D.J. Durkin is a great addition for them as a defensive coordinator, so I really think they’re going to make a huge impact, especially with the explosive players they’ve added to their offense, they’re going to be somebody that everybody has to reckon with.”

To Saban’s point, the Tigers offense appears to be loaded with playmakers.

In last week’s 73-3 shellacking of Alabama A&M, Auburn put up 628 yards of total offense and four of its receivers — freshmen Malcolm Simmons, Perry Thompson and Cam Coleman plus Penn State transfer Keandre Lambert-Smith — all showed flashes of game-breaking ability, something Herbstreit keyed in on.

“The offense now that’s going to be decided with Hugh Freeze as a play-caller…he’s got a veteran quarterback in Payton Thorne, who can run just enough in that offense,” Herbstreit added. “…The group of receivers, they’ve got four [good] guys. I think Auburn is a surprise team in the entire SEC, and I think Payton Thorne has a chance to have a big year this year.”

Thorne threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns in Week 1, while Simmons logged three receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown, Thompson added two catches for 82 yards and a score, Coleman had two catches for 62 yards and a touchdown, and Lambert-Smith caught three passes for 80 yards and two TDs. All four WRs had a catch of 40 yards or longer.