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2020 Auburn

6–⁠5 (6–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Gus Malzahn, then Kevin Steele (interim, bowl game).

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2020, game by game: won vs. No. 23 Kentucky 29–13; lost at No. 4 Georgia 6–27; won vs. Arkansas 30–28; lost at South Carolina 22–30; won at Ole Miss 35–28; won vs. LSU 48–11; won vs. Tennessee 30–17; lost at No. 1 Alabama 13–42; lost vs. No. 5 Texas A&M 20–31; won at Mississippi State 24–10; lost vs. No. 15 Northwestern 19–35+37−29Won 29–13 vs. No. 23 Kentucky+16No. 23 KentuckyLost 6–27 at No. 4 Georgia-21No. 4 GeorgiaWon 30–28 vs. Arkansas+2ArkansasLost 22–30 at South Carolina-8South CarolinaWon 35–28 at Ole Miss+7Ole MissWon 48–11 vs. LSU+37LSUWon 30–17 vs. Tennessee+13TennesseeLost 13–42 at No. 1 Alabama-29No. 1 AlabamaLost 20–31 vs. No. 5 Texas A&M-11No. 5 Texas A&MWon 24–10 at Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Lost 19–35 vs. No. 15 Northwestern-16No. 15 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vs23KentuckyW 29–⁠1362%
Oct 3at4GeorgiaL 6–⁠2733%
Oct 10vsArkansasW 30–⁠2883%
Oct 17atSouth CarolinaL 22–⁠3060%
Oct 24atOle MissW 35–⁠2865%
Oct 31vsLSUW 48–⁠1141%
Nov 21vsTennesseeW 30–⁠1778%
Nov 28at1AlabamaL 13–⁠4223%
Dec 5vs5Texas A&ML 20–⁠3152%
Dec 12atMississippi StateW 24–⁠1065%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs15NorthwesternCitrus BowlL 19–⁠3560%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 35–⁠19 in the Citrus Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 62nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 3: 8
  3. Wk 4: 8
  4. Wk 5: 7
  5. Wk 6: 13
  6. Wk 7: 14
  7. Wk 10: 24
  8. Wk 11: 24
  9. Wk 12: 23
  10. Wk 13: 22
Record
6–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠4 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
276–⁠272
Coach
Gus Malzahn, then Kevin Steele (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1603 −10 this season
SP+ rating
12.6 No. 21 of 130; offense No. 34, defense No. 22
SRS
7.9 No. 19 of 77 in FBS
Returning
73% of last season’s EPA, No. 49 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 7 roster talent No. 12 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Chad Morris
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Steele
Offense
Spread option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense52nd of 127
  • Defense78th of 127
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted42nd of 127
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted77th of 127
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1344%1.1952nd of 127
Defense0.1546%1.2178th of 127
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.13 def		43% off
45% def		—42nd off
77th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.5own 2813% allowed
Defense3.7own 2714% caused

CORE rating 4.0, 53rd of 127 (offense 4.0, defense 0.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsBo Nix QB2,414 yds
Passing touchdownsBo Nix QB12 TD
Rushing yardsTank Bigsby RB834 yds
Rushing touchdownsBo Nix QB7 TD
Receiving yardsSeth Williams WR744 yds
Receiving touchdownsSeth Williams WR4 TD
TacklesZakoby McClain LB113 tkl
SacksDerick Hall LB4 sacks
InterceptionsRoger McCreary CB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2020 class

Tank Bigsby RB★★★★No. 40
Zykeivous Walker SDE★★★★No. 79
Wesley Steiner ILB★★★★No. 98
Jay Hardy DT★★★★No. 101
Kobe Hudson WR★★★★No. 111
Ze’Vian Capers WR★★★★No. 132
J.J. Evans WR★★★★No. 169
Ladarius Tennison ATH★★★★No. 170

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2020 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Running backs14.00.981
Receivers73.60.899
Offensive line43.00.879
Defensive line33.70.933
Linebackers53.80.897
Defensive backs24.00.922
Athletes and specialists24.00.922
Whole class253.60.903

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2021

The 2021 draft
Rd 3Anthony Schwartz WRCleveland Browns
Rd 5Jamien Sherwood SNew York Jets
Rd 5K.J. Britt ILBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 6Seth Williams WRDenver Broncos

Roster 123

The 2020 roster

123 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2020 line; 56 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2020 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2020 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama10–⁠013–⁠01
Texas A&M8–⁠19–⁠14
Florida8–⁠28–⁠413
Georgia7–⁠28–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠46–⁠5
LSU5–⁠55–⁠5
Missouri5–⁠55–⁠5
Ole Miss4–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠65–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠74–⁠7
Arkansas3–⁠73–⁠7
Tennessee3–⁠73–⁠7
South Carolina2–⁠82–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠90–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.