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2021 Auburn

6–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bryan Harsin.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 2021, game by game: won vs. Akron 60–10; won vs. Alabama State 62–0; lost at No. 10 Penn State 20–28; won vs. Georgia State 34–24; won at LSU 24–19; lost vs. No. 2 Georgia 10–34; won at No. 17 Arkansas 38–23; won vs. No. 10 Ole Miss 31–20; lost at No. 13 Texas A&M 3–20; lost vs. Mississippi State 34–43; lost at South Carolina 17–21; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 22–24; lost vs. No. 21 Houston 13–17+62−24Won 60–10 vs. Akron+50AkronWon 62–0 vs. Alabama State+62Alabama StateLost 20–28 at No. 10 Penn State-8No. 10 Penn StateWon 34–24 vs. Georgia State+10Georgia StateWon 24–19 at LSU+5LSULost 10–34 vs. No. 2 Georgia-24No. 2 GeorgiaWon 38–23 at No. 17 Arkansas+15No. 17 ArkansasWon 31–20 vs. No. 10 Ole Miss+11No. 10 Ole MissLost 3–20 at No. 13 Texas A&M-17No. 13 Texas A&MLost 34–43 vs. Mississippi State-9Mississippi Sta…Lost 17–21 at South Carolina-4South CarolinaLost 22–24 vs. No. 3 Alabama-2No. 3 AlabamaLost 13–17 vs. No. 21 Houston-4No. 21 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsAkronW 60–⁠1084%
Sep 11vsAlabama StateW 62–⁠089%
Sep 18at10Penn StateL 20–⁠2837%
Sep 25vsGeorgia StateW 34–⁠2471%
Oct 2atLSUW 24–⁠1937%
Oct 9vs2GeorgiaL 10–⁠3438%
Oct 16at17ArkansasW 38–⁠2346%
Oct 30vs10Ole MissW 31–⁠2057%
Nov 6at13Texas A&ML 3–⁠2036%
Nov 13vsMississippi StateL 34–⁠4366%
Nov 20atSouth CarolinaL 17–⁠2159%
Nov 27vs3AlabamaL 22–⁠2423%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs21HoustonBirmingham BowlL 13–⁠1737%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 17–⁠13 in the Birmingham Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 78th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 25
  2. Wk 3: 22
  3. Wk 4: 23
  4. Wk 5: 22
  5. Wk 6: 18
  6. Wk 8: 19
  7. Wk 9: 18
  8. Wk 10: 12
  9. Wk 11: 16
Record
6–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
368–⁠283
Coach
Bryan Harsin
Elo
1548 −20 this season
SP+ rating
11.0 No. 29 of 130; offense No. 56, defense No. 17
SRS
8.0 No. 32 of 130 in FBS
Returning
61% of last season’s EPA, No. 90 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 30 roster talent No. 14 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mike Bobo
Defensive coordinator
Derek Mason
Offense
Singleback
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense70th of 130
  • Defense33rd of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted36th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted21st of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1444%1.2070th of 130
Defense0.0942%1.2333rd of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.20 off
0.06 def		46% off
40% def		—36th off
21st 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
Offense3.9own 2814% allowed
Defense3.5own 2718% caused

CORE rating 10.3, 32nd of 130 (offense 2.5, defense -7.9).

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 QB2,294 yds
Passing touchdownsBo Nix QB11 TD
Rushing yardsTank Bigsby RB1,099 yds
Rushing touchdownsTank Bigsby RB10 TD
Receiving yardsKobe Hudson WR580 yds
Receiving touchdownsDemetris Robertson WR4 TD
TacklesZakoby McClain LB95 tkl
SacksDerick Hall LB9 sacks
InterceptionsBydarrius Knighten DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Dylan Brooks DE★★★★No. 77
Lee Hunter DL★★★★No. 81
Ahmari Harvey S★★★★No. 220
Dematrius Davis Jr. QB★★★★No. 229
Tar’Varish Dawson ATH★★★★No. 351
Marquis Robinson DL★★★★No. 352
Hal Presley WR★★★★No. 377

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.915
Running backs13.00.869
Receivers23.50.884
Offensive line33.00.851
Defensive line53.60.915
Defensive backs43.30.867
Athletes and specialists14.00.896
Whole class173.40.885

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 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 2Roger McCreary CBTennessee Titans

Roster 107

The 2021 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 9

The 2021 portal
Dreshun Miller CB★★★from West Virginia
T.J. Finley QB★★★from LSU
Donovan Kaufman S★★★from Vanderbilt
Bydarrius Knighten S★★★from Southeast Missouri State
Demetris Robertson WR★★★from Georgia
Marcus Harris DL★★★from Kansas
Jordon Ingram RB★★★from Central Michigan
Andrew Leota DE★★★from Northwestern
Tony Fair DL★★★from UAB

Transfers out 21

Daquan Newkirk DT★★★to Florida
Hal Presley WR★★★to Baylor
Chris Thompson Jr. S★★★to USC
D.J. Williams RB★★★to Florida State
Harold Joiner RB★★★to Michigan State
Octavius Brothers OLB★★★to Purdue
Kamaar Bell OL★★★to Florida Atlantic
Cord Sandberg QB★★★★to Eastern Kentucky
Coynis Miller DL★★★★to Jackson State
Devan Barrett RB★★★★returned to Auburn
Jaren Handy SDE★★★★to Indiana
Jay Hardy DL★★★★no new school on file

And 9 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠014–⁠11
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠22
Ole Miss6–⁠210–⁠311
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠318
Arkansas4–⁠49–⁠421
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠4
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
LSU3–⁠56–⁠7
Auburn3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Florida2–⁠66–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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