2026 Vanderbilt Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 4: Auburn – Sports Illustrated

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Can Vanderbilt do it on the road against Auburn again and make it three consecutive wins ove the Tigers in 2026?
That is a question that will be answered at the end of September this fall as Vanderbilt begins its conference schedule with Auburn on the road. Vanderbilt and Auburn have seen each other plenty of times in recent memory and that is not going to change anytime soon.
Auburn is one of Vanderbilt’s three annual opponents the Commodores will see in the next four seasons. With the new nine-game SEC schedule, each team gets to play three teams twice and home and on the road through the 2029 season. The Tigers are one of those teams.
This season’s matchup between the two schools is much different, though. There is no more Diego Pavia to cause Auburn headaches, nor is there Eli Stowers catching passes from Pavia anymore. On the Auburn side, it brings in a new head coach in an effort to turn the program around.
Here is a breakdown and the game information for Vanderbilt’s first conference opponent of the 2026 season.
The biggest difference with this season’s Auburn offense is the quarterback. Along with Golesh came a slew of South Florida transfers, including quarterback Byrum Brown. The dual-threat quarterback helped lead the Bulls to a 9-3 regular season last year. Brown threw for 3,158 yards, 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for over 1,000 yards in 2025.
His talent is something that cannot be denied and certainly the type of quarterback has been missing for a while now. The Tigers had a quarterback carousel last season between Jackson Arnold, Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight. Those three all transferred out.
Another different Auburn will have to figure out this season is losing star wide receiver Cam Coleman after he transferred to Texas in the offseason. Auburn’s second-leading receiver from a year ago, Eric Singleton Jr., also is not on Auburn anymore.
Instead, Byrum will most likely be throwing to South Florida and now Auburn teammates Chas Nimrod, Keshaun Singleton and Jeremiah Koger. Singleton and Koger led South Florida in receiving yards a season ago and are looking to see if their play will translate to the SEC this season.
Auburn’s offense has a chance to be much better than the inconsistent one it had a season ago. The Tigers were 77th in college football total offense, but this year Brown gives them a chance to be far improved and score on drives much more consistently.
Defense was Auburn’s bread and butter a season ago and it was led by DJ Durkin. This season, Durkin is back this year and he is hoping he can replicate the performance his team put on a season ago.
Auburn did lose some pieces from its defense such as defensive lineman Keldrick Faulk to the NFL Draft in April. But it did make a few additions through the transfer portal.
One of the most notable defensive portal additions was former Ole Miss EDGE rusher Dashawn Womack and former Missouri EDGE Nate Johnson. Auburn also added defensive lineman Cody Sigler from Arkansas State and former LSU defensive lineman Walter Mathis Jr.
If Auburn’s defensive additions are able to make an impact for Durkin this season, the Tigers’ ceiling will only rise. The Tigers should have one of the better defenses in the SEC this season, it is a matter if it will be able to complement the offense enough.
A season ago, Auburn was 29th in the country in total defense, allowing only 20.7 points per game. If Auburn’s offense raises the bar this season, the defense may not even have to be as efficient as it was a season ago, but the better it plays the scarier the Tigers will look.
Auburn begins its season with a neutral site game against Baylor in Atlanta this season. The Tigers went on the road to Baylor a season ago and won by double digits. After that, Auburn starts its conference schedule in the third week of the season with a date with Florida at home.
Auburn does have a “cupcake week” type of game against Samford in the penultimate week of the regular season before ending the regular season with a road trip to Tuscaloosa. In general, however, it will not be the easiest schedule for Golesh to navigate in his first season on the plains.
Auburn is most definitely one of the wild card teams in the SEC this season. With first year head coach Alex Golesh at the helm, Auburn could do better than expected this season. Golesh certainly has a team that can make it to a bowl game, a place that Auburn did not reach a season ago.
A lot of how Auburn’s season goes will depend on Golesh’s coaching and his player development throughout the season. Having his own guy at quarterback with Brown helps with that, but will it be impactful enough to get the program moving in a positive direction by November? That is what will be answered over the next few months.
Date: Sept. 26
Time: TBD
TV: TBD
Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Alabama
Series history: Vanderbilt leads 23-22-1
Last meeting: Vanderbilt beat Auburn 45-38 in overtime in 2025.
Coach: Alex Golesh, first season
Offensive coordinator: Kodi Burns and Joel Gordon are co-offensive coordinators
Defensive coordinator: DJ Durkin
2025 record: 5-7 (1-7 SEC)
2025 rankings: 77th in total offense, 29th in total defense
Top Newcomer: Byrum Brown, quarterback transfer from South Florida
Biggest Question: How does Golesh’s coaching philosophy translate to the SEC after succeeding at the G5 level?
Location: Auburn, Alabama
Founded: 1856
Enrollment: 35,172 total students
Nickname: Tigers
Colors: Blue, orange and white
Mascot: Aubie the Tiger
Last win in series: Auburn beat Vanderbilt 31-15 in 2023
FBS championships: Nine claimed national championships
FBS Playoff Appearances: None
September 5: vs. Baylor (in Atlanta)
September 12: vs. Southern Miss
September 19: vs. Florida
September 26: vs. Vanderbilt
October 3: at Tennessee
October 17: at Georgia
October 24: vs. LSU
October 31: at Ole Miss
November 7: vs. Arkansas
November 14: at Mississippi State
November 21: vs. Samford
November 28: at Alabama
This is the fourth story in Vanderbilt on SI's early preview series of all 12 regular-season opponents for Vanderbilt football in 2026
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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