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Learn more at AlabamaBlue.com/Happy Tackle every play with confidence.4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 ...............................................................................................2026 Schedule 6 ..........................................................................................Scouting Auburn 8.............................................................................Scouting Southern Miss 10 .............................................................................................Auburn Roster 12................................................................................Southern Miss Roster 14 ...................................................Opponent Outlook: Southern Miss 16 ...............................................................................................Depth Charts 18 ........................................................................................Stat Comparison 20 .....................................................................................Auburn Traditions 22-24 ........................................................Cole Best Awaits JHS Debut 28-30 ..............................................................Head Coach Alex Golesh 32-36 .............................................................................Assistant Coaches 38 ..........................................................................The Auburn Experience 40 ....................................................................................Auburn University 42 .......................................................................................Board of Trustees 44 .....................................................President Christopher B. Roberts 46 .....................................................Director of Athletics John Cohen 48 ......................................................................Through the Lens: Baylor 50 ...............................................................................New Space for STEM 52 ...........................................................................Tigers Host Victory Day 54 ..................................................................Jordan-Hare Stadium Map 56-57 ....................................................................................Gameday Map 60 ......................................................................Heisman Trophy Winners 62 ..............................................................................................All-Americans 64 ........................................................................Welcome Home Alumni 66 ................................................................Postseason Trophy Winners 68-69 ...............................................................................Tigers in the NFL 72 .......................................................................National Championships 74 .....................................................Auburn Football: By the Numbers 76 ............................Marching Band, Cheerleaders and Tiger Paws 78-90 .........................................................................2026 Auburn Tigers 92 .........................................................................................The Auburn App 94 ................................................................................Undefeated Seasons 96 ..............................................................................................Auburn Today 99 ............................................................................................Spirit of Giving 101 ...............................................................................2026 SEC Schedule 103-104 .........................................................Auburn Sports Properties COVER: .........................................................................................Cole Best TABLE OF CONTENTS AUBURNTIGERS.COM2026 AUBURN SCHEDULE 5 AUBURNTIGERS.COM 9.5 Baylor Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium 9.19 Florida Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.31 Ole Miss Oxford, MS Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 9.12 Southern Miss Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.24 LSU Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.17 Georgia Athens, GA Sanford Stadium 9.26 Vanderbilt Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 11.7 Arkansas Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 10.3 Tennessee Knoxville, TN Neyland Stadium 11.14 Mississippi State Starkville, MS Davis Wade Stadium 11.21 Samford Auburn, AL Jordan-Hare Stadium 11.28 Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL Bryant-Denny Stadium Blue - Home | Orange - Away | Gray - Neutral 2026 AUBURN SCHEDULE6 SCOUTING AUBURN HEAD COACH Alex Golesh (Ohio State, 2006) Auburn Record ................................................................1-0 (1st Season) Career Record ..........................................................24-15 (4th Season) vs. Southern Miss ......................................................................................1-0 AUBURN (1-0, 0-0) Sept. 5 ............................vs. Baylor ................................................W, 17-10 Sept. 12 ..........................SOUTHERN MISS ...........................6:45 p.m. Sept. 19 ..........................FLORIDA ....................................................6 p.m. Sept. 26 .........................VANDERBILT ..................................Afternoon Oct. 3 ..............................at #18 Tennessee ........................................Flex Oct. 17 ............................at #2 Georgia ..................................Afternoon Oct. 24 ...........................#8 LSU ........................................................11 a.m. Oct. 31 ............................at #9 Ole Miss ............................................Early Nov. 7 ..............................ARKANSAS .................................................Early Nov. 14 ............................at Mississippi State ...................................Early Nov. 21 ............................SAMFORD ..........................................2:30 p.m. Nov. 28 ...........................at #12 Alabama ............................................Flex STORY LINES n First-year head coach Alex Golesh is looking to start the season 2-0 for the second straight year after leading South Florida to a 34-7 victory over No. 25 Boise State and an 18-16 win at 13th-ranked Florida to begin the 2025 season. n Golesh is looking to become the 15th head coach in program history to lead the Tigers to victory in his first two games with the program. n Auburn is looking to open a season 2-0 for the 79th time in program history, including the seventh time in the last nine years. n Auburn is 106-17-3 in home openers all-time. The Tigers have won 19 of their last 20 home openers, including nine straight. n The team has outscored the opponent 433-81 during the nine straight home-opening wins. n Auburn is 119-47-2 all-time against teams from the state of Mississippi, including 18-5 vs. Southern Miss. n Auburn has a 55-6 record all-time against the current members of the Sun Belt. It’s 23 games against Southern Miss are the most among Sun Belt teams. n Ten offensive players and five defensive players made their first start in an Auburn uniform in the season opening win vs. Baylor. n The one-point win was Auburn’s first since defeating No. 11 Alabama in the 2010 Iron Bowl. n The Tigers ran for multiple touchdowns in the win against the Bears, marking the team’s seventh game since the beginning of last season with multiple rushing touchdowns. The team is 5-2 in such games. n Byrum Brown’s go-ahead rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter was the 32nd of his career. It marked Brown’s ninth straight game with a rushing touchdown. n Eric Winters was named the SEC Co- Defensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high 11 tackles and 2.0 TFL to go along with a forced fumble. He made the game- saving tackle at the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt. n Auburn’s starters along the offensive line have combined for 135 career games played, including 73 starts. Senior center Cole Best leads the way with 40 games played and 24 starts. n In three seasons under defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, Auburn is allowing 20.8 points per game and 108.3 rushing yards per game. n The Tigers have 810 all-time wins in their 134th season of football, the 14th most among FBS programs. SCOUTING AUBURN AUBURNTIGERS.COM Eric WintersRookie move: Not checking the propane tank gauge first before the tailgate. Pro move: Checking Allstate first so you could save hundreds. PROUD PARTNER Potential savings vary. Subject to terms, conditions, & availability. Allstate Ins. Co. & affiliates: Northbrook, IL8 SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES HEAD COACH Blake Anderson (Sam Houston, 1992) Southern Miss Record .................................................1-1 (2nd Season) Career Record .......................................................75-55 (12th Season) vs. Auburn ....................................................................................................0-1 SOUTHERN MISS (1-0, 0-0) Sept. 5 ..............................ALCORN STATE ...................................W, 49-3 Sept. 12 ............................at Auburn ..............................................6:45 p.m. Sept. 19 ............................UCONN ........................................................6 p.m. Sept. 26 ...........................at Tulane ...........................................................TBA Oct. 6................................at Troy .............................................................7 p.m. Oct. 17 ..............................ARKANSAS STATE ......................................TBA Oct. 24 .............................LOUISIANA ....................................................TBA Oct. 31 ..............................at ULM ...............................................................TBA Nov. 5 ...............................JAMES MADISON ...................................7 p.m. Nov. 14 .............................at Louisiana Tech ..........................................TBA Nov. 21 ..............................SOUTH ALABAMA .....................................TBA Nov. 28 ............................at Old Dominion ...........................................TBA THE ALBERT AND ROBINSON DEBUT n Kobi Albert and Steven Robinson quickly made an impact in their Southern Miss debuts against Alcorn State. n Albert finished with three interceptions, one shy of the school record set by Larry Ussery during the 1967 season n Albert’s three picks were the most since Josh Moten matched that last season against Arkansas State. Albert was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. n Meanwhile for Robinson on the offensive side of the ball, the newcomer rushed for 123 yards on 23 carries. n He added three scores as the Golden Eagles rushed for 317 yards as a team. n He is only the third Golden Eagle to surpass 100 yards on the ground over the last three seasons, joining Jeffery Pittman (2025) and Dreke Clark (2024). AGAINST THE SEC n The Golden Eagles are 36-118-3 against the current configuration of the SEC, having played every conference member except Oklahoma, Texas, and Vanderbilt. n Southern Miss has played against an SEC opponent in each of the last three seasons, including Saturday’s contest at Auburn. n Kentucky was the last SEC win for the Golden Eagles, winning the 2016 season opener 44-35. n Six of Southern Miss’ 15 wins over ranked opponents have come against current SEC teams: Alabama (3x), Auburn (2x), and Mississippi State. DOMINATING ANOTHER HOME OPENER n Southern Miss opened at home for the second straight season and for the fourth time in the last five years. n The Golden Eagles added another win to their record in such games, beating Alcorn State 49-3 at Renasant Stadium. n It was the 58th time Southern Miss opened the year at home, and it moved to 47-10 when opening the season in Hattiesburg. BOWL TEAMS FROM A SEASON AGO n The 2026 Golden Eagle schedule features eight schools that reached either the CFP Playoffs (JMU and Tulane) or bowl games last season (UConn, Troy, Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion). n The 2026 slate registered a composite 88-67 (.568) record a season ago. n Three of those schools, JMU, Tulane, and Old Dominion, each finished with at least 10 victories a season ago. THE AUBURN SERIES n Saturday will mark the 24th all-time meeting between Southern Miss and Auburn, which dates back to the 1946 season. n The Golden Eagles are 5-18 and have never played a home game in the series. The first three meetings were played in Montgomery, Ala. before the series shifted to Jordan-Hare Stadium in 1959. n The Golden Eagles picked up wins in 1947, 1965, 1977, 1990, and 1991. The last outing was a 24-13 win for Auburn in 2018 that featured a near three-hour lightning delay. THE SIDELINE MATCHUP n The Blake Anderson era in Hattiesburg kicked off in style for Southern Miss as it throttled Alcorn State. The win was Anderson’s 75th of his 11-year career, which puts him second among active Sun Belt coaches. He trails Butch Jones at Arkansas State, who has 110 career wins. n Including his previous stint with Southern Miss, Anderson has averaged 33.5 points per game in season openers and has scored 49-plus points in three of the six games he has been part of. n Auburn head coach Alex Golesh is in his first year guiding the Tigers after previously making a stop at South Florida. Golesh was the head coach for the Bulls when they came to Hattiesburg in 2024 and won 49-24. BY THE NUMBERS n Southern Miss’ roster includes 74 newcomers this season. The Golden Eagles return only two starters from a year ago on the offense or defense. n The Golden Eagles won seven games last season, including five in Sun Belt play. The 5.5 win improvement from the 2024 season was tied for the biggest turnaround in the FBS. n The Golden Eagles are celebrating the first 50 years of Southern Miss football at Renasant Stadium. The stadium reopened on Sept. 25, 1976, versus Ole Miss n Blake Anderson is in the midst of his second stint in Hattiesburg. His first stop was with Larry Fedora from 2008-11 and then later returned last season as the offensive coordinator SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES AUBURNTIGERS.COM Steven RobinsonNext >