The 2018 Auburn Tigers football team represented

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ended ...

. The Tigers played their home games at

Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium ...

Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama, with a 2020 population of 76,143. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. The Auburn-Opelika, AL MSA with a population o ...

and competed in the Western Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC). They were led by sixth-year head coach

Gus Malzahn Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III (; born October 28, 1965) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF Knights football, UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 t ...

. The Tigers finished the season 8–5, 3–5 in SEC play to finish 5th in the West Division. They were invited to the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

, where they defeated

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2017 season 10–4, 7–1 in SEC play to win a share of the Western Division title with

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Due to their head-to-head win over Alabama, they represented the Western Division in the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

and lost to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. They were invited to the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially ...

where they lost to UCF.

Recruiting

Position key

Recruits

The Tigers signed a total of 24 recruits.

Spring game

The A-Day spring game was held on Saturday, April 7. Bad weather led to the lowest attendance for A-Day in the Gus Malzahn era as head coach, as only 28,033 showed up. The game was dominated by defense, and only 28 total points were scored between the two teams. Many starters did not play or did not see significant time on the field due to the amount of injuries Auburn had already suffered during the spring. For their performances, C.J. Tolbert was named Offensive MVP,

Nick Coe Nick Coe (born August 12, 1997) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He has also been a member of the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. Coe played college football for the Auburn Tigers. College career Coe was a memb ...

was named Defensive MVP, and Anders Carlson was named Special Teams MVP.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on July 20, 2018 with the Tigers predicted to finish in second place in the West Division.

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Tigers had nine players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams. Offense ''2nd team''

Jarrett Stidham Jarrett Ryan Stidham (born August 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). After transferring from Baylor, he played college football at Auburn and was selected by the New E ...

– QB Ryan Davis – WR ''3rd team'' Marquel Harrell – OL Defense ''2nd team'' Derrick Brown – DL

Deshaun Davis Deshaun Davis (born December 31, 1995) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the linebackers coach at the University of North Alabama. Davis played college football at Auburn as an inside linebacker. High school care ...

– LB

Jamel Dean Jamel Dean (born October 15, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn. College career After spending a semester at Ohio State while medic ...

– DB ''2nd team''

Dontavius Russell Dontavius Russell (born September 18, 1995) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Auburn and was drafted by the Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Professional career Russell was drafted ...

– DL

Marlon Davidson Marlon Davidson (born May 11, 1998) is an American football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in 2020 by the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college f ...

– DL Javaris Davis – DB

Schedule

Game summaries

vs. No. 6 Washington

Alabama State

No. 12 LSU

Arkansas

Southern Miss

At Mississippi State

Tennessee

At Ole Miss

No. 25 Texas A&M

At No. 5 Georgia

Liberty

At No. 1 Alabama

vs. Purdue

Rankings

Players drafted into the NFL

References

{{Auburn Tigers football navbox

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Auburn Tigers football seasons Music City Bowl champion seasons

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...