by Pete Fiutak

More on Auburn

• Team preview
• Offense preview
• Defense preview
• Depth chart

SEC previews

• Arkansas
• Kentucky
• South Carolina
• Vandy
• Ole Miss
• Mississippi St.
• Alabama

Other conferences

• Big 12
• ACC
• Pac-10
• Big East
• Independents
• Conference USA
• Mountain West
• MAC
• Sun Belt

But behind the good season and the final record were signs that things needed to be changed up a bit. The defense was its usual nasty self and the running game was decent enough, but the offense wasn't explosive and needed some work. The Tigers finished 97th in the nation in total offense and time and again had to hang on by the skin of their teeth.

Seven of the games were decided by a touchdown or less, including three of the four losses, while the 23-13 season-opening win over Kansas State was much, much closer than the final score with a late fumble return for a touchdown that ended up padding the stats.

While it's a sign of a good team that it can win the close ones, especially considering they're almost all close ones in the SEC, and the Tigers did a great job of rebounding from a shaky start, they had to do something different or risk being pushed into also-ran status. After all, juggernauts like LSU, Florida and Georgia aren't going away, and programs in the division like Alabama, Arkansas and even Ole Miss are getting better and better. Something had to be done, and it had to be done with the offense.

The Tigers needed an offensive pick-me-up and they needed to be more consistent and more dangerous. Exiting is Al Borges, who made the Jason Campbell/Carnell Williams/Ronnie Brown 2004 offense such a monster, and in comes Tony Franklin, a spread offense specialist who made QB Omar Haugabook and Troy so dangerous over the last few seasons. While Franklin would like to wing it around, he'll have the pieces in place to run a more traditional, for lack of a better word, spread attack.

While normally the expectations would be tempered a bit with the new offense being put in, there's no reason the Tigers can't be in the thick of the SEC title chase in a year when almost everyone in the West is revamping or retooling in some way. The defense, even with star coordinator Will Muschamp off to Texas, has the potential to be every bit as strong as last season's group that led the league in points allowed and was second overall, and the offense, even if it takes a little bit to get going, isn't going to be worse.

The schedule works out well, the overall talent and athleticism is there and Tommy Tuberville remains one of the nation's best and most underappreciated head coaches.

No, this isn't a national title type of team. There will still be a few too many ifs in the offense, but there's no reason not to go into the year looking for a trip to the SEC title game.

What to watch for on offense: The quarterback battle. Who's going to run the new attack? Kodi Burns, the hero of the bowl win over Clemson, finished spring ball on a high note and is an emerging passer, but the consistency won't be there for a full season; he needs a year before he reaches his potential. Texas Tech transfer Chris Todd would be the ideal option to start funnin' and gunnin', but he had a banged-up shoulder this offseason and will have to fight for the job. There's a chance for a rotation unless one takes the job by the horns late this summer.

What to watch for on defense: The secondary will be dominant ... again. It's a no-name bunch that was fantastic despite the lack of a steady and consistent pass rush, and now it could be even more productive with CB Jerraud Powers blossoming into a star and the rising sophomore safety tandem of Mike McNeil and Zac Etheridge among the best in the SEC.

The team will be far better if ... it gets into the backfield on a regular basis. Considering the ends were Quentin Groves, Sen'Derrick Marks and Antonio Coleman, you'd think the Tiger pass rush would've been lethal, but Groves got hurt early and was never right, and Coleman didn't get much help from anyone else. It's hard to argue with the overall results of last year's defense, allowing fewer than 300 yards and 17 points per game, but the back seven could be even more effective if the opposing quarterbacks felt more heat.

Sen'Derrick Marks can create mayhem as an end or tackle. (Doug Benc / Getty Images)

The schedule: There will be plenty of big-time games, but almost all of them are at home. Going on the road to face West Virginia in a midseason Thursday night game is the only away date problem until the season-ender at Alabama. LSU, Tennessee and Georgia are all good enough to win the SEC title, but they're all coming to Jordan-Hare. It'll be vital to not be tripped up at Ole Miss or at Mississippi State; the Tigers must take advantage of the relative scheduling break. Yeah, AU deserves credit for going to Morgantown to face the Mountaineers, but it makes up for it with games against UL Monroe and UT Martin.

Best offensive player: Sophomore OT Lee Ziemba and senior OG Tyronne Green. The left side of the Tiger line will be dominant. Green has grown into a devastating run blocker who'll make a ton of money in the near future, while the 6-foot-8, 288-pound Ziemba is one of the nation's rising star tackles. The rest of the Tiger line is solid, but these two should make it special.

Best defensive player: Junior DT Sen'Derrick Marks. It's salary drive time. Marks was a great end but is a more natural tackle. He has top-10 overall draft pick skills and will be moved around on the line where needed and where he can be the most effective. In a perfect world, he can star on the inside all season long and use his tremendous quickness to be an unstoppable interior pass rusher.

Key player to a successful season: Sophomore QB Kodi Burns and/or junior QB Chris Todd. Everything appears to be in place for the offense to be decent. The line should grow into something special, the backfield has its usual array of talents, and the receiving corps is among the most promising in years. Burns doesn't have to be Tim Tebow and Todd doesn't have to be Graham Harrell, but if one, or both, can be effective, Auburn has a shot to win the SEC championship.

The season will be a success if ... the Tigers win the West. That might seem like a bit of a tall task considering all the big offensive changes, and yeah, losing Muschamp really might sting a wee bit, but the schedule gets almost all the big SEC games at home, and there's enough talent on both sides of the ball to be better than everyone else in the division. Ole Miss and Arkansas are rebuilding, Mississippi State isn't as good as Auburn, LSU might need a year to reload and Alabama is a year away from being special. The Tigers have to take advantage.

Key game: Sept. 20 vs. LSU. The better Tigers will likely win the West. Considering Tennessee and Georgia will still be on the slate and there's that little road trip to Alabama to close things out, Auburn can't afford to blow its early home date against the defending national champion if it hopes to play for the SEC title.

Offense

The offense is undergoing an overhaul of styles with new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin stepping in and establishing his spread attack. So who's going to run it? Former Texas Tech Red Raider Chris Todd looks the part, but Kodi Burns is a strong runner who showed in spring ball that he can be an accurate passer. The receivers are promising but young with veteran Rodgeriqus Smith a decent No. 1 target to work with until everyone else grows up. It's Auburn, so there's the usual stable of great backs with two good ones in Brad Lester and Ben Tate to go along with kick returner extraordinaire Tristan Davis. And then there's the line, which might not just be the team's biggest strength, it could be the best in the SEC. Not only will it be good this year with all five starters returning, but with a ton of depth and plenty of options, it'll be an even better front five over the next two seasons.

Quarterbacks: It might take a little while and there will be moments when the offense goes absolutely nowhere, but eventually the combination of Todd and Burns should give defensive coordinators nightmares. Of course, it would be nice to have one leader to build around, but if these two can find and create a niche, the Auburn offense should be tough to prepare for. Consistency is going to be the key early on. There will be mistakes, but they have to be kept to a minimum. Expect a rotation of the two for a little while until one emerges. While Franklin would like to wing it around, the versatility of the offense will cater to the quarterback. Burns isn't the passer that Todd is, and Todd isn't the runner Burns is.

Running Backs: Lester and Tate can produce, and Davis is a dangerous option. It'll be interesting to see how the rotation works if it's running quarterback Kodi Burns under center as opposed to passer Chris Todd. How will the backs be used? Will one emerge more as a receiver? Will one "get it" faster than the other two and turn into a killer with space to move through? It's Auburn, so there will always be production. It'll just come in a different way. The Tigers have three backs who all do about the same thing and all have a burst. There wasn't a lot of home-run hitting last year, but in the new offense, there should be more creases and more spaces to run through.

Receivers: This is hardly the weakness it appeared it might be going into last season with a limitless talent base to develop. There's a good veteran in Smith to provide a steady go-to guy, but it's the youngsters, particularly Terrell Zachery and Tim Hawthorne, who show the biggest upside. Watch out for one of the unheralded young players to blow up and for the corps to get better and better by the week. From Zachery to Billings to Carr to Slaughter to Fannin, there are a ton of young players who should grow into the new offense. However, it'll be a work in progress. Auburn isn't used to getting mega-production from its receivers and considering the No. 1 target is Smith and the No. 2 target last year, Billings, had just 28 grabs, there's work to be done.

Offensive Line: The line was a year ahead of schedule. This season was supposed to be when all the top recruits were supposed to be ready for primetime, but they got their work in last year and should be ready to hit the ground running. The left side with Lee Ziemba and Tyronne Green should be devastating, while the rest of the line isn't bad, either. Green and Jason Bosley are seniors, but there's no one older than a sophomore on the rest of the depth chart. Not only is the line loaded for this year, but it should only get better over the next two seasons.

Defense

Auburn always comes up with productive defenses no matter what the talent level is like, but this year, unlike last season when the coaching staff had to play around with several different combinations, new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, who's taking over for new Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, has a loaded group with seven returning starters. The right players appear to be in the right spots with future NFL millionaire Sen'Derrick Marks in his more natural tackle spot after spending last year on the end, LB Tray Blackmon finally ready to be counted on in the middle after a slew of off-the-field issues marring the first part of his career and the secondary ready to be among the best in the nation again. The linebacking corps is steady, but it needs to prove it can be spectacular. The defensive backfield might not have a bunch of household names, but that should change with Jerraud Powers on the verge of being recognized as one of the SEC's best all-around corners and the safety tandem of Mike McNeil and Zac Etheridge ready to blow up. The one concern is depth on the line and the secondary — it needs time to develop.

Antonio Coleman (52) and Chris Evans (59) return to a defense that was among the nation's best in 2007. (Chris Graythen / FOXSports.com)

Defensive Line: The front four will be good in time, but it'll need a little bit of work and a few games to become a killer. Having a star like Marks who can do anything inside and out is a great start, and Antonio Coleman is a special pass rusher who also has NFL skills. The backup ends have more immediate promise than the tackles, but all-around depth will be a bit of an issue early on. There's a lot of potential, but few who've done it. Marks is a terrific all-around player in a salary drive; 288-pound playmakers who can star inside and out are rare, and he's a special talent to build around. There's plenty of good young talent that just needs a little bit of time to emerge, and Marks will be a good star to keep it all together.

Linebackers: It's a great situation with several experienced players who can all start. There are up-and-coming stars, like Josh Bynes and Bo Harris, who'll be the future of the corps, while Chris Evans, Merrill Johnson and Tray Blackmon can play. This is a good group, but it's not an elite one. Even so, the linebackers should be excellent. By design, Auburn's linebackers are generally smaller than most as the coaching staff looks for speed and athleticism over raw bulk. This year there's more size than normal, with players like Harris, Courtney Harden and Bynes all bigger bodies who can hold up against the run.

Secondary: In one of the biggest shockers of the SEC season, the Tiger secondary that looked like it had the potential to struggle turned into the nation's sixth-best pass defense even without the help of a steady pass rush. Now the defensive backfield should shine with a strong starting foursome, with either Aairon Savage or Walter McFadden serving as a great second corner option. More interceptions would be nice with the Tigers taking away 14 last year, but that's nitpicking. This should be one of the team's biggest strengths.

Special Teams: Sophomore Wes Byrum turned into a real find as a true freshman, easing the team's worries with a great season. He hit 17 of 23 field goals and went 14 of 15 from inside the 40. While he doesn't have a monster leg, it's decent enough to ask for a 45-yarder. He didn't get any attempts from beyond 50 after going just three of 10 from beyond 40 and failing to hit one longer than 38 over the final eight games of the year. Sophomore Ryan Shoemaker had the unenviable task of replacing Kody Bliss, and while he didn't equal Bliss's 45.7 yards per kick, he averaged an excellent 42.4 yards per try while putting 16 inside the 20 and forcing 13 fair catches. The Second Team All-SEC performer has a consistently steady leg and will be an all-star for the next three seasons. Robert Dunn was fine on punt returns, averaging 9.4 yards per try, but the kickoff return team struggled way too much, averaging 19.2 yards per attempt. RB Tristan Davis, now healthy, will return to his old job and should provide more pop.