As Alabama looks to its final game of the regular season, pressure to perform in the Iron Bowl is even higher than usual, with Alabama’s playoff hopes on the line in a night game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. A key factor in this game will be the play of the wide receivers on both squads.
Though Auburn’s offense has struggled throughout the year, the Tigers managed to score 38 points against Vanderbilt in interim head coach DJ Durkin’s first game at the helm, in large part thanks to their wide receiver talent.
Star receiver Cam Coleman, a matchup nightmare with elite athleticism and route-running ability, caught 10 passes for 143 yards in that game, marking his second 100-yard game of the season.
Regardless of prior offensive struggles and quarterback questions Auburn has had, Coleman’s presence as an elite receiver makes the Tigers a threat to make explosive downfield plays in any game.
He is joined this year by Georgia Tech transfer wideout Eric Singleton Jr., a small, crafty receiver who has been used frequently on screens and handoffs in Auburn’s offense.
Although Coleman and Singleton have only combined for seven touchdowns on the year, their lack of eye-popping production can largely be explained by inconsistent quarterback play and offensive line struggles.
“It was just finding a way to get the ball in our best players’ hands,” quarterback Ashton Daniels said of the team’s offensive explosion in the loss to Vanderbilt.
If the team’s game against Vanderbilt wasn’t an outlier, and if Auburn has fixed those issues under Durkin, Alabama’s defense will face a tough test against a yards-after-catch monster in Singleton and perhaps the best true burner in the conference in Coleman.
Alabama, meanwhile, boasts an equally impressive wide receiver corps, one which has been helped by quarterback play superior to Auburn’s.
Leading the pack has been senior pass-catcher Germie Bernard, who is leading the Crimson Tide in receptions for the second year in a row.
Bernard has eight touchdowns, two of which came out of the backfield, where he has averaged more yards per carry than any of Alabama’s featured running backs.
His ability to get open anywhere on the field has been the backbone of many of Alabama’s offensive drives this season, with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb frequently relying on Bernard to make big catches on third downs or to kickstart the run game.
Wide receiver Ryan Williams, meanwhile, has the next largest share of catches among receivers. Although he hasn’t put up quite the gaudy numbers he did his freshman year, he is still a vital part of the offense.
Williams has four touchdowns on the year, compared to eight last season, and is averaging 15 yards per catch, down from 18 as a freshman.
This season, Williams has been tasked with adjusting to being utilized across the field rather than as a pure wideout. With many of his snaps coming in the slot, Williams has had to acclimate to the physical difficulty of making catches over the middle of the field.
“Being able to be a slot guy, an outside guy, really understanding the football game and not just understanding the one-on-one matchup, that’s probably the biggest thing,” Williams said on The Kalen DeBoer Show two weeks ago.
Still, the duo of Bernard and Williams has been one of the most dominant ones in the SEC, with Bernard averaging more yards per game than any Auburn receiver and Williams’ production following closely behind Coleman’s.
Alabama also boasts better depth than Auburn at the position, with Miami transfer Isaiah Horton accounting for another five touchdowns in the passing game and true freshman Lotzier Brooks becoming an instant threat out of the slot and on downfield routes.
Auburn, meanwhile, has struggled to find consistent receiving production outside of Coleman and Singleton.
While Wake Forest transfer Horatio Fields was viewed as another potential contributor in the preseason for the Tigers, he has been out with injury since Week 4, and former freshman standout Malcolm Simmons has similarly struggled to replicate his success from last season.
The Iron Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ABC.
