Sports Illustrated writer thinks Auburn is on upset alert

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Andy Borelli (1:00)

Unbelievable.

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You are now listening to The War Rapport Podcast Network.

Ike Jones (1:32)

Welcome in, ladies and gentlemen. It's your guy, Ike Jones. We are here on the Auburn Express, powered by The War Rapport, talking a little bit about a preview for the Southern Miss game today. Joining me live in here talking about the game is Andy Borelli.

He reports for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on SI, the Sports Illustrated arm there. Welcome in to the Auburn Express. Andy, Andy, how are you feeling today, sir?

Andy Borelli (2:00)

I'm ready for football, but I'm feeling great.

Ike Jones (2:03)

It's definitely that time of year. I appreciate you coming in and giving us a little insight on what's going on with the Southern Miss Eagles, Golden Eagles, excuse me, I want to be respectful of the name there, making the trip over from Hattiesburg to Auburn, Alabama. First and foremost, give me your impressions of what you thought of their first game there when they had an opportunity to go against Alcorn State. How did you feel like the team performed in that first game?

Andy Borelli (2:31)

I've got to tell you, I was a little worried about them to begin with. We opened up as I think a 20-point favorite and a 29-point favorite somewhere in that area, which is always very concerning. And I know that the SWAC teams, Southwestern Athletic Conference teams, are in the FCS, but they're different.

I look at them as a higher level of the FCS, so you never can look down on them. We played Jackson State last year with Charles Huff and beat them by 18

And Jackson State is always really good. You never can look past them. Even before Deion was there, they were still a really good team every year. You just can't look past them. So coming in as a 20-point favorite against Alcorn State, I was worried, but I also understood it. Like I said, I know Alcorn is good. I got faith in them every year. But the way that game played out was not something I was expecting. And if I was a betting man, I would have lost money on that game.

Ike Jones (3:31)

You would have picked the under? Or you wouldn't have picked them to cover?

Andy Borelli (3:36)

I probably wouldn't have picked them.

I probably would have went the over, but it wouldn't have been by much, you know? And that tells you, I'm not a betting man, so I don't understand how all of that works.

Ike Jones (3:46)

Understood.

I don't bet a lot either. I just talk a lot of sports, so I get an opportunity to see the betting lines a little bit.

But yeah, I think I watched a little bit of that game. I'm going to dive into it a little bit more tomorrow as I do some advanced stuff. But first year head coach, he's been there before, offensive coordinator by trade. He's a guy that's going to spread the ball out a little bit. Let's talk about what Auburn can expect to see from the Golden Eagles, from that offense there. You know, who are going to be your standout guys? I mean, it's going to start, of course, with every offense, with that quarterback. But talk to me a little bit about that Southern Miss offense.

Andy Borelli (4:31)

So, I will start off with the quarterback, not just to play off of what you said. The quarterback is just...

Southern Miss is really known for their quarterback. And the question in the last few years is, who is going to be our quarterback? And Ethan Hampton, that started for the Golden Eagles against Alcorn State, he wasn't actually named the starter until the day before or the day of the game. And right now, for the Auburn game, it sits out in either or. Will it be Ethan Hampton or will it be Landry Liddy? As of right now, a starter hasn't been named. It will be one of the two.