Auburn football got its first conference win on the road against Kentucky. Now returning back to Jordan-Hare stadium in over month, they look to get its first conference victory at home against Vanderbilt.

Auburn leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt 22-21-1 and is 9-0 and in all games played at home against the Commodores. In the last matchup (2023), Auburn dominated with a 31-15 victory.

Here’s three questions for the Tigers as they host Vanderbilt to keep its chances at a bowl game alive:

Will the Tigers be able to stop Diego Pavia?

Diego Pavia threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 victory over Auburn with New Mexico State last season.

He helped lead the Aggies to a 49-14 win over Freeze’s Liberty team in 2022 serving as thorn to the side of the Auburn coach.

“I‘m sick of seeing that quarterback. I’ve had enough of him,“ Freeze said during his Monday press conference. ”What a competitor he is and the job that Clark Lea and his staff have done there to be in the games and have a chance to win all the games.”

The dual-threat abilities of Pavia have made Vanderbilt’s offense elite in conference play this season. He’s averaging 67.1 rushing yards per game and sitting sixth in the SEC with 537 yards. His 1,534 passing yards and 13 touchdowns has the Commodores averaging 32.0 points per game.

Are the Tigers keeping the ground game going with Jarquez Hunter?

Jarquez Hunter rushed for 278 yards making for the fourth-best rushing game in Auburn history. It was the most yards by an Auburn player against Kentucky since Cam Newton in 2010.

Auburn rushed for 326 yards in the entire contest. The Tigers’ 6.5 yards per rush was two yards more than any other team had averaged against Kentucky. Hunter now leads the SEC in rushing yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.

Last season against Vanderbilt, Hunter rushed for 183-yard and two-touchdowns as he averaged 9.6 yards per carry in that game, leading Auburn to a 31-15 win.

“He‘s got a combination of the patience, really good feet in the hole, and makes decisions with the ball, a quick cut and gets vertical,” Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said about Jarquez Hunter. “He’s also a guy that runs behind his pads really well and seems to run through contact and bounce off tackles.”

Are the Tigers Bowl chances over with loss to Vanderbilt?

The Tigers need to win three of the remaining four games just to finish 6-6, the bare minimum win total to be bowl eligible.

With Texas A&M, ULM and Alabama next for the Tigers after their final bye week, there’s still a real shot for Auburn to go bowling this year. However, no bowl scenario is possible without a victory over Vanderbilt.

Kickoff for Auburn hosting Vanderbilt is set for 11:45 a.m. at Jordan-Hare Stadium.