Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze didn’t let pride get in his way during his Monday morning press conference.

Yes, the Vanderbilt Commodores are ranked last in the SEC.

Yes, the Vanderbilt Commodores are on a seven-game losing streak.

But something about Saturday’s visit to Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium has Freeze feeling uneasy.

“This is a scary game to me,” Freeze said Monday. “I’ve always thought playing there is difficult, for whatever reason.”

And Auburn fans who are familiar with Auburn’s history against Vanderbilt might tend to agree with Freeze.

The series between the Tigers and Commodores is locked in a 12-12-1 stalemate, meaning Saturday’s winner will claim the advantage.

And unfortunately for the Tigers, Auburn’s record against Vanderbilt away from Jordan-Hare Stadium isn’t great. The Tigers are 7-12 against the Commodores when playing in Nashville and have narrowly lost the last two visits – 17-13 in 2012 and 14-13 in 2008.

However, Auburn got the best of Vanderbilt the last time out with a 23-16 win from Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 5, 2016.

With a funky series history in the rearview mirror, Freeze and Tigers will look to follow up last week’s win over Mississippi State with a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday in a game that kicks off at 3 p.m.

But before then, here are three questions leading into the game:

Can Auburn avoid looking homesick?

Freeze said it best on Wednesday morning during the SEC Coaches’ Teleconference.

“We’ve yet to prove we can play well on the road,” Freeze said.

Auburn’s struggles away from Jordan-Hare Stadium started in Week 2 as the Tigers squeaked out an ugly, 14-10 win over Cal. But much of that performance was chalked up to the fact that Auburn was tasked with traveling nearly 2,500 miles across the country and taking part in an infamous “Pac 12 After Dark” kickoff.

But then came the trips to College Station and Baton Rouge – of which both ended in losses for the Tigers.

Auburn has looked like a completely different football team when you compare the Tigers’ performances at home and on the road.

And while Vanderbilt isn’t widely known for its intimidating home environment at FirstBank Stadium, Freeze admits Nashville is a tough place to play.

“If you go up there and you don’t get some momentum going your way…,” Freeze began. “I’ve been there with a really good Ole Miss team, now, and it was tough.”

With the prospect of reaching bowl eligibility still hanging in the balance and another road game against Arkansas coming next week, it’s vital the Tigers prove that they can play quality football away from the comfort of Jordan-Hare Stadium.

And that needs to start Saturday against the Commodores.

Will Payton Thorne and the Tigers’ offense build off last week’s success?

While stranger things have happened, one would assume junior Michigan State transfer Payton Thorne proved himself enough to fully take the reins of the Tigers’ offense after last week’s showing.

Thorne turned in a 20-for-26 passing performance against Mississippi State last week, good for 230 passing yards and a trio of touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Auburn saw 11 different receivers get involved with the offense with each of Thorne’s three touchdown passes finding the hands of different receivers.

On the ground, junior running back Jarquez Hunter turned in his biggest game of the season and became the first Auburn running back this season to rush for more than 100 yards in a game. Hunter finished his day with 17 carries for 144 yards.

“We protected him the best that we have. That makes a huge difference. And basically we said we’re gonna go back to what I’m used to,” Freeze said of last week’s success on offense. “We’re gonna play with some tempo and we’re going to take our shots when we get ‘em and we’re gonna see if you guys rise to the occasion. And in a lot of cases they did. And we’ve gotta continue to improve.”

The opportunity for Auburn to keep it rolling on offense will certainly be there on Saturday as Vanderbilt’s defense ranks last in the conference in as the Commodores have given up an average of 34.2 points per game. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt giving more than 436 yards per game is the second worst mark in the SEC behind South Carolina.

How will Auburn’s defense respond to Vanderbilt’s quarterback situation?

Hopefully that same quarterback rotation the Tigers fielded in many of their games this season was similar to what Auburn’s defense got to practice against on a daily basis – because from the sounds of it, Vanderbilt plans to utilize a quarterback rotation of its own on Saturday.

Vanderbilt has been limping along at the quarterback spot after losing returning starter AJ Swann to an elbow injury that’s forced him to miss the past four games.

Since then, the Commodores have had to turn to Ken Seals and Walter Taylor – two guys the Tigers’ defense should expect to see on Saturday, according to Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea.

“We want to strategically insert the quarterbacks to fit both situations, but also in ways that keep a flow to our game,” Lea said during the SEC Coaches’ teleconference Wednesday. “That’s the one thing you worry about with playing two guys — getting out of sync or out of rhythm, and it impacting or affecting the chemistry on the field.”

And Lea’s reasoning for it all should sound familiar to Auburn fans.

“The plan was to have Ken play the game but insert (Taylor) in certain situations,” Lea said Wednesday. “We’re trying to get him some snap experience, and we also feel like he has a skill set that can help us generate offense.

When Taylor — a redshirt freshman out of Jackson — has been used, his packages have mirrored those of Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford: rush-heavy.

Meanwhile, while he doesn’t pose the same running threat, Seals has passed for more than 850 yards and has tallied eight touchdown passes and three interceptions.

It is worth noting that Swann was said to be questionable for Saturday’s game, so him playing isn’t completely off the table – adding just another layer of Auburn’s defense’s preparation this week.

“I’m honestly impressed with some of the things they do,” Freeze said of Vanderbilt’s offense on Monday. “I don’t know what (AJ) Swann’s status is. I don’t really know if he can come back or not. I’d love to know that. (Ken) Seals and then this kid they brought in last week, (Walter) Taylor, is very athletic.”