I’m not feeling the ’burn. Not any more than I was 12 months ago. Less, actually.

Bryan Harsin’s train-wreck Auburn squad enters Saturday’s SEC-B1G showdown with No. 22 Penn State still sorting out offseason issues and trying to find a quarterback.

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That’s not to say it’ll be easy for the Nittany Lions in the program’s first visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium. The forecast calls for bright sunshine and sweltering heat for the midafternoon kickoff (3:30 ET, CBS), and that’s before factoring in the hot breath of roughly 90,000 screaming orange-clad maniacs.

They do love their football in the South, which is why Harsin almost didn’t get invited back for a second year at the helm after last year’s 6-7 season ended with 5 straight losses. The fiery coach hasn’t won over his critics or the AP poll voters with 2 less-than-impressive victories to start the season. His Tigers rank 40th per the AP, 3rd from the bottom among others receiving votes.

Penn State fans will be able to calibrate their excitement and confidence levels off this result. The Lions — 3-point favorites — should deliver a win and could deliver a breakout performance.

Why Auburn is suspect

Halftime score from 5 days ago: San Jose State 10, Auburn 7. Apparently the less-than-capacity Jordan-Hare crowd of 83,340 didn’t get the Tigers jacked up enough for the 6:30 local time start. Stepping up in class after an opening win over FCS Mercer, the Tigers rallied to beat the 24-point underdog Spartans 24-16.

It wasn’t pretty. Auburn lost the battles in turnovers (0-2), first downs (18-21) and time of possession (26:39-33:21). Highly acclaimed backs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter were held under 100 rushing yards — combined. Both quarterbacks, TJ Finley and Robby Ashford, threw interceptions, and the team only avoided turnover catastrophe because it recovered all 4 of its own fumbles.

This year, Auburn failed to bring in a top-100 recruit for the first time since 2009 and lost 19 players to the transfer portal, including 3-year starting quarterback Bo Nix. Fans eager to see Nix go might be redirecting their scorn at replacements Finley (1 TD, 3 INTs) and Ashford (0, 1).

Auburn has committed 4 turnovers and forced none at home against weak competition. One thing you can say in the Tigers’ favor: They enter this game with a lot to prove, so they should be motivated.

Same scenario as last year

The teams’ storylines appear strikingly similar to when they met in Week 3 last year, a game Penn State won 28-20 on a White Out Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. Other than the change of venue and color scheme, everything remains the same.

Penn State opened its season against a tough conference opponent on the road; Auburn played cupcakes and never left home. A narrow Week 1 win in a showcase game (16-10 vs. Wisconsin in ’21, 35-31 vs. Purdue this year) gave Penn State some buzz; Auburn got none. The Lions enter this one higher ranked and favored, just like last year.

What Penn State must prove

New defensive coordinator Manny Diaz’s aggressive approach has produced only 3 sacks and 1 turnover through 2 games. Given how loose Auburn has been with the ball, this seems like a great opportunity for the former Miami head coach to deliver some goods to the Penn State faithful. His front 7 must at least slow down Bigsby, Hunter and running QB Ashford on the ground. Force this group to go pass-heavy, and PSU’s stout secondary will have a field day.

Sean Clifford needs to prove last year’s 28-of-32 accuracy vs. Auburn is reproduceable. If not, James Franklin will have to prove he’s willing to play the back-up quarterback card he didn’t have last year. A healthy Clifford is no slouch. He struggles at times, but doesn’t shrink from the occasion. But if he should, Franklin can’t let his team go down with Drew Allar on the bench. The 5-star freshman has already shown too much upside for that. Odds are, though, that good, healthy, early-season Clifford takes care of business.

Speaking of 5-star freshmen, Nicholas Singleton needs to prove last week’s 179-yard rushing breakout means something more than just that Ohio was overmatched. He’ll take a lot of pressure off a still-suspect o-line if he can escape down the right sideline a few more times.

Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich probably needs to get Singleton more than 10 carries this time, while continuing to evolve the attack. The first 2 games brought fewer QB runs, plays from under center, 3-tight end sets and other wrinkles. The variety is needed. Penn State can’t just drop back and let it rip, because the line still gives up too much pressure — a B1G-worst 3 sacks per game.

If Penn State wins …

Despite its issues, Auburn provides Penn State the chance for a name-brand victory. Win, and the Lions clear their path to 5-0 (home games vs. Central Michigan and Northwestern up next). With a great mix of new faces, young faces and just enough savvy veteran leaders, they’ll draw the same national attention they did in climbing to No. 4 in the AP poll last October. Kirk Herbstreit loves the Nittany Lions, and media members and bloggers love to post his tweets.

See?

Getting to 5-0 sets up an epic showdown at Michigan in mid-October, and this in all likelihood is the only obstacle remaining.

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Prediction

Penn State’s defense stiffens against the run once the field shortens, gets home multiple times on blitzes for sacks and also pressures Finlay/Ashford into 2 more interceptions. Singleton gets more than 10 chances and breaks at least 1 big run. When needed, Yurcich goes up-tempo to get the passing game rolling. Franklin gets his 3rd victory over the Tigers in as many tries, the first one coming in 2012 while he was at Vanderbilt. If he can beat Auburn in SEC play with the Commodores …

Penn State 34, Auburn 24