Auburn is the trendy dog play getting 8.5 at home, but I'm backing Clemson with Heisman hopefull Deshaun Watson. Clemson is deep offensively with Wanye Gallman in the backfield and Mike Williams, Artavis Scott and Deon Cain returning at wide receiver. Auburn is a well coached team, but I'm not sold on Sean White being the answer at quarterback for Gus Malzahn. Look for Clemson to take advantage of White's mistakes at quarterback. This game will be close most of the way, but Clemson will pull away and cover the spread.

Quarterback play was a key issue for Auburn last year, as the much-celebrated Jeremy Johnson failed to live up to his pre-season hype. Johnson is still on the roster, but Gus Malzahn this week named sophomore Sean White the starter for Saturday's opener against Clemson. White showed some promise in five starts last season, throwing for 1,166 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. Junior college transfer John Franklin III, who was thought to be the leading the battle for the job, could also see playing time. Auburn returns a strong defensive front and will have a new coordinator in Kevin Steele after Will Muschamp left for the head job at South Carolina. Clemson returns Heisman front-runner Deshaun Watson, running back Wayne Gallman and host of playmakers from the explosive offense that led the program to the national title game last season. Its defense could be something of a question mark after defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd departed for the NFL, but coordinator Brent Venables still has some pieces to work with such as linebacker Ben Boulware, who had 82 tackles last season. I think his team will come ready to play, but also expect an improved Auburn team to provide a wire-to-wire challenge on its home field.

I look for Clemson to come out firing on all cylinders in its championship quest and that's bad news for a disappointing Auburn squad, whose homefield edge doesn't hold as much weight after losing all four SEC home games last season. Clemson returns eight starters on an offense that averaged 38.5 points and 514 yards per game. Auburn is going to have to alter its offensive attack to keep up on the scoreboard and I'm not sure QB Sean White is capable -- he threw only one TD pass last season -- but the faster pace will help Auburn to a few scores. Clemson QB Deshaun Watson gets his Heisman campaign started quick with big numbers that should help this total go Over. The spread is light as well -- should be closer to 10 -- but the better bet is the Over.