Checking in on the early-season temperatures in Auburn, Ala., …

HOT

The Auburn offense. The Tigers are coming off a bye week as they head to Manhattan to take on Kansas State, and look to improve as they kick off Week 4. In its first two games, the Tigers have piled up 1,088 yards of total offense. The running game hasn’t missed a beat from 2013 – Cameron Artis-Payne is averaging 144 yards per game and Nick Marshall is averaging 103 yards per game, both of whom are on pace to eclipse 1,000 yards. Though Marshall has yet to show improvement through the air, the Tigers possess a more than capable passing threat in backup Jeremy Johnson who Gus Malzahn said can run the full offense. There’s also more depth and talent at the skill positions including freshman running back Roc Thomas and wide receivers Duke Williams and Melvin Ray.

WARM

The Tigers’ chances in the SEC West. Alabama was selected as the preseason division winner by the media, but many analysts feel Auburn has been the most complete team thus far. Texas A&M will make noise, but we’ll learn more about them once they get into SEC play. Those three teams look to be a step above the rest of the field in a brutally tough SEC West. Don’t be surprised to see a team’s season get spoiled.

COLD

The Tigers defense. Coordinator Ellis Johnson has made some changes to the defensive line that struggled to create pressure in the Aug. 30 opener against Arkansas and the secondary needs to clamp down having given up some big plays to the Razorbacks and San Jose State. They face a stiff test Thursday night at Kansas State and a versatile dual-threat quarterback in Jake Waters who is the Wildcats leading passer and rusher.

FROZEN

Fortunately for the Tigers, no part of their game is frozen. There are definitely areas to improve, but Auburn hasn’t shown any glaring weaknesses. They’re perfect in red zone scoring at 11 for 11 thus far, the offense is converting 68 percent of third downs and have played two good games overall, in all three phases of the game. The schedule gets tougher from here, however, but Auburn’s mantra continues to be to get better each week.