It was the Tigers' fourth overall season and they competed as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA).

The team was led by head coach John Heisman, in his first year and finished with a record of two wins and one loss (2–1).

The team executed a "hidden ball trick" in the game against Vanderbilt as Auburn seemed to run a revolving wedge.

[5] Vanderbilt still won however, 9 to 6; the first time in the history of southern football that a field goal decided a game.

Georgia coach Pop Warner later used the trick in 1897 while at Cornell against Penn State; and again and most famously in 1903 while at Carlisle against Harvard, attracting national attention in a close loss.