Auburn doesn’t have to get fancy to make its point against Baylor. The path is already sitting there in plain sight: lean on the ground game, lean on it hard, and make the Bears answer a problem they never solved last season.
That problem showed up in Week 1 a year ago, when Baylor put up plenty of offense but still walked away with a loss. Sawyer Robertson threw for more than 400 yards, Baylor piled up nearly 500 yards of total offense, and yet Auburn still won by two touchdowns.
The difference was the trench battle. Baylor couldn’t stop Auburn from running the ball, and Auburn turned that into more than 300 rushing yards, including 130 from Jackson Arnold.
Now Alex Golesh steps into that same matchup with a backfield built to attack the same weakness. Jeremiah Cobb is projected to be one of the best running backs in the conference this season.
Omar Mabson has drawn plenty of praise from the new coaching staff and is set for a much bigger role. Byrum Brown is under center, and unlike Arnold, he ran for more than 1,000 yards last season at South Florida.
He’s already proven he can stress defenses with his legs every week.
Then there’s Bryson Washington, which makes the picture even more awkward for Baylor. Washington was the Bears’ leading rusher last season, and now he’s in Auburn’s backfield, where he could be viewed as the third running back on the depth chart. That’s a tough twist for a Baylor defense that already struggled to keep people out of its run lanes.
The Bears gave up around 200 rushing yards per game last season, and they’ve tried to address it by bringing in new defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman from Kansas State along with several new pieces. Auburn’s job on Saturday is to test whether those changes actually hold up.
The answer doesn’t need to be complicated. Auburn should run the football, control the game, and force Baylor to show that the fix is real.
That doesn’t mean Golesh has to slow everything down. Tempo is still going to matter here. But if Auburn starts stacking up repeated three-and-outs, DJ Durkin’s defense can get stuck in a bad spot, the same kind of trouble Auburn saw too often last season under Hugh Freeze.
There are still questions around the offensive line, and this game won’t settle everything. Florida, Vanderbilt and Tennessee will ask different things later on. But Saturday gives Auburn a cleaner test.
The line doesn’t need to be perfect yet. It just needs to move Baylor. Auburn did that last season, and this group should be in position to do it again under Tyler Hudanick and Alex Golesh.
In Other News...
Joel Klatt Just Handed Auburn Fans A New Reason To Erupt
Joel Klatts recent comparison of Auburn and Texas A&M football gave Tigers fans another reason to perk up, even if it came wrapped in the kind of blunt national commentary that usually stings before it soothes. He labeled both programs popcorn programs, a nod to teams that are mostly average but still capable of popping for a strong season, and that framing put Auburn in a familiar but still flattering national conversation.
For Auburn, the point is that the brand still carries weight because of its history, its national championships and the fact that the program has managed real coaching success in recent years. Texas A&Ms more uneven run since 2000 was part of the contrast, and Auburn fans have especially liked the idea that Alex Golesh is being viewed as a positive hire after some of the turbulence that came before him. The bigger question now is whether that optimism turns into the sort of season that makes the popcorn metaphor feel a lot more like a warning than a compliment. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Just Tied Neville Arena To Something Bigger Than Sports
Auburns reach at Neville Arena is about to stretch well beyond basketball and the rest of the fall and winter schedule. Auburn University has expanded its partnership with the U.S. Navys Submarine Industrial Base Program Office, and the collaboration is designed to help promote civilian careers in submarine construction across Alabama, with support from the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and the athletic department.
The deal also brings sponsorship and advertising into Auburn athletic events, turning game-day visibility into a recruiting tool for an industry that needs more attention. For a program that often frames itself around community and statewide impact, this is another example of Auburn using its biggest stage for something that is bigger than sports, even if the full reach of the effort is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Opener May Come Down To One Unsettling Mismatch
Auburn heads into the Aflac Kickoff Game as the favorite against Baylor, but the biggest question facing the Tigers is whether their offense can hold up long enough to show it. There is real optimism around the skill talent, including the chemistry Byrum Brown has already built with key receivers, yet the line in front of him is still the place where the matchup starts to tilt uneasy.
Baylors defensive front looks like the sort of early test that can expose timing issues and force a team to hurry its plan, especially if Auburn wants to lean on tempo to cover up some of the uncertainty in the trenches. Dave Aranda has already pointed to his defensive line as the Bears strength, and with Auburn still sorting through a fresh look up front, the opener may come down to whether the Tigers can keep that pressure from turning a promising night into a survival exercise. [Read more 🡒]