Auburn escaped Baylor with a 17-16 win, but nobody inside the program is pretending that performance was the finished product.
Head coach Alex Golesh made that clear after the opener, saying the Tigers have work to do in several spots. That’s not exactly shocking for a team that rolled out more than 60 new players and a completely new coaching staff, especially in Week 1. The good news for Auburn is that it gets to sort through the mess after a win, not a loss, and Southern Miss is next on the schedule.
Even so, Saturday exposed three areas that need attention fast.
The first was the interior of the offensive line. Auburn’s run game held up well enough on the surface, but Baylor’s front consistently created problems.
The Bears finished with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss, and Auburn managed just 3.2 yards per carry. If you remove sack yardage, that climbs to 4.3, but the larger point still stands: Baylor was winning too often in the trenches.
That was always a concern for Auburn after replacing all five starters up front, and the guard spots looked especially shaky. Jacob Strand and Cole Skinner entered the game with only 16 career starts between them, and Strand had never started a college game at guard. Strand was Auburn’s lowest-graded offensive lineman against Baylor, according to Pro Football Focus, with Skinner right behind him.
There was at least a possible wrinkle late. Kail Ellis and Jack Leyrer stepped in on Auburn’s final drive because of injury, and Leyrer delivered a key block on Byrum Brown’s game-winning touchdown run.
It will be worth watching whether that earns either of them more work moving forward. Leyrer brings veteran experience after starting 16 games at Stanford, while Ellis was a blue-chip recruit who started two games for Auburn as a true freshman last season.
The second issue was Auburn’s decision-making in the passing game. Byrum Brown threw for 259 yards, completed 74 percent of his passes and still walked off with three interceptions attached to the stat line. That’s a hard combination to spin into anything overly positive.
Golesh did try to keep the tone measured, calling Brown’s outing “really well” and adding that Brown had “three plays he would tell you he wants back.”
“We’ll take it in Week 1,” Golesh said. “We’ve obviously got to clean that up.”
Golesh also accepted some responsibility, saying the staff was trying to force the ball downfield at times. That explanation fits at least part of what happened, but Brown still has to live with the throws.
His second interception was the most puzzling, coming on third-and-18 with fewer than 20 seconds left before halftime when Auburn could have taken the safer route and settled for the field goal. The other two picks also came on questionable reads, even if the play-calling was clearly leaning toward aggression.
Auburn got away with it Saturday. Against better opponents, three turnovers usually turn into a loss.
The last problem showed up on defense, where Auburn was generally solid but still had a clear soft spot. The Tigers held Baylor to 16 points, forced two turnovers and made enough plays late to finish the job. But Baylor still threw for 333 yards and connected on five passes of 20 yards or more.
The trouble was most obvious in the middle of the field, which was an issue for Auburn a year ago as well. Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin backed off the pressure in the second half, and the defense settled in some, but DJ Lagway found most of his bigger gains in that area.
Southern Miss probably won’t stress Auburn the same way there. A stronger quarterback certainly will.
In Other News...
Auburns Injury Picture Up Front Just Got A Lot More Interesting
Auburns injury outlook up front is starting to clear after the season-opening bruising against Baylor. Head coach Alex Golesh said three of the four trench players banged up in that game are expected to be available for the matchup with Southern Mississippi, with offensive linemen Cole Skinner and Jacob Strand both on track to play and edge rusher Chris Murray confirmed healthy.
The one lingering question is DaShawn Womack, who remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Golesh said Womack could return to practice later in the week, leaving Auburn with at least some much-needed stability in the trenches as it tries to get through the early part of the season without losing more depth up front. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Has A Real Chance To Expose Floridas Biggest Early Problem
Auburn comes into SEC play with a little momentum after edging Baylor 17-16 in the Aflac Kickoff Game, and that kind of early-season win can sharpen a teams edge before the league schedule starts to bite. Alex Golesh has already leaned into the idea of accountability and togetherness after that result, which is usually a good sign for a group trying to carry a close escape into something sturdier when the conference games start stacking up.
Florida, meanwhile, is still trying to settle the feel of its defense after a shaky showing against Florida Atlantic, and the next test will not be gentle. Auburns home atmosphere and DJ Durkins pass rush figure to put quarterback Aaron Philo in a difficult spot, giving the Tigers a real chance to make Florida answer some uncomfortable questions early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Pass Rush Concern Isnt As Simple As It Looked
Auburns pass rush number looked thin on the surface after the Tigers got to Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway 18 times and came away with only one sack, an early first-quarter takedown by Xavier Atkins. But the fuller picture was more complicated, because the defense was built to handle the run first, with a light box and a willingness to play underneath pass windows instead of selling out for sacks.
Golesh said that approach was intentional, and the results backed it up in other ways. Auburn held Baylor to 2.3 yards per carry and still managed to make life uncomfortable for Lagway by condensing the pocket and dropping rushers into coverage, which is why the pressure count may tell a better story than the sack total alone. [Read more 🡒]