Auburn is walking into Saturday’s season opener with a Baylor offense that barely resembles the one it saw a year ago.
That matters for defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, because the Tigers are not just preparing for a new opponent look - they’re preparing for a new version of the same opponent. Baylor has turned over almost everything on offense since last season, and Auburn’s task in Atlanta is to sort through all the moving parts before the first snap.
“It's obviously a fresh start for him,” defensive coordinator DJ Durkin said Monday. “Coach Spavital does a great job with their offense.
I’m sure, through their offseason, he’s gotten comfortable with what they’re doing. We’re expecting that.
“Our guys know it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
The challenge starts with the personnel. Baylor is returning only one offensive starter from last season: 6-foot-9 right tackle Kaden Sieracki, who started every game a year ago. Beyond him, the Bears are piecing together a group built around transfers and a few holdovers in different roles.
Seven of Sieracki’s fellow starters on offense are new transfers. The three exceptions are running back Dawson Pendergrass, who missed all of last season with an injury; wide receiver Louis Brown IV, who played in four games before redshirting; and Koltin Sieracki, Kaden’s younger brother, who is stepping in at center after a transfer wasn’t cleared to play.
That overhaul is especially notable because of how much Baylor lost from the offense Auburn saw last season. The Bears’ starting quarterback is gone.
So are their top four receivers. Even the player who led Baylor in rushing last year is now on Auburn’s roster, Bryson Washington.
The Tigers are left trying to account for a very different collection of weapons than the one that helped Baylor pile up yards against them a year ago. Of all the production from that game, only two receptions for 22 yards are back.
Golesh said the film study has required Auburn to look beyond the Baylor offense itself and into other teams’ games to get a sense of the personnel.
“There’s a lot of new, so as you prepare, you’re kind of watching other teams play, in order to get a personnel standpoint,” Golesh said Monday. “Schematically, you know what you’re going to get - or at least you feel like you do going in.”
So the matchup Saturday in Atlanta becomes more than a rematch in name only. It’s also the first Auburn game for Golesh as head coach, and the first real test of how Durkin’s defense handles a Baylor offense now coordinated by Jake Spavital and led by DJ Lagway.
For Auburn, that sets up the next layer of the game: not just who Baylor is now, but how the Tigers plan to deal with what that offense has become.
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