Baylor’s Week One meeting with Auburn comes with a long list of moving parts, and the quarterback battle sits right at the center of it.
Dave Aranda and the Bears spent the offseason making major changes after a disappointing 5-7 season in 2025. The offense has a fresh look, the defense has been rebuilt under new coordinator Joe Klanderman, and Aranda is trying to get the program pointed back in the right direction.
Auburn has turned the page as well. The Tigers are now under new head coach Alex Golesh, and they enter the matchup hoping those changes can help put the program back on track. With both teams reshaping themselves in a big way, this opener feels loaded with uncertainty.
The biggest spotlight, though, belongs to DJ Lagway. After two seasons at Florida, the former five-star quarterback is set to make his Baylor debut against Auburn.
He never found steady footing with the Gators, but this is a chance to reset, take control of the offense and show what he can do in a system that looks more familiar to him. The fact that he’s back in a style of offense he thrived in during high school only adds to the intrigue.
How quickly Lagway settles in with a new receiver group will be one of the first things to watch. Jake Spavital recently said that when he sees Lagway playing confidently, he is one of the best quarterbacks that he has ever seen.
That kind of upside is obvious. So is the need for cleaner decision-making after Lagway threw 14 interceptions in 2025.
Auburn has its own quarterback who can tilt the game. Byrum Brown arrives from South Florida and comes to Auburn with Alex Golesh, continuing a partnership that already produced impressive offensive numbers in 2025. Brown’s experience gives the Tigers stability, and his legs make him especially dangerous.
That running ability is going to test Baylor’s defense in a real way. Brown can create explosive plays on the ground, and that adds another layer of stress for a Baylor defense that has been retooled up front after struggling badly against the run last season.
Klanderman’s arrival brought a wave of reinforcements through the transfer portal, with Hosea Wheeler, Jamaal Whyce, Ryan Davis, Kamren Washington, Jordan Mack, and Garrick Ponder all joining the line rotation. Baylor needed more depth and experience there, and that group gives the Bears a much fuller front than they had a year ago.
Still, Auburn won’t make life easy. Jeremiah Cobb is back for his senior season after putting up solid numbers in 2025, and Bryson Washington gives the Tigers another familiar name in the backfield. Washington, a Baylor transfer, was the Bears’ leading rusher in both 2024 and 2025, so he’ll also be facing his former team.
That makes physicality at the line of scrimmage a major theme for Baylor. The Bears have to hold up against Cobb, Washington and Brown, or the game could tilt fast in Auburn’s favor.
Baylor’s offensive line is another major question mark. Only one starter returns, and that lack of continuity is a real concern heading into a matchup like this. Nate Kibble, Logan Moore and Asher Hale are in line to start alongside the Sieracki brothers, but this group has limited experience working together.
Auburn did lose some key defensive line talent to the NFL and the transfer portal, but this still looks like one of the better fronts Baylor will see all season. The Bears don’t need the line to dominate. They just need it to be dependable enough for the offense to function.
For Lagway and Baylor, that means enough time to throw and enough room to get the run game moving. In a game with so many new faces and so many unknowns, that could be where the night gets decided.
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Baylors Deep Receiver Battle Puts Louis Brown In A Crucial Spot
Louis Brown IV spent last season in redshirt mode, but he sounded very much like a player ready to make that year count when Baylors offense opens the door this fall. The Bears have real competition in their receiver room, and Brown is pitching himself as the kind of flexible piece every coaching staff wants, someone who can line up in different spots and help in ways that go beyond just catching passes.
Brown also made clear he understands the value of doing the little things that keep an offense moving, including blocking, while pointing to the mental growth he picked up with help from Josh Cameron. He spoke highly of Dre'lon Miller and Gavin Freeman as well, a reminder that Baylors receiver battle is as much about depth and trust as it is about raw talent, with Brown trying to turn his preparation into a bigger role. [Read more 🡒]
DJ Lagway Faces An Early Baylor Test With Plenty Riding On It
The first weekend of the 2026 college football season already has a little extra bite for Baylor, with the Big 12 slate offering a handful of early measuring sticks and DJ Lagway landing in one of the spotlight games against Auburn. In a league that feels unusually open, the Bears are part of a larger group trying to establish an identity right away, and Lagways performance will be one of the first things people around the conference use to start sorting contenders from the pack.
Around the Big 12, the opening weekend also brings a familiar-coach setup for Houstons Makhi Hughes, a fresh offensive weapon in Arizona States Omarion Miller, Texas Tech leaning on Adam Trick to steady the defense and BYU counting on Faletau Satuala to set the tone on that side of the ball. For Baylor, though, the focus stays squarely on Lagway and how he handles an early test that carries more weight than a typical nonconference game, especially with so much riding on how the conference race begins to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Faces An Early Test That Could Define Its Opener With Auburn
Baylor opens against Auburn with a matchup that already feels like more than a season opener. The Bears are trying to steady a defense that had real trouble a year ago, and the focus has shifted toward making that side of the ball more reliable right away. New defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman has been brought in to help drive that reset, while the offense will also be leaning on familiar pieces to set the tone in a game that should be tight from the start.
Dawson Pendergrass is part of that equation too, giving Baylor another name to watch as it tries to answer an early challenge from a physical Auburn team. The setup points to a game that could swing on a handful of plays rather than broad separation, which is exactly why this opener carries so much weight for the Bears. If Baylor can show real progress on defense and hold up in a close finish, it would say plenty about where this team is headed. [Read more 🡒]