A Look Back at Auburn's Season Opener History

Auburn is gearing up for one of the most important season openers in program history, and history may be on the Tigers' side.

Auburn last won a season opener against a non-conference Power 4 opponent in 2019 against Oregon. | Jake Crandall, Montgomery Advertiser via Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Auburn Tigers will be traveling to Waco, Texas to take on the Baylor Bears on Friday, marking the program's most crucial season opener in recent memory.

With that said, Auburn Tigers on SI takes a look at how the Tigers have performed all-time during their season openers. 

A Broad History

Auburn is 103-27-2 all-time in season openers with wins in 17 of their past 19 openers dating back to the 2006 season. In the last 12 years, both of those losses came from another Tiger foe in  Clemson (2012, 2016).

The Tiger’s best season opener win in the last decade came from the 2018 season, when the Tigers defeated the sixth-ranked Washington Huskies, 21-16.

One of Auburn's best season opener victories in recent history came in 2018 against No. 6 Washington. | Jake Crandall

Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is 10-4 all time in season openers, and being 2-0 so far in his time on the plains. Auburn is 16-5-1 all time in season openers on the road, sitting at .750 win percentage in those opening road contests. 

Success in Texas, Against the Big 12

Interestingly enough, Auburn has opened the season three times in the Lone Star State, sitting at a perfect 3-0 record, the last win being in 2019 when they took down the Oregon Ducks. In that matchup, the Tigers never led until the final nine seconds of the game. 

In the other season openers in Texas, the Tigers faced TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, where they secured a 10-7 win to open the 1980 season. The other win came during the 1963 season when the Tigers hit the road to Houston to take on the Houston Cougars, where they earned a 21-14 win. 

Auburn last played a current member of the Big 12 in the 2021 Birmingham Bowl. | Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

Flipping the script, Auburn is 24-8-1 all time against current members of the Big 12. The matchup against Baylor will be Auburn's first matchup against a 2025 member of the Big 12 since the Tigers faced Houston in the 2021 Birmingham Bowl, where they lost 17-13.

Uncharted Territory Date-Wise

With the Tigers going into uncharted territory by playing on a Friday, rather than their usual Saturday schedule, you can look into how Auburn has historically fared on Fridays. Auburn has an overall record of 48-22-2 when playing on Fridays. The 2009 and 2010 Iron Bowls are the only two regular season games Auburn has played on Friday since the 1988 Iron Bowl. 

Auburn quarterback Cam Newton led the Tigers to a win over Alabama in the 2010 Iron Bowl, the last time the team played a regular season game on a Friday. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

In the month of August, the Tigers have an all-time record of 8-2. A record that Auburn could really use as momentum to this matchup against Baylor. Auburn has also won eight straight season openers, dating back to the 2017 season. In that span, Auburn outscored opponents 352-100. The current eight game winning streak in season openers is the third longest in program history. 

Overall

All in all, the Tigers, historically at least, have a lot of things leaning in their direction.

Being able to secure this win could bolster the Tigers season, giving them the momentum they need to have a better season than the previous four-straight losing seasons.

However, starting off 0-1 this season could derail a lot of momentum the Tigers will need heading into conference play, where they will travel to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners and College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies after two more non-conference games against Ball State and South Alabama.