Four Positive Takeaways From Auburn's Victory Over Baylor

The Auburn Tigers opened the season with a massive Week One victory over the Baylor Bears last Friday night, impressing many with their dominance on the ground and the strong performance from new quarterback Jackson Arnold in his Auburn debut.

Many storylines and trends surfaced from the Tigers’ 38-24 win in Waco, including defensive pass coverage miscues, tackling inconsistencies, Arnold’s ability to use his legs, and the offensive line’s exceptional outing in the trenches.

Let’s take a look at four positive takeaways that emerged from Auburn’s game against Baylor last week.

Auburn can win in multiple ways

Heading into the season, most analysts and experts focused on Auburn’s elite wide receiver corps as the Tigers' greatest strength – and rightfully so. With sophomore phenom Cam Coleman, Georgia Tech transfer Eric Singleton Jr., Malcolm Simmons, Horatio Fields, and Perry Thompson, the Tigers garnered significant attention for boasting one of the best rooms in the nation. While that’s still the case, one of the biggest offensive question marks – outside of quarterback – was the running back position. Auburn had the bodies, but a solid “RB1” had not seemed to truly take ownership of being the primary weapon.

Well, the Tigers’ top-two running backs, Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb, put those narratives to bed on Friday. Alston posted 84 yards and a touchdown while Cobb recorded 74 yards and found the endzone once, each tallying 16 carries. Accompanied by Arnold’s SEC-leading 137 rushing yards, Auburn managed to rush for an average of 5.9 yards per carry, indicating the Tigers’ pure dominance in the trenches and superiority to Baylor’s defensive front.

Senior running back Damari Alston posted 84 yards and one touchdown on the ground against Baylor. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Thus, Auburn fans learned that their team can win in a multitude of ways. Baylor played two high safeties throughout the duration of the game, opening up the box for the Tigers’ stable of running backs to gash the Bears’ defense. However, if Dave Aranda’s squad were to fill the box, Auburn’s wide receivers would’ve prevailed and punished them through the air – opposing defensive coordinators are forced to pick their poison when dealing with Auburn's loaded offense.

The Tigers’ offensive line is elite

The main reason Auburn’s rushing attack was so successful in the season opener is due to the offensive line. The Tigers’ heavily improved offensive line, consisting of Connor Lew, Jeremiah Wright, Dillon Wade, Mason Murphy, Xavier Chaplin, and "sixth man" Izavion Miller was one of the Tigers’ most impressive upgrades over the offseason, and they proved it on the field in Waco.

Preseason All-SEC center Connor Lew and Virginia Tech transfer left guard headline Auburn's offensive line room. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Auburn’s big men absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage, generated a great amount of push on Baylor’s defensive line, and only allowed one sack, prompting Hugh Freeze to claim that the offensive line had “one of (their) better performances in a long time.” The Tigers haven’t possessed an offensive line this talented in a long time, and considering the sheer athleticism of the SEC in the trenches, a strong presence up front is crucial to success.

Jackson Arnold has plenty of confidence

Arnold’s confidence was easily the most prominent concern and talking point surrounding the Auburn Tigers heading into 2025, and if the junior quarterback could bounce back from a disappointing couple of seasons at Oklahoma. Well, he looked completely different on Friday compared to his two years as a Sooner.

Arnold made good decisions with the football, wasn’t afraid to use his legs in proper situations, and made a plethora of extremely impressive throws when Auburn utilized the passing game, which wasn’t very much. And not because it was unsuccessful, but instead, why force it through the air while they’re so dominant on the ground?

Not only did Arnold make quality decisions for most of the game, the former five-star was fairly quick to determine those decisions. Freeze said in his press conference on Monday that Arnold only had three true scrambles – the rest were “some types of run where he has the option for it to be him or somebody else.” He wasn't afraid to create outside of the pocket in the open field, and never exactly looked panicked.

Jackson Arnold recorded 137 rushing yards in Auburn's season opener, which leads the SEC after Week One. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Overall, he looks comfortable in the new system, and he was seen multiple times dancing, smiling, and having fun with his teammates after the Tigers accomplished something good. It felt like he truly took command of the offense -- Auburn fans haven’t witnessed that since Bo Nix in 2019.

This team has a competitive edge

This year’s squad feels different than previous seasons under Freeze and the brief, infamous Bryan Harsin era.

It feels like Auburn finally has the players to not only compete with the elite programs in college football, but also want to compete.

Too many Auburn teams have folded late in games in recent years. Too many Auburn teams have had a lack of perseverance when adversity hits. Too many Auburn teams have made it seem like there’s no will to win.

Not to say that previous players didn’t make their best effort, but the Tigers now hold a roster of winners. A vast majority of Auburn’s roster is former four-stars and five-stars who were successful in high school – thus, they have a competitive edge to them that’s difficult to articulate.

For example, the FOX broadcast last Friday showed the Tigers’ defensive line and linebackers “barking,” or talking trash, to the Baylor offense on multiple occasions. Chirping at opposing players in college football is a normality, but in order to win in the nation’s toughest conference, Auburn needs players that have a “dawg” mentality.

And Auburn may have just that this season.