Golesh Details ‘Advantages’ of Facing Baylor in Atlanta

Though there is still plenty of summer left, the Auburn Tigers are already preparing for their season-opening matchup, which was just announced for Sept. 5 at 2:30 p.m. CT, and will be broadcast on ABC.

Tiger fans have known for some time now that the game will be held in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium instead of Auburn’s own Jordan-Hare Stadium, where it was originally scheduled to be played, and some were quite frustrated with the switch. New head coach Alex Golesh, though, sees Atlanta as a land of opportunity.

“You know, maybe people here in Auburn aren't as fired up in the sense that that home game got moved to Atlanta, but there's a lot of advantages for us to be able to play in Atlanta,” he said in an interview with 680 the Fan. “We got such a huge alumni base there, really, the entire state of Georgia, that that place will be rocking with blue and orange, and then obviously a national stage with it being on ABC right in the middle of the day there that opening weekend.”

Certainly, Atlanta is much closer to the Plains than it is to Waco, Texas, so the Tigers will have the opportunity to turn Mercedes-Benz into a de facto Jordan-Hare for the day. Beyond the opportunity to bring in fans from Atlanta and its surrounding areas, though, Golesh sees quite a few other positives with the Tigers’ season-opener.

“It'll be huge for us, a good opponent in Baylor,” he said. “They've got a lot of change and a lot of new there as well. So I think it'll be a cool matchup. It'll certainly be great for us, from a recruiting side, to be playing in Atlanta, to a huge selling point, and then we'll be back there about two months later to drive past Atlanta [and] go to Athens.”

The Tigers’ season opener against Baylor will mark milestones for quite a few Tigers, as it will represent the Auburn debut for all of the Tigers’ expected starting offense except for Jeremiah Cobb and Golesh. An early-season win over a team like Baylor will be crucial if Tiger fans are to buy into what Golesh is building on the Plains.

Bryson Washington, the Tigers’ RB2, is expected to make an impact in the Tigers’ first game of the season, particularly because his Auburn debut will also be his first time playing against Baylor, where he called home for three years.

Needless to say, there is a lot at stake in this matchup, despite the fact that both teams are expected to go into the game unranked. If Golesh can get his team set up well and bring in some Atlanta-based Auburn fans to boot, the Tigers could have a chance to make a statement as soon as their first-ever game under Golesh.

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