Auburn football defeated Baylor in Atlanta to kick off the 2026 season.
Here are initial takeaways from the Tigers' win:
Auburn's Defense Has A Chance To Be Really Good Again
Auburn's defense was coming up big again and again in this one. Baylor was threatening at times, but the Tigers refused to break, although there were multiple times they were bent to their fullest extent. Outside of playing well as a unit, there were times when individual defenders had to step up and shine, and that was seen a lot on Saturday. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Tigers' defense. They were not super consistent in this one, and that will be an area that they will have to try to continue to get better at.
Byrum Brown Has To Get The Ball Out Of His Hands Quicker
Byrum Brown holding the ball for too long and it ultimately resulting in a sack by Baylor was a consistent trend throughout most of the game for the Tigers. Brown has to do a better job of getting rid of the ball in these situations. It also may mean that the Auburn offense will need to run more quarterback friendly plays that allow Brown to get the ball out of his hand quicker or early in the progression of the play. Brown was more effective throwing these type of passes in this one.
Auburn Has To Feed Jeremiah Cobb More
Jeremiah Cobb entered the fourth quarter with nine carries, and that almost looked like it should have been a misprint. Cobb entered the fourth quarter with 45 yards and one touchdown on nine carries. He was averaging five yards a carry at this point in the game. With the Tigers being inconsistent passing the football at that point, it was intriguing to see that Cobb only had run the football nine times. Getting Cobb more involved looks as if it has to be an obvious option for the Tide in the future.
Byrum Brown Has To Keep The Ball Out Of Harms Way
Brown did not do a good job of keeping the ball out of harms away in this one. He threw multiple bad interceptions and several bad passes in general. There were multiple bad reads present in this one where Brown needed to get the ball out earlier, but he was late releasing the football. Turnovers are costly, and when a team stack them, there is more pressure on their defense to make a lot of stops.
Auburn Has Dependable Options Out Wide
When Auburn's weapons at wide receiver got an opportunity to get the football, they made the most of it in this one. There were four Tiger wide receivers and tight ends who had more than three receptions in this one. Keshaun Singleton turned out to be the most reliable down the stretch as he finished the game leading the Tigers in receiving.
