This post was co-authored by Frank Parker of the Upper Deck Report.
Talking season is over. It’s game time folks.
There’s something special about high school football. From small towns to busy cities, stadiums around the country shine bright on every Friday night with competition and camaraderie that you just don’t see on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s three hours of nothing but pads popping, three yards and a cloud of dust, disciplined football. No NIL, no conference realignment, just pure football. It’s Auburn and Baylor to kick off the college football season at McLane Stadium in Waco.
Kids everywhere dream of growing up and putting on their local high school’s jersey. They play with passion and pride on every snap, willing to lay it all on the line for their teammates and coaches. Families watch from the stands wearing pins featuring their sons and student sections everywhere root on their peers.
The allure of Friday night football is alive and well all over the country, but arguably no state does it like Texas does. There’s a reason the TV show (and movie, for that matter) was so successful. From million dollar stadiums to tiny west Texas towns, Texans don’t just love their Friday nights. They live for it. What a treat we have this Friday night down in Waco as two teams prime with potential get to experience that feeling of a late Friday Texas night.
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Auburn kicks off their season in Waco against the Baylor Bears on Friday night and the eyes of the country will be on them. This is a big game for Hugh Freeze and this young Auburn team. If you’re going to break your streak of 4 losing seasons, it has to start now.
Baylor’s offense lit the world on fire last fall, especially the last 6 games of the season. After starting 2-4, the Bears won 6 straight before dropping their bowl game to LSU. QB Sawyer Robertson is back leading the team and has breakout star written all over him. He’s got a big arm and moves well outside the pocket. His legs are a real threat to hurt you at any moment.
For Auburn to win, they’re going to have to contain him in the pocket and hope their talented defensive line can get home. This is a big moment for the interior defensive line. If they can create push, Auburn’s edge rushers should be able to contain Robertson.
Besides Robertson, Baylor has a 1000 yard rusher in Bryson Washington and a dynamic receiver in Josh Cameron. They’re going to test this Auburn defense early with interior runs and shot plays. Baylor is fast, aggressive, and has the ability to get up on you in a hurry.
This is a great test for Auburn to start the year. We’ve heard all fall camp that the defense is well ahead of schedule and may be the strength of this team. We’ll learn early this year if that’s the case.
DC DJ Durkin (Jay G. Tate/Auburn Sports)
Homecoming
Auburn QB1 Jackson Arnold dominated Friday nights when he was in high school. The junior from Denton, Texas was a consensus 5-star recruit and filled the stat sheet every night. It’s fitting his first game as an Auburn Tiger is back in his home state. He talked about it with the media after Tuesday’s practice.
“Going back to Texas and playing under Friday night lights means a lot to me,” Arnold said. “I played all four of my high-school years in Texas, so I understand what Friday night lights means out there. It’s cool to go back there, be an hour-and-a-half from home and have a bunch of friends and family support me.”
There’s a lot of pressure on Arnold in this first game. He’s trying to dispel the notion that he’s a bust and isn’t the 5-star talent many thought he was coming out of high school.
In order to win the game, Arnold is going to need to be confident, get the ball out on time, and use the plethora of weapons around him. Baylor simply does not have the DBs to cover Cam Coleman, Eric Singleton Jr, and Malcolm Simmons every down.
Arnold doesn’t have to make the hero throw. He doesn’t have to single handedly win the game. He just needs to not be the reason Auburn loses the game. Get the ball to your playmakers and use your athleticism to scramble when the pocket breaks down. If he can do that, there’s no reason Auburn’s offense shouldn’t be able to move the ball and put up points.
QB Jackson Arnold (Jeff Woo/DRC)
Keys to Victory for Auburn
There’s a lot of factors that can lead to an Auburn win. Here are my keys to the game:
1. Protect the Football
There was no bigger Achilles heel for Auburn in the early part of the season last year than turnovers. 5 turnovers against Cal. 5 turnovers against Arkansas. A costly late game pick-six against Oklahoma. All of these were winnable games and the Tigers let them slip through their fingers. Hang onto the ball and your chances of success go way up.
2. Contain the QB
Auburn struggled with running QBs last season. They constantly were letting mobile quarterbacks get out of the pocket and extend plays. Sawyer Robertson is definitely a pass first quarterback, but he’s no slouch on the ground. He had 4 rushing TDs last season and is athletic enough to keep plays alive. Auburn needs to stay in their rush lanes and collapse the pocket instead of rushing too far up field.
3. Excellent Special Teams
There’s no need to sugar coat it. Auburn’s special teams were downright awful last year. They only made 54.5% of their field goals last season. Kicker Alex McPherson will hopefully be ready to go on Friday night. He missed almost all of last season with a gastrointestinal illness and he’s been working all summer to be back. He’s had some flare ups this week, so the Tigers may have to call on sophomore Towns McGough or Southern Miss transfer Connor Gibbs to handle the kicking this week.
K Alex McPherson (Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
Run the Race to beat Baylor
Auburn has a lot of baggage from last season. Between missed opportunities and heart-breaking losses, this team went through a lot last year. But none of that matters now. They are trying to bring back glory to the Plains. Persevere, fight, focus on the path ahead of you. Freeze has preached this to the team over and over again this offseason. How will the team react? Will they bow down to the competition? I don’t think that’s in the DNA of this team.
Games like this don’t need a pregame talk. In the words of Hugh Freeze, they want to “lock the gates, look for a fight, and see what they got.”
Run. The. Race. Football is back folks. Let’s get this started.
Who do you have winning this Barn Burning showdown? Let us know in the comments below!
A special thank you to College Football reporter and Auburn insider Frank Parker for collaborating on this piece.
If you enjoyed the article, be sure to check out more of Parker’s work here.
Parker covers the Tigers on a weekly basis over on the Upper Deck Report, a college football website specializing on all things SEC and Auburn sports.
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