Greg McElroy breaks down Auburn’s last-second victory in Alex Golesh’s debut
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Greg McElroy soaked in the aftermath of Auburn‘s thrilling, 17-16 victory over Baylor on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta, and when he looked at the fine print, he saw some real irony in what the Tigers did in Alex Golesh‘s head coaching debut.
Golesh’s college coaching background is exclusively on the offensive side of the ball, and surely Auburn hired him away from South Florida so he could revamp that sluggish offense on the Plains. So, naturally, in Golesh’s first game as Tigers head coach, it was safety Eric Winters who stopped Baylor on a 2-point conversion attempt just inches short of the goal line with 9 seconds left to preserve the pulsating win.
Obviously, Auburn’s offense never quite got in gear in the opener, with quarterback Byrum Brown tossing 3 interceptions and the Tigers managing only 17 points. But it was good enough on this day because of a defense that despite allowing 436 yards of total offense and 27 first downs managed to keep the Bears from lighting up the scoreboard.
And when it was time to make a play at the end of the game, it was the defense that made that play, as McElroy pointed out on his Always College Football podcast on Monday.
“Auburn hired an offensive coach and the defense won the game. Alex Golesh gets his first win on a tackle that was made about four inches from the goal line with nine seconds left on the clock,” McElroy said. “You bring in Alex Golesh from South Florida, and he’s hired to fix the offense. And he brings his quarterback with him, Byrum Brown, and on Saturday, same system, upgrade in personnel around him, three picks.”
McElroy spun Auburn’s whole situation forward.
“So, going forward, I think the thing that Auburn should feel good about is that Winters, the hero, he had 11 tackles … and while the offense, it might take through September to figure where things go. The SEC schedule doesn’t get real serious for the next couple weeks, so the window is kind of open for Golesh to kind of get this offense jump-started,” McElroy said.
Auburn is trying to pile up as many wins as possible in Golesh’s first season, as the Tigers try to become relevant in the SEC. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Auburn’s potential win total for the 2026 season:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
