Two 4th-down moments signal big things may be in store for Auburn
By David Wasson
Published:
Football games are full of moments big and small, consequential and meaningless. Add them all up, and you get a tapestry of storylines.
Same goes for a football season, as the ebbs and flows sometimes fluctuate just as funny as the football itself bounces – unpredictable and unexpected.
For the Auburn Tigers, it is quite possible that the entire 2025 season came down to 2 plays on a sweaty Friday night in Waco, Texas. Miss on one or both, and the entire campaign might go up in smoke. But hit… and who knows what success might come Auburn’s way?
The first pivotal moment came early, as Auburn’s defense faced a 4th-and-goal with Baylor hungrily looking to punch in for a score to not only go up 10-0 in the first quarter, but also to exert its authority.
Score, and the Bears take command 10-0 in the season opener. Score, and the Tigers are on the ropes not just for the rest of Friday night but quite possibly for the rest of the season.
Instead, Auburn’s defense stood tall, as Champ Anthony broke up a pass attempt for Michael Trigg in the end zone to flip the script. The Tigers then marched 96 yards on Baylor to score a touchdown for a 14-point swing that might well end up being the most consequential defensive moment of 2025.
Is that exaggeration? An over-emphasis of a single play in Week 1 of a tantalizingly long season? Perhaps. But big results routinely hinge on tiny moments – and that goal-line stand was the first true hinge point for Auburn.
The exact same circumstance came near the game’s conclusion, too, as Auburn led 24-17 and faced a 4th-and-1 at the Baylor 27 with 4:40 to play. Auburn had already been muscling it up and down the field with transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold lowering his shoulder and generally being a dual-threat menace.
After Auburn coach Hugh Freeze called timeout to make sure everything was dialed just right, Arnold called his own number – bursting up the middle on a designed run for a 27-yard touchdown run to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 7:16 of game clock.
Ballgame. Good night. Safe travels back to The Plains.
“Coach Freeze asked me what play we might want, and I said ‘Give me the ball and let’s run it.’ And we did and went and scored,” Arnold said after the game. “I wanted to show how much fight this team has. We have been working our butts off all offseason and in camp. We are a gritty team, a tough team, and we proved that today.”
Freeze’s designed run call to Arnold was an immediate paid dividend after courting the quarterback out of the transfer portal following an unsuccessful stint at Oklahoma. This was the quarterback that Freeze felt he needed, and even though the Tigers’ passing game appears still very much a work in progress, Arnold looked like a winner from start to finish in Waco.
Arnold finished with 137 rushing yards on 16 carries with 2 touchdowns, but he wasn’t alone in dominating the line of scrimmage. The Tigers piled up 307 rushing yards on 52 bruising carries against an undersized Baylor defensive front, pushing around the Bears every time they needed to.
Auburn’s defense at times looked like world beaters Friday night, even though Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson gashed the Tigers for 419 passing yards on 27-of-48 passing. The Tigers were just plain stout against the run before Baylor went exclusively to the air in the second half in an extended comeback run – allowing only 64 rushing yards – and also chased Robertson around all night en route to 4 sacks.
Most importantly for Auburn, a team that coughed up possible win after possible win in 2024 now looks like a team ready to win the key moments that add up to key victories. Simply put, Friday night was the kind of game Auburn would have found a way to lose last season. Flash forward, and the Tigers dug down deep to deliver time and time again when Baylor kept punching back.
It is a long football season that has only just begun, which means there are many more pivotal plays on the horizon for the Auburn Tigers. But Friday night, with a pair of huge plays at huge moments, the Tigers looked like they belonged once again.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
