Game week has finally arrived, and the Auburn football team will make its debut under new head coach Alex Golesh against the Baylor Bears this weekend.
There is a lot of hope that quarterback Byrum Brown will be a game-changer for Auburn football, but many question whether or not his historic stats from last season at USF will be able to translate at the SEC level. Leading up to the season, Golesh has shared both positives and negatives from the offseason and has acknowledged that, in this year one rebuild, there are still some questions for the Tigers heading into the fall.
However, if there's one thing Golesh isn't questioning, it's that Brown will be ready to compete.
“If Byrum ain’t prepared at this point, based on what he’s gotten through spring and fall camp, I can only imagine what else we can get. Because it challenges you,” Golesh said, per AL.com. “Just our normal down to down as you get into situational football and the sub packages and really what we do on normal downs creates a lot of thinking for the quarterback."
For Brown, the pre-season challenges were all about preparation, and as he enters his fifth year in Golesh and Joel Gordon's offense, he told the media he feels great about the offensive plan.
"Extremely comfortable," Brown said of how comfortable he feels in this offense, per Auburn 247. "Knowing the minute details of every single play, knowing where to go with the ball on certain looks, finding my check downs regularly so we can stay on schedule and get first downs. I feel truly comfortable in this offense and everyone else is feeling comfortable, as well."
Baylor is known for running multiple defensive fronts that can pose challenges to the offense, and in preparing for that, Brown said that going up against the Tigers' own defense has made a significant difference. It isn't the first time during this offseason that Brown has credited the talent of DJ Durkin's unit.
"It is challenging, but you know, we've gone against our defense the whole spring and fall camp," Brown said. "They've thrown a lot of looks at us and we've picked those up so I'm fully confident in our o-line, and running backs, tight ends, seeing those looks and being prepared for it."
Auburn and Baylor will face off in the Aflac Kickoff Game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Central Time.
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