Auburn inches past Baylor, 17-16, in Alex Golesh’s debut with Tigers

Baylor seventh-year coach Dave Aranda, fighting for his job, elected to go for the 2-point conversion rather than attempt an extra-point kick, which would have sent the game into overtime.

The Bears converted on four of six fourth-down conversion attempts in the game, including the final 5-yard touchdown pass from Lagway to receiver Gavin Freeman, a transfer from Oklahoma State who had 12 catches for 154 yards.

But with the game on the line, Auburn prevented Baylor from making the three yards required to score a touchdown, sending a partisan Tigers’ crowd of 55,068 into a frenzy.

“There was no hesitation with that, we referenced the book and the book said to go for it, but it wasn’t so much that,” said Aranda, whose Bears outgained Auburn 436 yards to 389 yards. “It was more of we had so many guys that were just doing everything they can to push through and close this game out. I just didn’t feel the point of going any longer.”

Winters made his 11th stop in the game in heroic fashion, completing a perfect-form tackle by wrapping the big tight end in a bear hug that prevented him from falling forward or extending the ball over the goal line.

“Just go finish, that’s all we’ve talked about it,” said Golesh, who inherited an Auburn team that was 1-5 in games decided by single digits last season. “(Winters) is one of our guys.

“It wasn’t pretty, we have so much to clean up, but we finished.”

Indeed, and the Tigers finished on offense, too, as 6-foot-3, 235-pound dual-threat QB transfer Byrum Brown (26 of 35, 259 yards, 3 interceptions) scored on an 11-yard run the previous possession.

Brown’s touchdown, along with Alex McPherson’s extra point kick, gave the Tigers a 17-10 lead with 3:21 remaining.

Brown entered the day as the FBS ranks’ active leader in career touchdowns (rushing and passing) with 92 (now 93) since the 2022 season.

“We were going to put it in his hands at the end,” said Golesh, who brought Brown with him from South Florida. “We said, ‘Go run this thing and win the game.’

“We found a way, and that’s the first step.”

Lagway, a transfer from Florida who finished 27-of-54 passing for 333 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, was limping throughout much of the action after injuring his ankle in the first quarter.

Aranda, now 36-38 as Baylor’s head coach, explained at halftime how the Bears would need to adjust their game plan.

“(Lagway) is fighting through it, some of the running that we had going into the game, we’re trying to find where the game plan goes there,” Aranda said in his ABC Sports halftime interview.

“But otherwise, he’s stepping into throws and battling through, and the guys are seeing him battle through and they want to achieve for him.”

The game featured a unique twist as 22 Auburn players split a CSC-approved NIL purse of $3 million to $5 million from Peach Bowl Inc.

The NIL money will not count against the Tigers’ NCAA-allotted cap (approximately $21.58 million), as the game organizers are considered an independent third party.

It’s safe to say the Auburn players earned it, scoring the program’s 10th-straight season-opening victory while playing their first neutral-site opener away from home since beating Oregon 27-21 in Arlington, Texas.

Auburn held a 10-7 lead at halftime that held up until Baylor’s Rhett Armstrong connected on a 22-yard field goal with 7:12 left.

The Bears had to fight for every yard on that drive, too, converting two fourth downs as Lagway drew Auburn offside on a fourth-and-4 at the Tigers’ 43, and then Dawson Pendergrass (25 carries, 88 yards) powered for two yards to the Auburn 7 on a fourth-and-one from the 8.

Baylor returns to action at 8 p.m. next Saturday with a home game against Prairie View A&M, while Auburn plays host to Southern Miss at 7:45 p.m. next Saturday.

“I’m just grateful, we’ve got to get better,” Golesh said. “That would be a long list (of things needed); we have to protect the quarterback and make it easier for him, and we have to run the ball better and get off the field on third down.”

The Bears can take satisfaction knowing that a putrid pass rush that finished third-last in the nation with only 12 sacks last season has already recorded five, and against an SEC opponent at that.