Fun Facts About Auburn Season Opener Matchup

It is finally here. The Auburn Tigers kick off the 2025 football season against the Baylor Bears on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7:00 p.m. CDT. 

Regular-season action has arrived. No more conversations about how great the receivers may or may not be. No more worrying about how the quarterback may or may not be coddled. No more concerns over the head coach throwing his visor or how his golf game impacts recruiting. 

Now, all questions can start to be answered between the lines. The speculation and the drama of the offseason can be replaced with what comes with the drama of the regular season and beyond. Before the game kicks off, here are some interesting tidbits you should know. 

Take the chance to build a little more background for this take to help up the stakes a bit.

• 2025 will be the 133rd season of Auburn football
• Auburn is 103-27-2 in season openers
• The Tigers are 16-5-1 in road openers
• The Tigers have won 17 of their last 19 openers, including their last eight
• This is the first true away game opener for Auburn since the Tigers traveled to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans in 2002.
• Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is 10-4 in season openers.
• That includes his 2-0 record in openers as Auburn’s head coach.
• Tigers’ quarterback Jackson Arnold is 1-0 in season openers (with Oklahoma) after he beat the Temple Owls 51-3 in 2024
• This will be Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson’s first season opener as the starter
• Robertson saw action in last season's opener, completing three of his five pass attempts for 67 yards and one touchdown as the Bears defeated Tarleton State Texans, 45-3.
• This will be Auburn’s first regular-season matchup against a Big 12 team since facing Kansas State in 2014.
• This will be the first time an SEC team has visited Waco since Mississippi State in 1995.
• Auburn will be the first SEC team to play in McLane Stadium in its 11-year existence. 
• It will be the first meeting between Auburn and Baylor since 1976.
• Auburn lost that game 14-15.
• This will be Auburn’s first visit to Waco, Texas, since 1975, which ended in a 10-10 tie
• Baylor leads the all-time series with Auburn, 2-1-1.
• Auburn wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. enters the game with a 24-game streak with a catch.
• Jackson Arnold played his high school ball just two hours north of Waco, at Guyer High School.
• Auburn is currently a 2.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel.

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