AUBURN | Year three of the Hugh Freeze era gets underway with three of the first five games on the road.
The schedule includes big home matchups against Georgia, Missouri and Alabama, and tough road contests at Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
Today, we begin an early look at Auburn’s 2025 schedule with an important non-conference road game to open the season.
WHO: Baylor (8-5 last season, 6-3 Big 12)
WHEN: Aug. 29, 7 p.m. CT, FOX
WHERE: McLane Stadium (45,140)
SERIES: Baylor leads 2-1-1
WHAT’S NEW: Sixth-year head coach Dave Aranda returns most of his coaching staff intact. The only major offseason additions were cornerbacks coach Paul Gonzales from TCU and outside linebackers coach Carson Hall from Western Kentucky. Aranda entered 2024 on the hot seat and got off to a 2-4 start, but rallied for an 8-5 record.
The Bears’ top transfer is cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt from Ohio State, who is expected to step into the starting lineup and shore up a key weakness from last season. Other key portal additions on defense include safety Devin Turner from Northwestern, edge Emar’rion Winston from Oregon, defensive tackle Sam Taumanupepe from Texas A&M, and linebackers Phoenix Jackson from Fresno State and Travion Barnes from FIU. The transfer group also includes quarterback Walker White from Auburn and wide receiver Kobe Prentice from Alabama.
Baylor signed the No. 33 class in the country including four four-star prospects in wide receiver Taz Williams Jr., running back Michael Turner Jr., defensive end Kamauryn Morgan and linebacker Kaleb Burns.
WHO TO WATCH, OFFENSE: Quarterback Sawyer Robertson is back to lead the offense after completing 229 of 368 passes (62.2 percent) for 3,071 yards with 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions as a junior. Robertson also rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns.
WHO TO WATCH, DEFENSE: Linebacker Keaton Thomas led the defense with 114 tackles to go along with 7.0 tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks and three quarterback hurries as a sophomore last season. He also returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown.
OUTLOOK: This is the first matchup between the two teams since Baylor beat Auburn 15-14 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 1976. Baylor ended the 2024 regular season on a six-game winning streak before falling to LSU 44-31 in the Texas Bowl.
Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround. In his first season after returning from California, Spavital led an offense that was top 20 nationally in scoring and total yards. That offense returns eight starters including Robertson and his top receiving target, Josh Cameron, who had 52 catches for 754 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Also back is running back Bryson Washington, who had 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns last year along with four of five starters on the offensive line. This should be one of the nation’s best offenses in 2025.
The defense, which returns just five starters, was beefed up via the transfer portal in the offseason. In addition to Thomas, Baylor returns the versatile Jackie Marshall, who can play defensive end or tackle. Baylor should be strong on special teams. Punter Palmer Williams, who led the country with a 49.3 average, is back and Cameron is one of the nation’s top punt returners.
This is a huge opener for both teams. Baylor believes it’s ready to step up and compete for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the CFB playoffs this fall while it’s crucial for Auburn to get off to a good start in Freeze’s third season. It will be the first time the Tigers have played on Friday since the 2010 Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa, which Auburn rallied to win 28-27 in the Camback.
