By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
It was a one-point game with nine seconds remaining.
The only thing separating Baylor and an upset win over Auburn was two yards. A year of being on the losing end to the Tigers could be reversed within six feet.
Junior quarterback DJ Lagway led the Bears downfield before throwing a touchdown to fifth-year wide receiver Gavin Freeman to set them up for a chance to emerge victorious.
After a timeout from both sides, 55,068 spectators rose to their feet for the deciding 2-point attempt. Baylor was set up with Lagway alone in the backfield and three bunched to the right side of the offensive line.
“We always got the belief in us,” senior safety Micah Gifford said. “I’m 100% positive that they’re going to go in and do their job.”
Lagway immediately rolled to his right, finding senior tight end Matthew Klopfenstein backpedaling near the goal line. Klopfenstein caught the pass, but Auburn’s Eric Winters stopped him inches short of the game-winning conversion.
“There was no hesitation with that,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “You’re watching it, and you see it, and I’m thinking it’s a touchdown or it’s points. And for it not to be just sucks.”
The goal line stop secured the 17-16 win for Auburn (1-0) over Baylor (0-1) in a sloppy Aflac Kickoff Game.
The highly anticipated matchup saw mistakes from both teams. The game saw five combined takeaways as well as three turnovers on downs and a pair of missed field goals.
“Mistakes, that’s why we lost,” Aranda said.
The first two offensive drives saw the same fate. Lagway managed through his progressions quickly, getting the ball out of his hands without facing much pressure from the Tigers. The Bears covered 55 yards in 10 plays in the first drive and 33 yards in nine plays on the second.
Both series ended in disaster for Baylor with Lagway fumbling near the sideline in the opening possession and throwing an interception right after in Auburn territory.
“Early in the game, there’s too many opportunities that we had to close or to finish drives, to put points on the board, and we didn’t do it,” Aranda said.
Lagway looked comfortable in the pocket, tallying 150 passing yards at the first break, four yards short of his career best in a quarter.
Baylor’s defensive line kept its side close in the first quarter. The unit held the Tigers’ offense to 52 total yards while making a trio of tackles for loss.
The offense started to slow down in the second quarter. The Bears started out with back-to-back punts and got one first down. The secondary swung the momentum Baylor’s way as the game closed in on halftime.
Fifth-year cornerback Reggie Bush II intercepted a deep ball from Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown inside the Bears’ own 5-yard line. The Bears could not capitalize on the takeaway, punting to the Tigers, who found the end zone first to go up 10-0.
Lagway continued to look comfortable in the pocket despite barely being able to walk with a brace on his right ankle. He led Baylor down the field, going 4-for-7 on pass attempts.
“We have both packages of DJ runs and then a lot of running in the game,” Aranda said. “Prior to hurting himself, there were two called runs and there was a fair amount of runs in this game that were called.”
Baylor was set on Auburn’s 14-yard line after a defensive pass interference in the end zone with a minute and a half remaining. Lagway found fifth-year wide receiver Louis Brown IV down the right sideline for the Bears’ first touchdown of the season.
The Tigers tried to outpace Baylor at the end of the half, driving deep into the Bears’ side. Brown threw his second interception of the game to junior cornerback Devon Jordan at the Baylor 11-yard line to go into the locker rooms with a 10-7 Auburn lead.
“It all starts up front for us,” Aranda said. “A lot of pressure up front, a lot of tackles for losses and sacks, multiple sacks today … Some of the pressure forced throws that were eventually picked off.”
Auburn struggled to get on the board to start the second half. Kicker Alex McPherson missed a 36-yard field goal to the left to cap off the Tigers’ first drive of the half. They punted on the next drive and failed to convert on a fake punt attempt to go into the fourth.
On the first play of the fourth quarterback, Brown fired a pass down the middle into double coverage. Gifford intercepted Brown to give Baylor the ball right back.
The Bears’ offense was back in business at midfield. The energy continued to shift in their favor. Baylor drove down the field due to an offside penalty against Auburn on fourth down and another fourth down conversion from senior running back Dawson Pendergrass inside the red zone.
Baylor had to settle for a 22-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Rhett Armstrong.
Auburn answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive to jump back in front 17-10 capped off by a Brown rushing touchdown.
The Bears did not fold with less than four minutes left. They were down to a fourth–and–10 situation in their own side of the field. Lagway lasered a pass up the middle for Freeman, who made a lunging catch for a 28-yard gain and kept his team alive.
Lagway connected with Porter to put the ball on the Auburn 5-yard line and set up a passing touchdown to Freeman before the failed 2-point conversion to seal the Bears’ fate.
Freeman finished the game with 12 catches for a career-best 154 yards.
“It’s just, you know, just playing football,” Freeman said. “Anything I can do catch-wise, run-wise, block-wise for the team, my teammates, anything I can do, it’s all good to me.”
The defense shined in its first game under defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. The unit forced three takeaways while also generating 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. Allowing 17 points against the Tigers proved to be a notable improvement from last year’s squad that gave up 38 points.
“It felt great to really just be able to put it all together on the field,” Gifford said. “We’ve been putting in so much work, just been in the lab with [Klanderman]. Everyone on the defense, we were just putting in our all.”
Baylor returns to Waco for the home opener against Prairie View A&M at 7 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium.
