The Auburn Tigers defeated the Baylor Bears last Friday night on the road for a week-one victory that was desperately needed for Hugh Freeze and his staff after two years that have been shaky at best.

Auburn entered 2025 with the best roster they have had by far under Freeze, rebuilt through now multiple great freshman and transfer portal classes. With that came more pressure though, and Tigers fans were not going to keep tolerating mediocrity.

The first real test was week one, starting on the road in the exact type of game they have lost for the last two years.

Instead, new quarterback Jackson Arnold led a rushing attack which went over 300 yards collectively as a team, even finishing as the SEC’s leading rusher for 137 yards and two touchdowns including clutch plays that won his team the game. Arnold was at least somewhat efficient through the air completing 11 of his 17 passes, and to his credit, Auburn did not need to throw the ball much in order to win.

Over the next two weeks though with cupcake games against Ball State and South Alabama, it’s time to tune things up in the passing game for a more balanced attack before conference play begins with three huge challenges. Road games against Oklahoma and Texas A&M as well as a home game against Georgia are not going to be won on the ground alone.

If the Tigers can keep it up having a solid ground game, it’s going to go a long way towards winning those, but Arnold is going to have to make the throws as well, something he struggled with last season at Oklahoma.

Practice is one thing, but Auburn has a chance in the next two weeks in actual game settings to establish a real rapport between Arnold and his star-studded cast of wide receivers before the competition gets real. If they can’t do that now, it’s going to be tough to establish that connection on the road against better teams.

Whether or not they are able to do that is going to go a long way towards determining just how high the ceiling of this team really is.