Auburn at Baylor opens season with Arnold vs Robertson

Auburn and Baylor will open the college football season Friday night in Waco, with the Tigers visiting the Bears at McLane Stadium for a nationally televised kickoff on FOX at 8 p.m. Eastern 7 p.m. Central. The matchup pairs two Power Four programs and two coaches under pressure: Hugh Freeze’s Auburn, coming off a 5-7 season that left the Tigers out of a bowl, and Dave Aranda’s Baylor, which finished with a late surge in 2024 but fell in the Texas Bowl.

The game will be called by Jason Benetti and Robert Griffin III, who makes his FOX broadcast debut, with Alexa Landestoy on the sidelines. Griffin said the FOX opportunity represents "the perfect intersection of my two greatest passions, football and storytelling," and that he intends to help viewers "understand not just what’s happening on the field, but why it matters," according to the broadcast team.

On the field, the spotlight will be on the quarterback matchup and the line of scrimmage. Auburn turns to transfer Jackson Arnold after his uneven 2024 at Oklahoma, where reports detail significant turnover problems that contributed to his losing the starting job. Analysts caution that Arnold’s efficiency will be decisive for the...