First Call | Auburn Just PROVED Alex Golesh’s Biggest Message Wasn’t Talk

Auburn spent the entire offseason hearing Alex Golesh talk about leadership.

Becoming player-led.

Next-man-up.

Responding when something goes wrong.

Against Baylor?

Those weren't offseason talking points anymore.

Auburn actually had to prove them.

And three examples from the Tigers' 17-16 win should have Auburn fans encouraged about what Golesh is building.

Start with Elijah Melendez.

The sophomore linebacker was selected as one of Auburn's captains, and Golesh said the defense CHEERED when his name was announced.

Then Melendez went out and recorded 12 tackles.

That's not just a coaching staff telling us somebody is becoming a leader.

His teammates are telling us too.

Then there's Eric Winters.

After a miscommunication helped Baylor score its final touchdown, Winters had every opportunity to let that mistake define his night.

Instead, Baylor essentially came right back at him on the two-point conversion.

Winters made the play.

Game over.

Auburn wins.

Then look at the offensive line.

Both starting guards went down, forcing Auburn to use two backups when it desperately needed a touchdown.

Not in garbage time.

Not with the game decided.

With Auburn's undefeated season sitting in the balance.

And the Tigers went down the field and scored.

None of this means Auburn has arrived.

Far from it.

The offensive line has to improve. The offense has to sustain drives. The defense can't play nearly 100 snaps every Saturday.

But Auburn didn't beat Baylor because everything worked.

A lot DIDN'T work.

Auburn won because when something went wrong, somebody made the next play.

That's exactly what Alex Golesh has spent months trying to build.

And Saturday gave us our first real evidence that his players might be buying in.

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