Auburn QB Byrum Brown threw three interceptions against Baylor, but his clutch numbers tell another story. Brown went 8-of-12 for 110 yards on third down and led a 75-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive to help Auburn football win Alex Golesh's debut.
Byrum Brown threw three interceptions against Baylor.
Not Ideal.
And while that's obviously something the Auburn Tigers need to fix, another number from Brown's performance is worth paying attention to.
Brown was 8-of-12 for 110 yards on third down.
That's pretty impressive and needs more attention, considering how difficult almost everything else seemed to be for Auburn's offense.
The Tigers struggled to consistently run the football. Brown was sacked five times. Drives continually stalled once Auburn crossed midfield, and Baylor's defense did a really good job of loading the box, changing its looks, and preventing Auburn from creating explosive plays.
Then there were the three interceptions.
Of course, you can't consistently turn the football over three times and expect to win SEC games, and if this becomes a habit, something that hasn't been for Brown in his career thus far, Auburn will be in big trouble this season.
And I think that's important when evaluating his entire performance.
Alex Golesh certainly wasn't ready to make the interceptions entirely about Brown.
"Man, I take more blame for the picks than, to be honest with you, Byrum. That's on us as much as anybody, really on me trying to force it a little bit. So I've got to be better. I will be."
Then there's what happened when Auburn absolutely had to have points.
After everything that had gone wrong offensively, Brown led Auburn on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with the game tied 10-10. He went 4-for-4 for 49 yards through the air on that possession before eventually finishing the drive himself with an 11-yard touchdown run.
"Like Coach Golesh said, just play the next play," Brown said. "That was our mentality going into the game. Every drive it was play the next play. Follow Cobb. He led me to the promised land and protect the ball as I go into the end zone. That was really it."
That's what I keep coming back to with Brown, and the rest of this Auburn offense on Saturday.
His performance wasn't perfect. Honestly, there were some pretty concerning moments, ones you don't want to see, especially after all the quarterback issues this program has had over the past few seasons.
But despite the turnovers and despite Auburn's offense struggling for most of the afternoon, Brown was really good on third down and nearly perfect when Auburn needed one final touchdown drive.
Golesh said he repeatedly went over to Brown after the interceptions and asked if he was good.
"Coach, I'm good, man, with a smile, Golesh recalled. "It's part of being a veteran, part of being ready for the moment."
The interceptions matter and the Tigers definitely can not waste possessions once they get to conference play, but so does everything Brown did after them.
