It’s often said that football is a game of inches — so much so that it has become a cliche.
In Auburn’s season-opening win against Baylor, it was more like a game of centimeters.
After scoring a touchdown with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to get within one, 17-16, Baylor opted for a 2-point conversion to win the game rather than an extra point attempt, which almost certainly would have tied the game and forced overtime.
The try was unsuccessful, with Matthew Klopfenstein catching a DJ Lagway pass and getting tackled just shy of the goal line to preserve the Auburn victory. The Tigers pulled out the win despite allowing 436 yards and finishing with three
turnovers.
AUBURN ESCAPES BAYLOR BY STOPPING THE 2-POINT ATTEMPT 🔥
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) September 5, 2026
UNBELIEVABLE FINISH. pic.twitter.com/G42ljb5sPx
Why did Baylor opt to go for two rather than test their chances in overtime? Here’s what you need to know:
Why did Baylor go for two against Auburn?
After Lagway connected with Gavin Freeman for a 5-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to move within one point of Auburn, Baylor coach Dave Aranda was faced with a simple — but consequential — question: Do you go with the safe play of an extra point that would send the game into overtime? Or do you go for a 2-point conversion and the win?
Aranda opted for the latter, sending his offense on the field every time as the teams traded timeouts following the Bears’ touchdown. His gamble didn’t pay off, though, with Auburn safety Eric Winters barreling down on Klopfenstein and tackling him to the turf before he could reach the ball across the goal line.
After the game, Aranda explained the reasoning behind the decision, noting that Baylor had several players who were hobbled with injuries (including Lagway) and didn't believe that extending the game increased the team's chances of winning given those ailments.
"We had a bunch of guys getting Band Aided up," Aranda said after the loss. "We had a chance to kind of close it out and we wanted to try to do that."
Aranda later said there was "no hesitation" to go for the win.
"We reference the book and the book said to go for it," Aranda said. "It wasn't so much that. It was more we had so many guys that were doing everything they can to try to be able to push through and close this game out. I just didn't feel that playing longer was going to benefit us."
It was a defensible move. With Auburn on its heels after allowing a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, Aranda trusted his offense to gain two more yards to win the game rather than go through the coin toss that is a college football overtime period.
The play call from offensive coordinator Jake Spavital led to an open wide receiver, too, with Klopfenstein breaking out to his right and getting a couple of steps on Tigers edge rusher Jared Smith. The throw from Lagway, though, was thrown slightly behind his tight end, hitting his right shoulder and slowing him down a bit. That proved to be critical, as Winters was able to track down Klopfenstein and bring him down short of the end zone. Had it been thrown in front of Klopfenstein, or even on to his left shoulder, he’s likely able to cross the goal line safely to give his team a win.
Instead, Baylor is 0-1 and Aranda has started a pressure-filled seventh season with the Bears on a seat that only continues to get hotter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why did Baylor football go for 2 in Auburn loss? Dave Aranda explains call
