The first time Gunner Britton ran out onto Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium, he did so wearing a white and red jersey, looking at Auburn’s more than 80,000 fans from underneath Western Kentucky’s chrome helmets.

A native of Conway, S.C., Britton was only rated a 2-star offensive lineman prospect out of high school and the Hilltoppers were one of just three FBS teams to come knocking with an offer.

“I was No. 54 overall in South Carolina,” Britton said. “I wasn’t the most recruited guy, even at my own high school.”

And in a world so caught up in stars and rankings, Britton spent much of his time at Western Kentucky thinking he was where he belonged.

After redshirting during his first season in Bowling Green, Ky. in 2019, Britton worked his way into the Hilltoppers’ offensive line rotation in his following three seasons. But it wasn’t until the 2022 season that Britton was a consistent starter at WKU.

Nonetheless, as the 2022 season approached, Britton knew — barring he played well — he might have the opportunity to transfer to a bigger program.

During Week 2, the Hilltoppers went out to play Hawaii, where Britton and the WKU offensive line didn’t give up a sack despite 30 pass attempts.

The next week at Indiana, Britton had another solid showing.

But it wasn’t until later in the season Britton finally had himself convinced he could play among the “freak shows” in the SEC.

Ironically, as fate would have it, Britton’s breakthrough came on Nov. 19 of last year when he and the Hilltoppers visited Auburn in a game that was dominated by the Tigers and their run game.

While Western Kentucky’s defense was getting torn apart by Auburn running backs Jarquez Hunter and Tank Bigsby, who combined for 229 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Britton was holding his own against Auburn’s standout defensive end.

“I got the chance to go block Derick Hall from Auburn University and everyone has seen what he’s done here and now he’s in the NFL and was a second-round pick,” Britton said. “And I’m like, okay if I can block this guy then I’m pretty confident I can go to the biggest stage and block seven SEC guys.”

That did it.

That convinced Britton it was time to ignore the stars and what all the recruiting services said about him out of high school and trust what he knew about himself.

Britton entered the transfer portal on Nov. 29 – three days after WKU’s final regular season game of the 2022 season.

By then, those same recruiting services that listed him as a 2-star out of high school, listed him as a 4-star transfer prospect and the fifth-best offensive tackle available in the transfer portal. Dillon Wade, who went on to transfer to Auburn from Tulsa, was rated the best tackle available in the portal.

“It was a lot of prayers, a lot of discussion with my family,” Britton said of his decision to transfer. “Coach Thornton brought it up the other day about what I told him when I came on a visit was pretty much if I can play in the SEC, I’m gonna have a chance to play in the NFL… I felt like coming to Auburn gave me the best opportunity to do that. That made the decision easy.”

Britton arrived to The Plains in January and it took him a while to get adjusted to the magnitude of things at Auburn.

From Auburn’s Woltosz Football Performance Center, to taking a video of the dozen media members interviewing him during his first media availability so he could show his former teammates what it was like in the SEC — it was a lot to take in for a kid who for years thought he was only as good as his 2-star rating.

Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for Britton cement himself as a vital piece of the offensive line first-year head coach Hugh Freeze and Jake Thornton were trying to build at Auburn.

Auburn’s coaching staff toyed around with a number of different combinations along the offensive line throughout fall camp in search of the best rotations – something that’s imperative in an offense as fast-moving as Freeze’s.

“He needs to be on the field, and we need to stay fresh because we do like to go fast,” Freeze said of Britton following Auburn’s win over UMass. “He gives us freedom to move some puzzle pieces around because of his flexibility. He’s really invaluable with that.”

And Freeze didn’t wait to put that on display as Britton was asked to play three different spots along the offensive line on Saturday.

However, if you were to ask him to talk about his play from Saturday, Britton would tell you he thought the Tigers’ offensive front played well and met both of their goals: keeping Auburn’s quarterbacks off their backs and helping Auburn rush for 6.7 yards per carry.

But that might be all he’d have to say about the Xs and Os (Though it is worth mentioning Britton was named the SEC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week for his efforts).

Now, if you were to ask Britton about his entire experience on Saturday, you’d better pull up a chair because he’s got plenty to say.

Auburn’s Tiger Walk triggered Britton’s emotions; he told reporters Monday.

“I’m walking down there and I’m high-fiving all these people and all these people are coming up to me and I’m like, man, this is college football,” Britton said. “This is what I signed up for.”

But Britton’s walk through the sea of people along South Donahue Drive was just the start of his gameday experience.

The last time Britton played a game in Jordan-Hare Stadium, there were more than 80,000 people cheering against him.

However, the second Britton ran out from the tunnel Saturday, he learned quick that those folks weren’t cheering against him anymore. Instead, he had 88,043 fans – a new record at Jordan-Hare Stadium – cheering for him.

“In my life I’ve been doubted by a lot of people, so for me to be able to walk into a stadium and there’s 90,000 people that are cheering for me and wanting me to succeed? It’s a lot different,” Britton said.

After emerging from the tunnel on Saturday, Britton – like many Auburn players – take to the endzone to kneel and pray before kickoff.

In that moment Britton thought to himself, “I’m not supposed to be here.”

But his sizeable entourage that came to The Plains might argue otherwise.

And in those stands filled to the brim with 90,000 people was Britton’s entire family. His parents, both sets of grandparents, his older brothers and his five nieces and nephews, his aunt and uncles – they were all a part of Saturday’s record-breaking crowd.

And it was they who always knew a moment such as this would come one day.

Britton’s older brother always told him he was going to be a great football player. But when you’re in high school waiting for offers to come or sitting the bench at Western Kentucky, it feels like your older brother is just saying that to be a good older brother.

“To see them kind of rally around me as a player and now they get to kind of see the fruits of our labor and stuff — it was really, really special,” Britton said.

Britton’s twin older brothers are 33 and came to The Plains Saturday with families of their own.

Wristbands, towels and whatever else Britton could spare were given to his nieces and nephews after Saturday’s game.

“I talk to them about living their dreams and chasing their dreams and what better example than they can look at their uncle and see that I’m living my dream,” Britton said. “They get to go and tell all their friends at school that their uncle plays at Auburn.”