Auburn first-year head coach Hugh Freeze knew Saturday would be special.

“I’m really excited about my first experience running out in Jordan-Hare Stadium. I think that’s going to be phenomenal and exciting,” Freeze said Monday. “It’s going to be a magical experience in that stadium, provided that we play well.”

Freeze’s Tigers played to the tune of a 59-14 win over UMass Saturday.

While it might only be UMass, which doesn’t stack up as Auburn’s stiffest opponent, the Tigers played well and the magical experience Freeze predicted followed.

Auburn’s season-opener against UMass was announced a sellout on Aug. 23. The very next day, Auburn announced that Jordan-Hare Stadium’s capacity had grown, paving the way for the possibility of Saturday bringing in a record-breaking crowd.

And Auburn fans didn’t let their new ball coach down.

With an announced attendance of 88,043, Saturday’s crowd was the largest in Jordan-Hare Stadium history, eclipsing the previous record mark of 87,451.

“To see our largest student crowd ever and largest crowd ever, it’s just quite humbling,” said Freeze following Auburn’s 59-14 win over UMass. “I just can’t say enough about their support and what that means to our players, our staff, our administration, everybody here at Auburn.”

For players like starting quarterback Payton Thorne and starting Jack linebacker Elijah McAllister, Saturday’s crowd was the first they’d played in front of in Jordan-Hare Stadium, giving the pair of recent transfers lofty expectations moving forward.

“I heard so much about it and it was everything I could imagine and some,” said McAllister, who transferred in from Vanderbilt in the offseason.

And while Thorne, a transfer from Michigan State, echoed McAllister’s sentiment, he also knows there’s likely an additional gear to Jordan-Hare Stadium when the stakes are a bit larger than what they were against UMass Saturday.

“I’ve played in some pretty big stadiums and some pretty loud stadiums. Today was great. I loved today,” Thorne said. “When we get into conference play and some of the big plays I’m sure it’s going to be rocking. It got loud a couple times today, but it didn’t have to get crazy loud today.”

Freeze said Monday that he was expecting more of his family members at his Auburn debut than any other game he’s ever coached. From his wife and daughters, to uncles and aunts, the Freeze family — including his mother and father — played their part in the record-setting atmosphere.

“Then after the game with a win, just to see your mom and dad — and my mom doesn’t get around real well anymore — but I  was going to make her way down to see her,” Freeze said. “Just sharing special moments with people that you care about, and want to serve and please, those are pretty special times.”

It’s that same sentiment that led to Freeze playing so many different guys on Saturday.

With the game well in hand, Freeze dug a little deeper in the depth chart, giving play time opportunities to some players who might not see the field much down the road.

“It’s valuable because their parents are here and their girlfriends are here and they practice their tail off and there’s no guarantee they get any snaps,” Freeze said. “We got a lot of kids in today.”

And those kids — both the ones who experienced Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time and those who were around last season — were gifted one heck of an experience Saturday.