WACO, Texas (AP) — Transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold had 137 of Auburn's 307 rushing yards while scoring two touchdowns, Rayshawn Pleasant returned a kickoff 98 yards and the Tigers beat Baylor 38-24 on Friday night, opening the season in a true road game for the first time since 2002.
Arnold, who played for Oklahoma the previous two seasons, ran 16 times, six of those for at least 10 yards.
“Honestly, no, I didn’t think I’d run that much,” Arnold said. “At the same time, I’m going to do what I have to do to help this team win.”
Auburn's first touchdown was Arnold's 24-yard keeper that capped a 96-yard drive in the first quarter. He added a 27-yarder on a fourth-and-1 play with 4:32 left.
“Tough runner, looked kind of athletic too,” running back Jeremiah Cobb said with a smile. “Looked like he was having fun. It is awesome, just adds more to our offense.”
That nearly length-of-the field Auburn drive was set up by a fourth-down incompletion by Sawyer Robertson, who finished 27-of-48 passing for 419 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his TDs came on fourth-down plays, to wide-open Alabama transfer Kobe Prentice (33 yards) and true freshman running back Caiden Knighten (10 yards).
Pleasant, another transfer, scored twice on kickoff returns for Tulane last season. His first for the Tigers made it 31-17 in the final minute of the third quarter.
“I thought we looked a little sluggish. And to see us fight through that and find a way to get a win against a good opponent to open the year, we can really build upon it,” coach Hugh Freeze said. “I know we can play better than we did tonight.”
The Takeaway
Auburn: A good start to Freeze's third season, and for his new quarterback. Arnold was originally a five-star recruit out of Denton Guyer High School in Texas, only about 120 miles from the Baylor campus. While shifty with his feet, both on scrambles and direct runs, he did complete 11 of 17 passes for 108 yards.
Baylor: Starting his sixth season, head coach and defensive play-caller Dave Aranda is 31-31. The Bears still have two ranked opponents in the first month of the season. They had won their final six regular-season games last year before a bowl loss to LSU, another SEC team. With Robertson back, there are expectations for a potential run at another Big 12 title.
Other Tigers running
With the departure of 1,200-yard rusher Jarquez Hunter, junior Cobb and senior Damari Alston are getting their long-awaited chances for bigger roles in the backfield.
Both ran 16 times, Alston for 84 yards and Cobb 74. Alston scored on leg-churning 10-yard score with defenders on him, and Cobb powered in for a 2-yard TD run .
“We already knew what we were going to do,” Alston said. “All our hard work is now starting to pay off. But man, we’re just getting started. That's just Game 1.”
A lot of 4ths
Baylor was 3 for 6 on fourth-down conversions. They did score twice on fourth down, but two of their failed conversions led to 10 Auburn points.
With the Bears defense struggling, and missing a lot of tackles, Aranda felt they needed to do something on offense.
“We needed to create some momentum and keep the ball,” Aranda said.
Up next
Auburn plays its home opener against Ball State on Sept. 6, the same day Baylor goes about 100 miles north to Dallas to play former SWC rival No. 16 SMU.
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