With Damari Alston and Eric Singleton Jr. on either side of him, no one on Baylor’s defense seemed to expect the ball to end up in Jackson Arnold’s hands.
But after Singleton sprinted toward the flat and Arnold faked a handoff to Alston, the Oklahoma transfer quarterback hesitated briefly before rushing through the middle of the line and beating every Baylor defender in a race to the pylon.
From there, Auburn never trailed again and beat Baylor 38-24 to open the 2025 season.
Here are three takeaways from Friday night’s contest in Waco, as Auburn improves to 1-0.
Running at will
Auburn’s offense took an old school approach against Baylor. The Tigers made a point to run the ball early and often, compiling 130 yards on 17 carries by the 10:29 mark of the second quarter.
At the center of that rushing attack was Arnold, who finished the game with 137 rushing yards on 16 attempts. As a team, Auburn finished the game with 307 rushing yards and averaged 5.9 yards per rush.
Arnold’s legs seemed to be the variable that got Auburn’s offense going early in the game. The Tigers went three-and-out on their first drive of the game, and seemed to be headed toward another short drive on their second series.
The possession was resurrected with a nine-yard scramble by Arnold at the Auburn 22-yard line, and Arnold finished it with the aforementioned 24-yard touchdown scamper.
Running backs Jeremiah Cobb and Alston had their share of success too, combining for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. Alston’s physicality gave the offense a boost early on and set the tone for who would win the physical battle.
Promising debut from Arnold
Arnold’s name was probably mentioned more than any Auburn player going into this game and season. There were questions, there were doubts, but Arnold was more than enough for the Tigers on Friday night.
He didn’t do it with his arm, but he didn’t have to. Arnold ran the ball at will, seemingly gaining 10-15 yards with ease every time he took off on a designed quarterback draw.
His runs were effective, but they were also timely. He opened the scoring for Auburn with the 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and slammed the door shut with a 27-yard touchdown run on fourth down in the fourth quarter.
Arnold’s rushing success was split between designed runs and scrambles, but it seemed to be effective every time.
Throwing the ball, Arnold wasn’t bad, but wasn’t asked to do much. He completed 11 passes on 17 attempts for 108 yards, making a couple nice throws but not forcing anything.
That’s exactly what Auburn needed against Baylor, and Arnold gave it. Given what the past few years of quarterback play have looked like, that’s not something to take for granted.
Onward and upward
Auburn entered the 2025 season with no shortage of questions and doubters. It might not have erased all of that on Friday, but it took a giant step toward doing so.
The Tigers weren’t perfect in the win, but getting the win itself changes the outlook of the early part of this season. A win in Week 1 temporarily quiets all the noise about prior losing seasons, recruiting losses, arrests, golf and every other negative storyline that surrounded Auburn this offseason.
Friday’s win makes football the talking point again and for now, it’s not the kind of losing football Auburn was accustomed to the last two seasons.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com
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