Auburn football notebook: Opening win 'almost like a dream' for QB Jackson Arnold

WACO, Texas –  Texas high school football serves as the inspiration for books, movies and television series.

Auburn quarterback Jason Arnold added a new chapter of “Friday Night Lights” in the Tigers’ season-opening victory at Baylor.

“It was awesome coming back to Texas,” said Arnold, the 2022 national high school player of the year at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas. “It was special coming back and having a season opener here in Texas on a Friday night. It’s almost like a dream come true, going out and doing what we did.”

Four years earlier, Arnold played a high school semifinal game at Baylor’s home venue, McLane Stadium, leading his team to victory with three touchdown passes. This time around, Arnold did most of his damage with his legs, rushing for a career-best 137 yards and two touchdowns while converting two third downs with runs during Auburn’s fourth quarter touchdown drive.

“I’ve got to show my teammates and our team that I’m tough like that and I’m going to get that first down for us and they can count on me no matter what,” Arnold said of his willingness and ability to move the chains. “I want those guys to rely on me and trust me to go and get that first down.”

Arnold’s 27-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 accounted for the final points in the Tigers’ triumph.

“Normally on fourth-and-1 I would rush into it,” Arnold said. “I took my time a little bit and let the play develop. That’s when everything completely parted. It was off running from there.”

Among the thousands of Auburn fans in attendance were 10 of Arnold’s friends and family members, who greeted him at the end of his first road Tiger Walk.

“To see that our fans travel that well was awesome to see,” he said. “I love the energy from the crowd, and I can’t wait to play in Jordan-Hare next week.”

EXCHANGING PLEASANTRIES

All it took to silence the home crowd was 98 yards and 13 seconds.

After Baylor pulled within seven points late in the third quarter, Rayshawn Pleasant swung momentum back in Auburn’s favor, fielding a kickoff at Auburn’s 2-yard line outside the right hash mark, cutting to his left and racing 98 yards down the sideline to give the Tigers a 31-17 lead.

“I knew once the ball gets in my hand, I was going to make something happen with it,” said Pleasant of his third career kickoff return for a touchdown. “The blockers on kickoff return did a great job, gave me a seam. If it wasn’t for my teammates leading me to the way, it wouldn’t be possible. I knew once I got in the end zone, we were going to do the rest to finish the game.”

Several of Pleasant’s teammates shared their ticket allotment with him, allowing Rayshawn to provide tickets for 35 friends and family members to attend.

“Those are my biggest supporters,” Pleasant said. “I’m blessed and grateful to be in this position and have the opportunity to do what I love and tell the world what I can do.”

ONE-TWO RB PUNCH

Sharing the running back load, Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb teamed up for 158 rushing yards, evenly splitting 32 combined carries with each scoring a touchdown.

“When we’re in that red zone, I’m thinking score,” said Alston, who averaged 5.3 yards per attempt and gained 84 yards. “When I touch the ball, I’m running with relentless effort. I’m tenacious when I’m running the ball, that’s all I’m thinking.”

“I was hoping both of those guys could have a game like this,” said Derrick Nix, Auburn’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach. “They got a chance to display some of their toughness. I’m very pleased with them.”

In his fourth season on the Plains, Alston was elected by his teammates as one of Auburn’s captains along with Connor Lew, Keldrick Faulk and Champ Anthony.

“When I got announced, I was in the team meeting smiling,” Alston said. “Being here for four years, working my tail off, it’s an honor to know that I’ve earned the respect from my teammates, my peers, my brothers.”

DEFENSIVE KEY

Defensively, Auburn held Baylor to 64 rushing yards on 24 attempts, an average of 2.7 yards per carry.

Keyron Crawford led the Tigers with seven tackles and one of Auburn’s four sacks, his first for the Tigers.

“We played very physical and fast,” Crawford said. “It wasn’t our best win but we gave it all we had.”

Keldrick Faulk and Robert Woodyard Jr. each added a sack while Chris Murray and Amaris Williams combined for a sack.

“Getting a win on the road is hard in college football so congratulations to our guys on that,” Durkin said. “We had some critical fourth down stops which were huge in the game. We got pressure with four. Our four-man pass rush looked really good. We affected the quarterback a bunch.

“There’s a lot to work on, but like I told them, we went on the road and got a win, that’s a big deal. There’s plenty to clean up and the good news is, we’ll keep getting better and better from here.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer