In Auburn debut, Jackson Arnold punishes Baylor on the ground

WACO, Texas — Hugh Freeze had been waiting to see what could come of the flashes he saw in Auburn’s scrimmage settings.

So he had reason for his cheeky grin when asked about Jackson Arnold late Friday night.

“I knew,” Freeze smirked.

Auburn and Freeze had been curious in preseason camp just how much farther Arnold could have been running. Obviously, he was in a non-contact jersey throughout the team’s practices, as most quarterbacks are for any team. But there’s always two sides to that restriction. Keeping a QB healthy is priority No. 1, of course. But it also leads to a quicker whistle.

And Arnold was beginning to give Auburn’s defense a lot of trouble when taking off and running. But the plays were quickly blown dead whenever a defender simply got a hand on him.

Friday night in the thick Texas heat, Auburn learned what those plays would have looked like in practice: lots of rushing success.

The Oklahoma transfer quarterback was the catalyst for Auburn’s offense in a 38-24, season-opening victory at Baylor — but not with his arm. Arnold’s elusiveness, strength and speed were on display, as he ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns as part of a 307-yard performance for the Tigers’ ground game.

“I’m going to do what I have to do to help this team win,” Arnold said postgame.

Auburn’s talent and potency at wide receiver was obviously a major focus for the team entering the season, and Baylor knew that. Freeze said the primary adjustment after an early three-and-out was seeing the Bears were putting two high safeties on the field every game and trying to avoid long passes to those receivers.

“I thought Jackson played solid and didn’t force hardly anything, and just took what they gave us,” Freeze said. “They were determined to not let us throw it down the field.” 

The Tigers didn’t have a concrete offensive game plan Friday, Freeze said. They were ready to see which areas would be strengths, and which Baylor would try to take away. And as Arnold galloped all over the Baylor defense, it quickly became clear where the Tigers were going to lean.

Auburn was ready to put that receiving talent on display. That will have to wait another week.

“Took what they gave us, swallowed the pride on the pass game,” Arnold said.

Freeze chimed in: “Which is hard for both of us, it is. With the receivers we have, it’s very difficult. … The coverage was there, and Jackson did a good job of pulling it down and using his legs. So, there will be nights that, if we keep running the ball like this, that it won’t be that case.”

Instead, Arnold was able to show part of why Freeze thought he would be a good fit for this offense. He had a key third-and-7 conversion with his legs to jumpstart Auburn’s 96-yard scoring drive in the first quarter, capped by a 24-yard rushing touchdown.

For the game, Arnold had runs of 24, 11, 17, 13, 21 and 27 yards, with a blend of designed carries and scrambles. His 137 rushing yards are the most by an Auburn quarterback in a game since Nick Marshall had 214 at Tennessee in 2013. 

Freeze said Auburn started designing more runs for Arnold in the offense late in the preseason, but weren’t sure what Baylor was going to bring defensively in that regard.

“We just took what the defense gave us,” Arnold said. “They were kind of being stubborn, playing two high safeties, giving us a favorable box. We’re gonna go and take what’s ours and go and run the ball.”

His last long drive was the most important. Auburn elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from Baylor’s 27-yard line, and Arnold weaved his way through the line of scrimmage before exploding to the end zone, capping a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 7:16 off the clock, bleeding Baylor out in the final stanza of the game. 

But even before that point, with Auburn clinging to a touchdown lead, Arnold fit a pass to Horatio Fields to convert a third-and-long, and powered forward for 4 yards on a third-and-3 on Baylor’s side of the field. 

“I mean, when people ask what I worked on this offseason, it was the timing routes,” Arnold said of the completion to Fields to avoid a three-and-out immediately after Baylor scored. “That’s what everybody did. That route right there was what we worked on all offseason. Man, for it to come up in a third down like that, in a crucial time, it was huge.”

Of course, Arnold didn’t do it alone. Auburn’s offensive line opened opportunities for running backs Damari Alston and Jeremiah Cobb, who had 84 and 74 yards, respectively, and both found the end zone.

Auburn, of course, wants to get the likes of Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. in on the fun moving forward. But for what felt like the first time in the Freeze era — against a good opponent, at least — Auburn imposed its will when it needed to. And the threat of Arnold taking off and running made for a maddening night for the Baylor defense — and a jubilant one for the Tigers. 

“It’s going to be different,” Alston said of Arnold’s legs being a major factor in the offense this season. “Playing against more teams going forward, good luck to them trying to stop the run.”