QB Jackson Arnold runs for 137 yards and 2 TDs in Auburn debut for a 38-24 win at Baylor

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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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Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, left, shakes hands with Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze following an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Auburn running back Damari Alston (0) is tripped up by Baylor safety Jacob Redding, left, during the second half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold (11) runs for a touchdown against Baylor during the second half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson throws a pass against Auburn during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold, left, runs for a touchdown as Baylor linebacker Keaton Thomas tries to stop him during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Auburn running back Damari Alston, right, pushes against Baylor defenders to score a touchdown run during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.

Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)