College Football Game of the Week: Texas A&M vs. Auburn
The SEC football season is coming to a close, but that does not mean that there are no more impactful matchups left.
In Week 14 of the college football season, No. 5 Texas A&M heads to Jordan-Hare Stadium to take on Auburn.
The Aggies are the first team out of the recent College Football Playoff rankings, sitting at No. 5. The only other SEC team ahead of them is Alabama at No. 1. Texas A&M is 6-1 with its only loss coming against Alabama this season, by a final score of 52-24.
Alabama quarterback Mac Jones torched the Texas A&M secondary throwing for a career high 435 yards and four touchdowns. The following week, the Aggies beat the No. 4 Gators 41-38 on a walk-off field goal as time expired. Jimbo Fisher picked up his biggest win as the Texas A&M head coach since he joined the team in 2018.
Texas A&M has been rolling after the upset win over the Gators, but it is faced with a tough Auburn team this week.
Auburn’s season has looked a little different than Texas A&M’s. The Tigers are 5-3 on the season with two of their losses coming to teams that were ranked in the top four.
Auburn lost to Georgia 27-6 in its second game of the season. The offense failed to perform behind sophomore quarterback Bo Nix.
Georgia held Nix to 177 yards passing and forced Nix to throw an interception. Interceptions have been something that has haunted Nix this season.
The Tigers worst loss was to South Carolina 30-22. Nix struggled and threw three interceptions in the contest. Nix has seven interceptions on the season.
The leader of the offense for Texas A&M has been senior quarterback Kellen Mond. Mond has thrown for 16 touchdowns and 1,573 yards on the season.
The key to Mond’s success is that he takes care of the football, as he has only thrown two interceptions all season. One of Mond’s interceptions came in the loss to Alabama.
The offensive line for the Aggies is one of the best in the SEC. The offensive line has only let up three sacks all season.
The biggest threat of the Texas A&M offense has been the two-headed monster at running back. Running back Isaiah Spiller is the Aggies main running back and has 784 yards on the season. Running back Ainias Smith is used out of the backfield, but is also the Aggies’ leading receiver with 348 yards.
Auburn also has its offensive weapons. Quarterback Bo Nix had an incredible freshman year and is chasing down SEC records. Nix is No. 5 in the SEC for passing yards with 1,854 yards. He is still performing well, but needs to continue to make good decisions downfield.
Freshman running back Tank Bigsby is a big running back at 6 feet tall and can get the tough yards after contact. Bigsby has 566 yards and five touchdowns on the year.
Texas A&M is one of the most solid defensive teams in the SEC.
The Aggies have allowed the least number of yards per game out of all SEC teams this season, as they have allowed only 2,296 yards of total offense all season. They are second in rushing yards allowed, second in passing yards allowed and third in the SEC for points allowed per game.
The Auburn defense had to fill big holes after major losses to the NFL. Defensive linemen Derrick Brown and Marlon Davidson were game wreckers on defense for the Tigers last season. Defensive tackles Colby Wooden and Tyrone Truesdell have filled in for Auburn.
The story of the game will be if the Auburn defense can stop the Texas A&M offense.
The Texas A&M defense has been able to keep them in games. The Tigers stumble when Bo Nix plays against good defenses. Texas A&M has the upper hand against the Auburn offense.
The Auburn defense has let up a lot of offensive yards this season, especially rushing yards. The Auburn defensive front will struggle with the two running backs of Texas A&M.
The Texas A&M defense can stop Auburn enough times for the Aggies to beat the Tigers.
Prediction: Texas A&M 31, Auburn 27
Spencer Ripchik is a freshman majoring in journalism. To contact him, email him at ripcspen@gmail.com.
