After its opening drive, No. 9 Texas A&M couldn’t crack the endzone on Saturday against Auburn.
But it didn’t matter. Auburn couldn’t cross midfield against the Aggies. Endzone? Forget about it. Remove the 1-play, 2-yard touchdown Auburn scored after an interception from the defense set the Tigers up on the cusp of 6 points; Auburn had 12 possessions and just 2 of them crossed the A&M 40. Two drives broke the yard marker that signifies “scoring position.”
The Tigers (3-2, 0-2 SEC) lost 16-10 to the Aggies (4-0, 1-0 SEC).
For the Aggies, it’s the program’s first 4-0 start since 2016. In their second season under coach Mike Elko, the Aggies appear capable of making noise in the rugged SEC. They finished with 414 yards of offense — balanced equally by 207 rushing and 207 passing yards. The operation went dormant for stretches, and the offense produced only field goals after a 4-play, 66-yard touchdown march to open the game, but tailback Le’Veon Moss was a bright spot, finishing with 139 rushing yards and a score against the SEC’s best run defense.
The Aggies also recorded 5 sacks in the game, including 1 from Dayon Hayes on fourth down on Auburn’s final possession.
Auburn, which is 0-2 to open SEC play for the third straight time under Hugh Freeze, could never find a rhythm on offense. The Tigers finished with just 176 yards total, and only 52 yards rushing.
The Tigers had 72 yards of offense in the second half, 1 less than the total yardage Xavier Atkins gained on his fourth-quarter interception that directly led to Auburn’s only touchdown of the day. The Tigers gained 5 first downs over the final 30 minutes of the game, 1 of them by way of a penalty. After climbing within a single possession in the fourth quarter, Auburn ran 10 offensive plays that combined to lose 1 yard.
A&M will host Mississippi State in Week 6, followed by Florida on Oct. 11.
Auburn heads out on a bye week before hosting No. 5 Georgia on Oct. 11.
Texas A&M 16, Auburn 10
Here’s the Texas A&M-Auburn box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Marcel Reed vs. Jackson Arnold
A statistical breakdown of how Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed played compared to Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
