It wasn’t pretty, but Texas A&M was able to win its SEC opener in a bar fight style affair against Auburn 16-10 behind its rejuvenated defense.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2016 and head into their game next week against Mississippi State with a ton of momentum. After getting carved up to the tune of 429 yards in its 41-40 upset victory over Notre Dame 2 weeks ago, Texas A&M’s defense rose to the occasion and produced its best performance of the season by holding Auburn to its lowest point total of the season.
Here are 3 takeaways from the Aggies’ big win:
1. Texas A&M does not look like a top-10 team
Despite the win and its lofty top-10 ranking in the polls, Texas A&M doesn’t look like a legitimate top-10 team in the nation as currently constructed due to its inability to dominate on both sides of the ball at the same time to produce a complete game. In what could be deemed a very choppy game at best, A&M consistently self-destructed offensively due to never getting into a rhythm and committing multiple costly penalties forcing it to lean on its highly motivated defense.
For the best example of how fortunate the guys in maroon and white were to win this game all one must do is look at their performance in crunch time.
With A&M driving early in the fourth to close out the game, Marcel Reed’s pass was tipped and intercepted by Auburn’s Xavier Atkins, who ran 73 yards before running out of gas at the 2. After Auburn scored to cut the lead to 13-10, A&M was flagged for an ineligible player downfield to take a Reed touchdown pass to team leading receiver Mario Craver touchdown off the board.
As a result, A&M settled for a field goal before leaning on its defense 1 more time to close out the win. Although sloppy play, turnovers and bad penalties didn’t prevent A&M from winning this week, it sure could when the Aggies go on the road to play fellow top 10 teams at Death Valley and Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium later this season.
2. The A&M defense got its redemption
The Texas A&M defense, which almost kept the Aggies from upsetting Notre Dame last time out, showed it can play big-boy SEC football with the best of them.
When the dust settled on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas A&M had sacked Auburn QB Jackson Arnold 5 times while holding the Tigers to a season-low 177 yards of total offense. Although this current defense won’t get mistaken for one of A&M’s famous “Wrecking Crew” defensive units from the 90s, it was very dominant all game long.
The Aggies’ defense was at its best on the money downs, forcing Auburn to go 0-for-13 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. With money on the table on Auburn’s final drive, A&M’s defense was able to produce a Dayon Hayes sack on fourth down to close the show.
Although this isn’t the Cam Newton-led Auburn team from a decade ago, holding Auburn under 20 points and under 200 total yards is nothing to dismiss and something the Aggies can build upon going forward.
3. Keep riding Le’Veon Moss
Despite getting banged up in the second quarter of the game, Texas A&M’s star running back Le’Veon Moss was the Aggies’ most consistent offensive player on the day. Moss ran for 64 yards and 1 touchdown before the injury and finished with a season-high 139 yards on 21 carries.
If A&M wants to continue winning big games at a high clip, it must utilize Moss going forward, as his physical style and intensity set the tone against Auburn. This was Moss’s fifth time going over 100 yards rushing in his career and the Aggies are 5-0 in such games.
In a league where every game and every yard counts, Texas A&M would be wise to ride the big shoulders of Moss going forward, as his physical running style will help stabilize the Aggies’ inconsistent offense. With Reed still figuring things out, Moss’s production and energy should help get A&M’s offense get back on track and be more consistent in the future.
RELATED: Want to back Le’Veon Moss to have some big games moving forward? Underdog Fantasy is legal in Texas and you can score $100 in bonus credits when you play a $5 first contest using Underdog Fantasy promo code SDS at sign-up. Click here to get started.
Kendrick E. Johnson writes for various national outlets such as High School on SI, Yardbarker, ESPN Andscape and MMA Weekly. He is an independent print journalist, sports television reporter and multimedia journalist who has covered the NBA Finals, NFL, NCAA football, MLB, NHL, WWE and over 75 world championship boxing and UFC Fights nationally. Johnson has also covered every prep sport possible in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and all across the great state of Texas. He’s done numerous 1-on-1 interviews with some of the biggest names and personalities in sports from Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry and Shaq on the basketball side to Jon Jones, Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on the combat sports side and John Cena, Jey and Jimmy Uso and Charlotte Flair in WWE.
