Why Auburn’s defense shouldn’t scare the Texas A&M football team

The Texas A&M football team will take on the Auburn Tigers in their next matchup, marking the first game of a vital stretch of football for the Aggies. Texas A&M has to win out if they want to maintain national relevance — even a single loss would demote them.

Their path begins on Kyle Field against a very similar team in Auburn.

Auburn has the 25th-ranked scoring offense in the country and the 26th-ranked scoring defense, but anybody will tell you that defense is their forte. How can the Texas A&M football team avoid crumbling offensively against Auburn? Here are three reasons why the Aggies have the upper hand.

Reason No. 1: The Texas A&M football team has more momentum offensively than Auburn does defensively

I’ll be the first to admit that this reason is somewhat of a stretch. After all, Auburn did just hold a lethal Ole Miss offense to just 20 points.

That said, I think the Aggies’ offensive performances as of late are more impressive. Here’s why.

In Texas A&M’s first two games against Power Five opponents, they scored 20 total points. They weren’t playing particularly great teams either, sneaking past Colorado before taking a loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

A few weeks later, we’re talking about a Texas A&M football team that has scored at least 35 points in each of its last three games. Those games have been against respectable opponents in South Carolina, Missouri, and No. 2 Alabama.

Auburn, on the other hand, has been playing really good defense. That said, instead of trending positively, they’re technically playing worse defense than they did at the beginning of the year. Their 19.8 points per game allowed has gone up in each of their last three games, allowing 34, 23, and 20.

You’re splitting hairs when talking about A&M’s offense against Auburn’s defense at this stage of the season, but the momentum play works in favor of Jimbo Fisher’s team.