Texas A&M Football: Auburn Preview

If there were another team that is going through similar struggles to Texas A&M football this year, it would be the Auburn Tigers. Coming freshly off firing their coach Bryan Harsin after fewer than 2 years, the Tigers have a lot more questions than they do answers. Which is always a good thing… But can be a sneaky bad thing as these are the teams that have nothing to play for and could be a surprise down the stretch. This Texas A&M football team, of course, is in a do or die situation for a bowl game spot. Not looking too far ahead they will need to win in the always difficult Jordan-Hare Stadium where weird events happen every year.

How Auburn Looks Statistically

Auburn is currently sitting at 79th in the country offensively and they are about as balanced as you can be, with 1813 passing yards and 1630 rushing yards. Tank Bigsby is one of the better backs in the country, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and boasting 8 touchdowns. Along with Bigsby, Robby Ashford has proven to be a very solid offensive weapon as a dual threat QB that keeps people on their toes at all times. But the offensive line has proven to not be able to stop much, allowing 17 sacks on the season.

Defensively, the Tigers sit at an abysmal 91st with the likes of Arkansas St and FAU. The Tigers average giving up 403 yards a game. This is not the normal Auburn team that we have seen in years past that have always had a stout defense, especially in the trenches. Some players to keep an eye on are Owen Pappoe who has accumulated 70 total tackles and Derick Hall who has 10.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks.

3 Things to Watch For:

1. First, and most importantly, is the return of Conner Weigman. After a historic debut against Ole Miss, he missed the next game due to the flu. The hopeful QB1 of the future looks to see if he can replicate his spectacular performance against a very weak defense. I would expect Jimbo to let Weigman throw till his arm falls off.
2. All eyes will be on the defense for this Texas A&M football team. The Aggies have very much failed their reputation of having a stingy defense. Will DJ Durkin made the necessary adjustments and bring in interesting blitz packages versus a very weak offense and specifically offensive line? The defense has been less than impressive this year but it is a positive where the young guys are getting playing time.
3. There needs to be some urgency and energy in this program. After being humiliated by Florida at home the Aggies need to win their next 3 to go bowling which, as I covered in a previous article, is important for experience and extra playing time. This is a huge first step winning against a team that is down in the dumps at their stadium. But as I mentioned before, Auburn will probably try to play the spoiler role. Jimbo will need to have the team ready.

Prediction

At this point I believe Jimbo needs to call a perfect game and win for the boosters not to be as mad. Get a lot of the freshman in and start getting prepared to find out who is going to be the starters for next year. Weigman needs to be allowed to take the keys of this Texas A&M football team and ride with the offense. A semi hostile environment against a very below average team is the perfect game to get your confidence up. The season may seem to be over but this will be very important experience as well as time for the freshman to play and to get better.

Texas A&M 35 Auburn 24