Full Opponent Preview: Texas A&M Football vs. Auburn
The Auburn Tigers come into Kyle Field for a pivotal matchup this weekend against Texas A&M football. Both teams are coming off of disappointing records last season, and both have made coaching changes to help address their issues. The Tigers have gotten off to a 3-0 start, with wins over UMass, Cal, and Samford, while the Aggies are 2-1 with wins over New Mexico and ULM but a loss to Miami.
This is one of the earlier dates on which the Aggies have faced the Tigers—with the way SEC scheduling has gone since Texas A&M football joined the conference, this has tended to be a late October or early November game; 2019, however, saw the Aggies open conference play against Auburn as well on September 21 of that year.
Another notable facet of this matchup is the dominance of road teams—though, admittedly, this is a factor that has not been as impactful in recent years. It wasn’t until 2018 that the home team won a game in this series—and even that took a big comeback by the Tigers in the waning moments of the game. Fans have also seen several big upsets in the history of this matchup, most notably Auburn taking down Johnny Football and company at Kyle in 2013 and the Aggies returning the favor against the 3rd-ranked Tigers the following year. Since 2018, however, the pattern has been different—Auburn won in ’18 and ’19, the Aggies won in ’20 and ’21, and the Tigers eked one out at home last year in a complete slog, winning 13-10.
So what to make of this year’s matchup? How might this one go? Let’s dive in.