We are two days away from Texas A&M's Week 5 battle with the Auburn Tigers and the first chance to see how this Aggie group will look going up against SEC-caliber opponents. Mike Elko's group already has a few key things going its way: a strong home-field advantage at Kyle Field and a rest advantage with the team coming off its first bye week of the season, but what does that pure talent comparison look like between these two teams? Let's find out.
Texas A&M's passing game versus Auburn's pass defense
Let's start through the air for Texas A&M, a unit that has clearly been the team's greatest strength through the first month of the regular season. While Marcel Reed has had his accuracy issues, completing just 58.6 percent of his passes, the downfield passing game has been top-20 caliber and the receiving duo of Mario Craver and KC Concepcion can claim to be one of the most productive tandems in the sport.
They'll face a talented Auburn secondary, but one that has not yet lived up to its preseason expectations. The Tigers are allowing nearly 12 yards per reception this season, the 81st mark in college football, and have surrendered 14 explosive passing plays through their first four games.
I am slightly worried over the Aggies' feast-or-famine approach with the explosive passing game, especially if Auburn is able to keep this game close early on, but the numbers show that Reed and his wideouts should be able to continue their strong start to the season and have a clear advantage against the back end of the Auburn defense.