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Auburn Football vs. Texas A&M: 5 Things to Watch For
Nov 7, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin calls his team towards the sideline during the third quarter against the Auburn Tigers at Kyle Field. The Tigers defeated the Aggies 26-10. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The matchup between Auburn football and Texas A&M on Saturday carries big implications, and we look at five things to watch during this SEC showdown.
The Auburn football season could very well hinge on this game against Texas A&M on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
A win for Auburn makes them serious contenders in the SEC West, while a loss puts the entire season on its heels.
The same can be said for the Aggies who came into this season with even higher expectations. Kevin Sumlin and his team need at least nine wins for a successful season, while Auburn likely needs eight.
The winner of this game will be well on their way to reaching that win total, while the loser will have their backs against the wall the rest of the season.
These two teams are very similar. They both have a very strong defensive line, and will try to move the ball quickly on offense.
Auburn has LSU the following week at home, while Texas A&M will have to play a hot Arkansas team at home. This is the beginning of a tough grind for both teams.
Texas A&M is already in the AP Top 25 at 17, but if Auburn were to win on Saturday night I think you might see the Tigers break the top 25, while Texas A&M falls out.
Not that rankings, especially early in the season, mean much, but it could definitely boost the confidence of the team and the fans to see Auburn in the top 25.
With all the big implications on this game, here are five things to watch for as Auburn football takes on Texas A&M tomorrow.
Sep 19, 2015; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Myles Garrett (15) in action during the game against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn O-Line vs. Texas A&M Defensive Line
The Auburn offensive line has been up-and-down throughout the early part of the season. They looked horrible against Clemson giving up 4 sacks and 14 tackles for a loss.
A lot of their struggles in the first game had to do with the poor play-calling on offense.
They looked much better against Arkansas State. Sean White was only sacked once, and that’s when he was trying to scramble out of the pocket.
Auburn had two runners go for over 100 yards, which means the offensive line did a much better job of getting down field on their blocks.
Don’t dismiss the performance in that game because it was Arkansas State. The Red Wolves have a really good defensive line with a lot players that were recruited by power five conferences.
However, they are no comparison to what Auburn’s offensive line will face this Saturday night.
Clemson’s defensive line is talented, but they are very inexperienced. Texas A&M’s defensive line is very talented and has a ton of experience. Myles Garrett is possibly going to be the number pick in the NFL Draft next year.
Daeshon Hall is often overlooked at the other defensive end because of Garrett, but he’s special as well.
The Auburn offensive line will have to be on its A-game Saturday night to hold these guys back. You will most likely see a lot of double-teams on Garreett, which means the other lineman will need to be able to block their guys one-on-one.
Keep an eye on the trenches in this one, as it will be the offensive line’s most difficult task yet.
Oct 3, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers defensive back Carlton Davis (18) intercepts a pass intended for San Jose State Spartans tight end Billy Freeman (18) during the fourth quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. The Tigers beat the Spartans 35-21. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Christian Kirk vs. Carlton Davis
I personally love watching great wide receivers go against great cornerbacks, and that’s exactly what we’ll get this Saturday.
The great thing about this matchup is that both of these guys are just sophomores, so we’ll at least get to see them for one more season.
Carlton Davis is by far Auburn’s best cover corner, so I would assume Kevin Steele is going to have him matchup on Texas A&M’s most dangerous play-maker.
In the Clemson game, Carlton Davis did not get matched up against Mike Williams until the second half. Even though Williams still had a couple of big catches in the second half, I think his impact would have been limited in the game if Davis were covering him the entire time.
The thing about Kirk is, you can line him up anywhere on the field so it will be hard for Davis to remain covering him. Texas A&M will line him up on the outside or in the slot.
Davis has a height advantage at 6-foot-1 over the 5-foot-11 receiver, and they are both about the same weight.
Kirk already has 13 catches on the season and 2 touchdowns. He’s averaging 12.6 yards per catch, which is the same average he had a season ago.
Davis will need to limit his touches in this game, and prevent him from having too many impact plays. I say ‘too many’ because it’s nearly impossible to shutout a receiver these days with all the help they get from referees.
Out of everything happening in this game, this might be the matchup I’m most excited about.
Sep 10, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Trevor Knight (8) looks for an open receiver during the first quarter against the Prairie View A&M Panthers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Pressure on Trevor Knight
We’ll talk a lot about Texas A&M’s defensive line this week, and for very good reason, but Auburn’s defensive line is just as good and they’ll need to contain A&M quarterback Trevor Knight on Saturday.
The senior quarterback who transferred from Oklahoma is very good on the run. Kevin Sumlin likes to move the pocket and have him throw on the run.
Carl Lawson and Marlon Davidson will have a hard time running him down from sideline-to-sideline.
However, Knight has shown some inconsistency throwing the football throughout his college career. A lot of that has to do with the amount of pressure he faces.
If the Auburn defensive line can get penetration, they can force Knight to make some bad decisions.
In his career he’s thrown 21 interceptions to just 29 touchdowns. Since his freshman year that ratio is even worse – 20-16. He essentially throws an interception every 27 pass attempts, or 0.8 interceptions a game.
So far this season he’s thrown an interception in each of his first two games.
If Auburn’s defense can put some pressure on Knight it will force him into some bad decisions. Our secondary and linebackers are inexperienced, but they’re opportunistic enough to come up with a couple of interceptions.
If anything, it will force Knight to get rid of the ball before his talented wide receivers can get open.
Even though they didn’t get a sack against Clemson, they pressured Deshaun Watson all night and forced him to get rid of the ball early.
That relentless pressure from the defensive line continued against Arkansas State, and if it continues against Texas A&M I like our chances to win.
Sep 10, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Arkansas State Red Wolves quarterback Chad Voytik (9) scores a touchdown during the third quarter as Auburn Tigers lineman Marlin Davidson (3) defends at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn’s Linebackers
The linebacker group for Auburn has been a unit that I’ve focused a lot on this year. Mainly because it was such a question mark coming into the season.
To me, linebacker is the most important position on the defense, so I’ve been waiting to see who will emerge there.
Through two games it seems like Tre’ Williams is the guy. He was all over the field last Saturday and finished with 8 total tackles.
He didn’t get quite as much playing time against Clemson because we were still unsure who would become our top linebacker. I think it’s evident now that Tre’ Williams is the leader of this unit.
He, along with Darrell Williams, Deshaun Davis and T.J. Neal, will need to have a great game against Texas A&M.
Not only will they have to help contain Trevor Knight when he goes to run, but they’ll likely be matched up with some of the Aggies’ big receivers.
They had a similar challenge in week one against Clemson and I thought they performed well enough.
Texas A&M runs a little bit faster offense though, so Kevin Steele will have to rotate linebackers as often as he can.
With that, everyone will have to have the ability to cover receivers down the seams. Arkansas State was able to exploit that weakness a couple of times last week.
If the linebackers creep too far back, then Knight will take off and run. At that point the linebackers will have to be able to sprint up and make a clean tackle.
I certainly think this linebacker group is capable of doing just that, but they’re still inexperienced and thin at the position.
Look for Texas A&M to try and target Auburn’s linebackers.
Sep 10, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn watches his team warm up before the game against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Offensive Game Plan
As was the case at the beginning of the season, everyone is eager to see what kind of game plan Gus Malzahn will come up with.
In the first two games we’ve seen two completely different styles on offense. One was a disaster, and the other was perfect.
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I think for the Auburn offense to be successful in this game, Malzahn needs to keep it simple.
I thought Auburn did a great job of getting back to the basics against Arkansas State. Yes, the Texas A&M defense will be much tougher than the Red Wolves, but the execution remains the same.
The offense needs to move downfield. We don’t need a lot of plays that stay behind the line of scrimmage.
What I mean by that is, limit the number of reverses or trick plays that keep the ball in the backfield. Texas A&M’s defensive line is going to be shooting up field. The longer the ball is back there, the more likely Auburn will take a negative play.
That is was devastated the offense against Clemson. We kept taking negative plays, setting up third-and-long situations.
The game plan was much simpler against Arkansas State, and it got the ball moving downfield.
I hope that Malzahn sticks with that game plan against Texas A&M, giving Sean White and the offense a chance on third down.
The defensive ends of Texas A&M are too quick to out-run them to the outside. I think Auburn should just run straight at them, and loosen up the middle with some quick passes to the outside.
We’ll see what kind of game plan Gus Malzahn has in store for us this weekend.
War Eagle!
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