The first idle week of Texas A&M’s season came on the heels of a 41-40 victory over Notre Dame on the road in South Bend. The Aggies hope to keep the momentum from that victory when they host Auburn to begin the SEC slate. What needs to happen in the trenches for Texas A&M to find success?
Let’s dive in.
Offensive Line
In Auburn, Texas A&M faces its stiffest test yet this season. The Tigers come into this contest with the 5th-ranked rushing defense in the country, allowing just 58.2 yards per game and 1.82 yards per carry.
The Tigers are also Top 25 in the country in sacks with 12 through the first four games of the season. Anchored by talented junior Keldric Faulk, I expect the Aggies to struggle generating push up front against this Auburn line.
Still, with the amount of success Texas A&M has had in the passing attack, I can’t help but wonder if Auburn takes a bit of a different approach to try to limit the damage in the back end. If the Aggies see a lighter box from Auburn as the Tigers try to contain Mario Craver and KC Concepcion, expect the rushing attack to find a bit more success than other squads have had thus far.
Additionally, I’m expecting quite a few exotics from DJ Durkin. Though Marcel Reed can hurt teams with his legs, allowing time for plays to develop means more time for this talented Texas A&M receiver corps to get open. The Texas A&M offensive line will need to communicate on blitzes to give Reed time. If they can’t do that, I expect the offense to struggle.
The good news? Texas A&M has excelled in pass pro this year, making the matchup against Auburn a little bit better for Aggie fans.
Defensive Line
Let’s get the bad out of the way for Auburn early.
Last week against Oklahoma, the Auburn offensive line allowed 10 sacks. Mike Elko, in his press conference, called this an anomaly. I’m inclined to agree that this offensive line is good, but I don’t think allowing sacks is an anomaly for one main reason.
Jackson Arnold absolutely has a tendency to hold on to the ball too long. That tendency has Auburn at 130th in the country in sacks allowed with 16 to this point of the season. Texas A&M needs to take advantage of this in passing downs to prevent Arnold from connecting with his uber-talented receivers, Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr.
The Aggies need to walk the line between getting pressure on Arnold while keeping him contained, and also preventing quick wins against coverage. Oklahoma did this successfully, but it is not as easy as it sounds.
Additionally, the Auburn rushing attack is a massive threat as well. The Aggies’ struggles against the run have been well-documented. Things don’t get easier when they face a Tiger offense averaging almost 200 yards per game. Winning on the early downs will be a major key in this one, as the struggles to protect the passer for Auburn are only exacerbated in obvious passing downs.
I’m expecting a better performance from A&M against Auburn after an extra week to prep and added pressure on the defense to rise to the level of the Aggie offense.
There’s a lot on the line in this win, but I’m backing Elko and company to get the job done against the Tigers.
