Texas A&M vs. Auburn Complete Game Preview

The Texas A&M football team will play the Auburn Tigers on Saturday in Auburn, Alabama. The Aggies will need to play at a different level than they have in the past few weeks if they want to leave the plains with a win. 

Texas A&M is 6-3 on the season and 2-3 in the SEC. The Auburn Tigers are 7-1 on the season and ranked No. 3 in the latest college football playoff rankings. 

The Aggies barely scraped by Louisiana-Monroe 21-16 to earn their sixth win and become bowl eligible. They are playing poor football right now with their offense struggling to consistently gain first downs. 

Auburn is one of the top teams in the nation, while A&M is playing like one of the worst teams in the nation. The Aggies are 1-3 in their last four games and appear ready to get the season over with. They will need a tremendous effort from the coaches and players in order to make a game of it at Auburn. 

This is a look at how the Aggies match up with the Tigers.  

Texas A&M Keys to Victory

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

The Texas A&M football team that has taken the field during the last three games looks nothing like the team that took the field during the first six games of the season. The Aggies are struggling to string together first downs on offense. 

In order to win a game at Auburn, the offense is going to have to snap out of their malaise and puth together long drives that result in points. If the Aggie offense controls the clock, it will keep the Auburn offense on the sideline.

The Texas A&M defense needs to create a number of turnovers in order to set up the offense with good field position. The Aggies' true freshman quarterback Kyle Allen must not be asked to drive the offense 80 yards down the field because he is simply not up to the task right now.

Texas A&M's offense features a spread, hurry-up attack. The offense has morphed the play-calling of offensive coordinator Jake Spavital to the point where they do not spread the field and they are taking their time between snaps. 

If the Aggies would quicken the pace on offense, Allen may be able to get into a rhythm and the offense would be able to move the football. If the Aggies come out in a pistol formation and the coaches appear reluctant to throw the ball down the field, Aggie fans will know it is going to be a long day. 

The defense will need to stop the run and force Auburn to try to beat them with the pass. If the Aggies are able to tackle in space against the Tigers' skill players, they should be able to get Auburn off schedule on offense and get them off the field. 

If the Aggies can force turnovers and stop the run on defense, then they will keep the game close with Auburn and have a chance to win it at the end.  

Auburn Keys to Victory

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The Auburn Tigers simply need to play their game in order to secure a win on Saturday. The Aggies quit on the field against Alabama, and they have not displayed any enthusiasm for playing football since the Arkansas game. 

If Auburn can get up early by two scores, the Aggie players will likely give up and start counting down the minutes until the end of the game. Texas A&M looks like a defeated football team right now. Auburn just needs to hold onto the ball and not give the Aggies any hope of stealing a game. 

Auburn needs to spread the field on offense and take advantage of the Aggies' weakness at linebacker and run right at them. This game represents a tremendous mismatch for the Aggie defense. Auburn should be able to run the ball at will. 

On defense the Tigers need to stop the run and force Kyle Allen to beat them through the air. The true freshman quarterback will be starting his second career game and should be expected to struggle on the road. 

Texas A&M Players to Watch

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

True freshman defensive end Myles Garrett is the Aggies' best defensive player and one of the top defensive ends in the country. Garrett has recorded 12.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in nine games. 

He ranks third in the nation in sacks and No. 2 in the SEC behind Missouri defensive end Shane Ray who has 12. Garrett is a disruptive force off the edge who should earn All-SEC honors in his first season of college football. 

Freshman quarterback Kyle Allen will need to have a solid game against the Tigers if the Aggies are going to have any chance of pulling an upset. Allen does not have to do anything spectacular, he simply needs to distribute the ball to the Aggies' skill position players. 

Freshman receiver Speedy Noil led the Aggies with five reception for 69 yards and a touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe. He also returned a punt to the 12-yard line that set up another touchdown. 

Noil has become one of the Aggies most reliable play-makers on offense and special teams. He is dynamic whenever he touches the ball. 

Auburn Players to Watch

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The Auburn Tigers have a variety of skill position players on offense who can take over games. The best may be junior wide receiver D'haquille Williams.

He leads the Tigers with 37 receptions for 598 yards and five touchdowns. The 6'2", 216-pound athlete is very adept at going up and high-pointing the ball. Williams has tremendous speed and will be paid to play football on Sundays.

Cameron Artis-Payne leads the Tigers with 974 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on the season. He teams up with senior quarterback Nick Marshall to give Auburn a formidable rushing duo. The Tigers average 5.9 yards per rush as a team.

On defense, junior linebacker Cassanova McKinzy is their biggest impact player. He is second on the team with 52 tackles and leads the team with eight tackles for loss.  

What They Are Saying

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin in the Louisiana-Monroe post-game press conference on Myles Garrett: 

"

He’s been playing since week one. He’s no longer a young guy. He’s one of the leaders in this league in sacks. You saw Jarrett Johnson and a couple other guys that were out there today- a bunch of big guys-that haven’t been in that role playing a substantial amount of time. Did they make mistakes? Yeah, but I think there’s confidence to be gained from playing as many plays as they did and doing things to win a football game.

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Senior wide receiver Malcome Kennedy on Kyle Allen's first start:

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I think he played well. This is really his first game starting so you can't put too much pressure on him for that. He played a great game being a young freshman quarterback. He came in and did what he had to do. He made some freshman mistakes but that’s going to happen. He played well for his first start.

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Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn on the Tigers' win over Ole Miss:

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Obviously that is a really big win for us. Ole Miss is one of the top teams in the country. To get a win here is a great effort by our players. Our defense gave up some yards, but they came up with two turnovers and had three stops, I believe, at the end. On offense we made some plays in the passing games. At times we were able to run the ball consistently against one of the better defenses in the country. The negative, would be the penalties. This is fairly uncharacteristic of our team. We have to do better in the future. Our guys overcame it. They found a way to win a close game at the end.

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Predicted Outcome

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

This game is a big mismatch in the favor of Auburn. The Aggies have morphed from a team with an explosive offense and a questionable defense to a team with a poor defense and an offense that cannot move the ball consistently. 

Aggie offensive coordinator Jake Spavital is predictable in his play-calling and has gone away from the spread, hurry-up, no-huddle offense that has defined Kevin Sumlin teams. The Aggies will struggle to score points against Auburn. 

This game will be a blow-out win in the favor of the Tigers and likely the final nail in the coffin of the Aggies offensive and defensive coordinators. Expect Auburn to beat A&M, 52-3.