Texas A&M vs. Auburn: Game Grades, Analysis for Aggies and Tigers

In a wild contest, the Texas A&M Aggies upset the No. 3 Auburn Tigers by a score of 41-38. It was the first time home loss for Auburn since 2012. 

True freshman signal-caller Kyle Allen was spectacular for the Aggies. He finished the contest 19-of-29 for 277 yards and four touchdowns. He was superlative in terms of his poise and awareness in the pocket. 

Self-inflicted wounds—both in terms of penalties and turnovers—killed Auburn. From an offensive standpoint, it also appeared as if Gus Malzahn's team never fully revved up his high-octane offense to its full potential. 

A full box score can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com. Check out first-half grades and final grades for both the Aggies and Tigers. Additional analysis for position units will also be addressed. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	A	B+
Pass Defense	B	C
Rushing Offense	B+	A
Run Defense	C+	C-
Special Teams	A	B+
Coaching	A	A

Texas A&M Aggies Analysis

Passing Offense

Allen was incredibly effective in his first road start in SEC play. The Arizona native threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns. His accuracy on intermediate routes was very good. Outside of one poor throw in coverage—which resulted in an interception—he was flawless.

More than anything, he displayed tremendous poise and moxie for an 18-year-old. His future is bright. 

Pass Defense

Nick Marshall had a very efficient afternoon. Texas A&M did a nice job in the first half of keeping the Auburn wide receivers from getting behind the secondary. The injury to Duke Williams helped A&M's cause considerably. 

Two big passing plays to Ricardo Louis (39 yards) and Sammie Coates (52 yards) lowered the passing defense grade. A 31-yard touchdown to a wide-open Quan Bray also contributed to the overall grade. 

Rushing Offense

The Aggies put up a respectable 176 yards on the ground on only 35 carries. The offensive line was dominant at times, opening up gaping lanes for the Texas A&M running backs to run through. This ability on the ground was significant from the standpoint that it gave the Aggies balance on offense. 

In terms of protecting Allen, the freshman signal-caller was sacked only once. It was a great day up front for the offensive line. 

Run Defense

The unit gave up 364 yards. Normally, this would equate to an "F" for any defensive unit. However, the Aggies did get stops when they needed to. They also made multiple tackles-for-loss—namely in the first half when Marshall attempted zone-read plays. 

Of the three Auburn fumbles, two were opportunistically collected by defensive end Julien Obioha.

Special Teams

The field-goal block and return for a touchdown was a huge momentum shift. Instead of A&M going into halftime up eight, the return made it a 17-point game. Josh Lambo connected on two of his three field-goal attempts. The miss prevented A&M from receiving an "A" grade. 

Coaching

Credit Kevin Sumlin and his staff for getting his team ready to play. In the previous week, A&M struggled to defeat Louisiana-Monroe. As a 23.5-point underdog coming into this game, not many people gave his team a chance to remain competitive. 

In a word, the team battled all afternoon. He did a great job of getting Kyle Allen off to a great start early with quick, manageable throws. 

Defensively, the line got after Marshall at times with pressure. There were also some things to clean up from a schematic standpoint. However, this team made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores got an "A" for going on the road and getting a win versus one of the best teams in the country. 

Position Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C	B
Pass Defense	D	C-
Rushing Offense	B	A-
Run Defense	C	C
Special Teams	F	D
Coaching	F	D

Auburn Tigers Analysis

Passing Offense

The loss of Williams hindered Marshall's efforts to deliver the ball with more frequency. Williams is easily the most productive and consistent receiver on the team. However, Marshall was able to find three of his receivers down the field for big gains. 

On the night, Marshall went 15-of-21 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. 

Pass Defense

What an abysmal effort by the secondary. Allen carved up the defense repeatedly in the first half with intermediate throws over the heart of the field. Giving up four touchdowns to a freshman quarterback isn't great by any stretch of the imagination. 

Jermaine Whitehead did salvage some pride—as he read Allen's eyes and made a nice play on the ball for an interception. 

Rushing Offense

You can't fault Auburn's effort running the football. It piled up an eye-popping 364 yards and four touchdowns on 59 carries. Cameron Artis-Payne ran for a career-high 221 yards on 30 carries. He rushed with authority and virtually carried the offense in the first half.

However, an Artis-Payne fumble in the first quarter led to an A&M touchdown. The fumbled exchange on the zone read with Artis-Payne and Marshall at the Aggies 3-yard line with less than two minutes remaining was a monumental blow. It effectively lost the game for Auburn.  

Run Defense

There was a glaring absence of pressure on Allen. Auburn's front seven never made life difficult for the freshman signal-caller. In terms of stopping the run, the defensive line was blown off the ball consistently up front by the makeshift Texas A&M offensive front. 

The Aggies ran to the tune of 5.0 yards per carry. In total, the unit relinquished 176 yards on the ground. 

Special Teams

The blocked field-goal attempt at the end of the half was crippling. Not only did it result in a touchdown, but Texas A&M regained all of the momentum with the single play. 

Kicker Daniel Carlson connected on one of his two field-goal attempts. The miss ultimately was the difference in the contest. 

Coaching

Coaching lost the game for Auburn. 

Defensively, the secondary played as if it had never seen a slant before. A&M killed Auburn with crossing routes over the middle of the field. Conventional wisdom would suggest blitzing a freshman quarterback on the road early and often.

However, Auburn rarely brought pressure. This allowed Allen to sit in the pocket comfortably and get into a rhythm early. 

The offense also had some curious calls in the first half. Marshall rarely used his legs, and Auburn never seemed to push the tempo to its capabilities. It's a facet of the Tigers' game that makes them so hard to beat.