Auburn vs. Texas A&M: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The Auburn Tigers earned their biggest win of the year, 26-10, against the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday and may have gained some momentum for a respectable finish in the process.

Auburn looked like a completely different team than the one that entered the game with the SEC’s worst-ranked defense, holding an Aggies squad that was averaging 32.1 points per game to its second-lowest output of the season.

The defensive dominance the Tigers showcased was atypical, as Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com noted:

Auburn benefited from the above-average play of backup quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who stepped in for Sean White while the starter continued to recover from a knee injury. 

Johnson, the opening-day starter who lost his job after Auburn’s blowout loss to LSU in Week 3, finished with 132 yards and a touchdown, going 13-of-17, including nine straight completions to start the game.

His antics drew acclaim from the Associated Press' John Zenor and Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee:

The Tigers made their living on the ground, though, rushing for a cumulative 311 yards, with 159 of those coming from bruising back Jovon Robinson, who added a score.

Making his second career start, Aggies quarterback Kyler Murray threw three picks, including two in the red zone, which led to 10 Auburn points. The true freshman left in the third quarter after suffering a head injury, as ESPN showed (via Bleacher Report):

Murray, the top-ranked dual-threat quarterback in this year’s recruiting class, per 247Sports, assumed the starting role from the struggling Kyle Allen.

Auburn opened the season at No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 and had high hopes for a College Football Playoff run after stumbling late last year and eventually finishing 8-5. The Tigers sit at 5-4 on the year and still have to play their two biggest rivals: Alabama and Georgia.

Texas A&M’s outside hopes of reaching the SEC title game were squandered after its third conference loss. The 6-3 Aggies will play Western Carolina and Vanderbilt before their season finale against No. 2 LSU.

Postgame Reaction

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn referred to the performance as “a true team win,” per Auburn Gold Mine, saying: “We felt like we played well in all three phases. … We played our best game tonight."

Malzahn also offered high praise for Johnson, per Christine Wang of Saturday Down South:

"I’m proud of Jeremy,” Malzahn said. "He’s been through a lot this year and for him to come out and play, he made one of the plays of the game.”

Whether White returns or not, Johnson’s status remains uncertain. But he was humble for the opportunity, per Auburn Gold Mine:

Forrest Buckner of the Auburn athletic department tweeted a graphic encompassing Johnson’s resolve this season:

Shayda Nazifpour of KAGS News reported Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin wasn’t nearly as jubilant in the opposing press conference:

A few other Aggies shared their assessment of Saturday’s performance with Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle:

The Aggies have now lost three of their last four after starting the season 5-0. They have at least one major hurdle on their schedule vs. LSU in the regular-season finale. Sumlin is now 34-15 at Texas A&M, but the downward trend has the state of the Aggies program at a crossroads.