Auburn Football Three Keys: Texas A&M

Auburn faces Texas A&M on Saturday in College Station. Here are your three keys to an Auburn win over Texas A&M.

By Steve Wright

Auburn took care of Kent State 55-15 last Saturday to continue their perfect start to the season. It was a nice bounce-back game for the offense after the Tigers were held to just 24 points by Tulane the previous week. Auburn will now look to start conference play against a Texas A&M squad that crushed Lamar – as they should have – 62-3 a week ago.

Key 1 – Find more balance to the attack

The Tigers were worryingly unbalanced against Kent State even in a blowout win. Some of this could have been down to a lack of need to pass the ball against a lower-level opponent, but Auburn passed for just 166 yards against the Golden Flashes with the only passing touchdown coming on a flea-flicker. Having to use a trick play to pass for a touchdown is not ideal.

Help might be coming in the return of wide receiver Seth Williams. The wideout has been missing since the first half of the Tulane game and the passing attack hasn’t looked the same over that span. Having him back and working Williams into the rotation is key.

Key 2 – Adjust on the offensive line

The bad news is that Bailey Sharp will not play this weekend, or for the next six weeks, because of a knee injury that has swelled up and needs some work. Sharp earned a helmet sticker against Kent State thanks to his play on the line where he is as consistent as they come. He graded out at 86% for the game, with 12 knockdown blocks as he dominated from his spot at offensive tackle.

With Sharp out, the makeup of the line will be different. This is always a worry as offensive line play is all down to continuity and trust with your teammates. The Tigers must find a way to cover for Sharp while not noticing a drop in overall play.

Key 3 – Adapt to the noise

Kyle Field is regarded as one of the tougher places to play in the SEC. The main reason for this is the level of crowd noise generated by the ‘Twelfth Man’ and the impact that noise can have on a game. The Tigers are 3-0 on the season and the play of Bo Nix at quarterback has been a big part of that. This will be the toughest place where Nix has played and it is an environment where it can be hard for the quarterback to make his voice heard. Quieting the crowd by getting on top early would be huge here.

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 2:30 PM CT (3:30 PM ET). Watch on the CBS Network.

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