Where, when, weather and TV
Where: Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala.
When: 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23
Weather: Clear with temperatures in the 40s
TV: ESPN (Dave Flemming, Louis Riddick, Kris Budden)
No. 15 Texas A&M (8-2, 5-1 SEC) depth chart
Auburn (4-6, 1-6 SEC) depth chart
Injury report (as of Wednesday night)
Texas A&M: RB Le'Veon Moss, WR Cyrus Allen and C Mark Nabou are out for the year..
OL Chase Bisontis and RB Rueben Owens are doubtful.
QB Jaylen Henderson is questionable.
Auburn: LB Jamonta Waller, CB Tyler Scott and CB Champ Anthony are out.
S Caleb Wooden is questionable.
Texas A&M statistical leaders
Passing: Reed, 83-140 (59.3%), 1,129 yards, 9 TD, 2 INT
Weigman, 64-114 (56.1%), 919 yards, 3 TD, 5 INT
Rushing: Moss, 121 carries, 765 yards (6.3 YPC) 10 TD
Daniels, 99 carries, 550 yards (5.6 YPC), 7 TD
Reed, 72 carries, 375 yards (5.2 YPC), 6 TD
Receiving: Thomas, 26 catches, 390 yards (15 YPC), 4 TD
Barber, 27 catches, 281 yards (10.4 YPC), 1 TD
Allen, 18 catches, 269 yards (14.9 YPC), 1 TD
Auburn statistical leaders
Tackles: Mausi, 62
Thompson, 49
McLeo, 38
Tackles for loss: McLeod, 10.5
Faulk, 9
Mausi, 7
Sacks: Faulk, 7
McLeod, 6
Asante, 2.5
Interceptions: Lee, 2
Four players with 1
Forced fumbles: Mausi, 1
Fumble recoveries: McLoed and Antonio Kite, 1
Head-to-head
What A&M wants to do
Grind it out and grind Auburn down. You have one of the best running attacks in the nation going against one of the best run defenses, and the Aggies absolutely have to win that matchup. This will probably be a game where we see more of Marcel Reed running, as he was pretty much told not to last weekend. This is a different story. He and Amari Daniels may have to carry the load in the running game.
Since this is a night game in a very hostile environment against a desperate team, the idea will probably be to keep pressure off of Reed early and let him relax and get into the flow of things. That could mean a number of short passes to guys like Jabre Barber and Tre Watson, who run a lot of routes into the middle of the field -- Reed's preferred area to throw the ball. Then they may have a shot at stretching the field.
The Aggies do have the advantage of being familiar with DJ Durkin's scheme, though not with this personnel. They know he'll try to control the line of scrimmage and blitz the linebackers in passing situations, but we also now he doesn't adjust his scheme to his opponents.
Auburn has only faced one truly good offense so far this season, and that was Georgia's. Carson Beck was 22-29 for 240 yards and the Bulldogs ran for another 141. They gave up 31 points in that one. The Aggies may not have Georgia's offense, but they're a step up the ladder from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt -- and four of those teams beat the Tigers.
How Auburn may try to counter
Remember when I said DJ Durkin won't change up his scheme? If there's a week to do it, this is it. The Tigers should load up the box and blitz off the edges to slow down the running game. That's going to be the critical battle in this game.
Auburn has a big front, but since Durkin is now out from under Jimbo Fisher's thumb, the hated 3-man front is seen a lot more. He's using a Buck, or standup rush end, as the fourth defensive lineman. And yes, he'll go out and cover a slot receiver.
Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma all had success running the ball, but more recent opponents have struggled to move the ball on the ground. Durkin is attacking with his linebackers, so expect a lot of run blitzing to give A&M number problems.
Auburn does not get many tackles for loss. They do get a fair number of sacks. But what they really don't do well is force turnovers, and that's what they're going to have to change this weekend. If they can force a couple of turnovers from the Aggie offense, they'll set themselves up well.
