For many of the SEC West teams, the road to the College Football Playoffs is just getting started. The No. 3 ranked Auburn Tigers are learning that the hard way. The team is coming off two nail-biting wins over South Carolina and Mississippi and things will not get any easier as they face off against Texas A&M. The Aggies have been struggling on offense lately which could make this matchup more one-sided than originally assumed.
Auburn survived a close call over South Carolina and then followed it up with a similar game against Mississippi. A game-saving tackle was the end result to the game as Kris Frost took down Laquon Treadwell from behind, avoiding a game-winning touchdown. Auburn now has he nation's longest win streak at home which has reached 15 games. The late-game saves have become a trend for Auburn recently. Ten of their 22 games since last season have been decided by one possession, but they have managed to win nine of those. Last year's Texas A&M game was one of them when Auburn had to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit.
Last year, Nick Marshall threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 100 yards and two more scores. That was his second best game with the Auburn Tigers, something he would like to repeat again this year as the Tigers fight for the Playoffs.The Tigers will push the ground game once again. They are averaging 277.5 yards per game while Texas A&M is giving up 255.8 yards per game.
The Aggies are making a change at quarterback in hopes that it sparks the offense more than in the past few weeks. Kenny Hill has been benched despite being an early Heisman Trophy candidate. The quarterback is a long way from his 511 yards and three touchdown debut. Since then he has struggled with interceptions, causing Kyle Allen to get the nod. He went 13 for 28 for 106 yards and a touchdown against Louisiana Monroe, but he was sacked three times and the A&M offense was held to just 243 yards.
