Auburn entered the game desperate for a win. Texas A&M came into Jordan-Hare Stadium hungry to right the loss it was handed last week against LSU. Unfortunately for the home team, the Aggies got what they wanted, handing the Tigers its worst loss since 1917.
Led by freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, the Texas A&M (6-2, 3-2 SEC) offense did what it does best. Nine touchdowns later, it was the team from College Station who stunned the Auburn nation with a 63-21 victory.
"We played together and fought to the very end, that's what the coaches asked for," said sophomore tight end CJ Uzomah. "We fought and played for each other tonight. Obviously, the outcome wasn't something we wanted, but we fought to the end."
Auburn (1-7, 0-6 SEC) didn't have a wide array of positives to show for its 21-point effort, but the bright spot on the night far and away goes to true-freshman quarterback Jonathan Wallace who showed its not too late for an offensive leader.
Wallace has played a minor role in games so far this season, throwing just one pass in five appearances.
Tonight that all changed.
The 6-foot-2 quarterback came into the game as relief for a struggling Kiehl Frazier to give the Tigers a much needed points boost. His first drive of the night resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Tre Mason to cut Texas A&M's overpowering lead to 21.
Once given full leadership of the huddle, Wallace orchestrated two more touchdown drives to round out the game. He finished the night completing 6-of-9 for 122 yards and two touchdowns while running for an additional 71 yards.
On the receiving end, senior Emory Blake led the team with a 106-yard performance with one touchdown reception.
Auburn's defensive unit was almost non-existent. In the worst defensive outing in school history, the Tigers gave up a staggering 672 yards to the Aggie offense. It took Auburn an entire quarter before gaining a first down, jumping the hurdle only after A&M collected its 15th.
Manziel was like a human highlight reel, finishing the night with 260 yards on 16-for-23 passing with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 90 yards on nine carries with three touchdowns.
"I think it would be accurate to say that we couldn't stop their run game," said coach Gene Chizik. "We couldn't stop them from throwing the football. Obviously, they punted one time all night so I think that pretty much tells the story. It was a very poor performance defensively. Offensively, we sputtered early in the game. We never seemed to get on track. Against an offense like that, we have to be able to get some first downs. You have to be able to move the football some and take a little bit of pressure off the defense, but early on, we certainly weren't able to do that either.
"So, it is pretty evident why we got beat. Again, my job is to continue to lead these young guys and again go back to work and try to get a win next week. But again, I think it was very obvious why and how we got beat tonight and the way we did."
Auburn will be back at home next week in its homecoming game against New Mexico State. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m.
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