Winning on the road is challenging, but not in this series.
Since Texas A&M joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012, the Aggies haven’t won at home against Auburn. Then again, Auburn hasn’t won inside Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Aggies either.
“I really don’t have an answer for that,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said.
Auburn was first introduced to Kevin Sumlin’s coaching staff in
The sack of Manziel with 18 seconds remaining is revisited each Saturday at Jordan-Hare on Auburn’s
Prior to Auburn’s upset victory in 2013, Texas A&M claimed a three-game streak over the Tigers spanning 101 years. They hold the series lead 5-2.
Their first matchup came in 1911, with Charlie Moran’s Aggies shutting out Mike Donahue’s Auburn 16-0. They would meet again 75 years later in 1986, Texas A&M defeating Auburn’s Pat Dye and Frank Thomas 36-16.
Returning from a 26-year drought in 2012, Auburn and Texas A&M have traded wins for five seasons.
Since Chizik was removed from Auburn, the only high school recruited from Texas to play on Dye’s field are Emory Blake and Nosa Equae, Blake being recruited while Malzahn was an offensive coordinator at the University of Tulsa.
Malzahn said Tuesday morning that his coaching staff “really hang [their] hat” on Alabama,
Two players -- Kam Martin, Jarrett Stidham -- on Auburn’s roster are from Texas as transfers from Baylor University, maintaining the state’s presence on The Plains.
While the product on the field goes beyond recruitment, the two teams have followed similar paths on coinciding roads to failure and success.
Texas A&M had a 12-2 season in 2012 while Auburn followed up with a national championship berth in 2013, also finishing at 12-2. Following their back-to-back seasons of success, the two have hovered at mediocrity at 8-5 each of the last three seasons (excluding Auburn’s 7-6 season in 2015.)
Both head coaches have been on the hot seat, and both have faced scrutiny for their play-calling abilities.
This season, both teams approached deep athleticism at both the quarterback position and on defense. Only Auburn has managed to take advantage of both, with the Aggies’ trio of quarterbacks facing injuries throughout the season, and, arguably, only Auburn has the potential to return to the top 10.
Then again, Auburn’s trio of running backs hasn’t solidified through injury, and the Aggie offense could wake up at any moment.
One thing is certain amidst the pair’s shared uncertainty, Auburn has a chance to continue the series’ road warrior streak on Saturday.
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