Ahead of Auburn's home contest against No. 20 Texas A&M, The Plainsman posed questions for Alex Miller, Texas A&M blogger for The Dallas Morning News. Here's how he sees the action playing out Saturday inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
1. What went wrong for A&M in the Miss. State loss?
It's easy to pinpoint two key issues that cost A&M the game against Mississippi State: the Aggies couldn't score touchdowns and, yet again, made Nick Fitzgerald look like a Heisman contender. The lack of finding the end zone and troubles defending the pass have been lingering issues for A&M this season.
The Aggies had three red zone chances last week, settling for two field goals and had the other drive end in an interception. That's not going to cut it against an SEC opponent. Likewise, A&M was facing Nick Fitzgerald at probably the low point of his career, yet couldn't defend a pedestrian group of receivers and allowed State to strike the Aggies' low spot — their secondary.
Not being able to score and giving up a handful of big plays will hurt you over the course of 60 minutes and it sure did last Saturday in Starkville for A&M.
2. Auburn's offense has been nothing short of atrocious this season. How successful do you see Texas A&M's defensive line being in this matchup?
What A&M lacks in its pass rush is a dominating defender. None of A&M's defensive linemen have more than 5.0 sacks this season, as it has been a group effort forming quite a formidable front seven.
If A&M can take away Auburn's rushing attack, which the Aggies have done to nearly every opponent, and force the Tigers into passing downs, then the Aggies can dial up the heat on Jarrett Stidham on passing downs.
However, that was the Aggies' game plan last season and Stidham alluded most of the pressure and threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns. His elusiveness, combined with Gus Malzahn's RPO system might cause the Aggie defenders to key in on more technicalities and take away from the pass rush.
Still, I think A&M could have success in its pass rush.
3. Most were going to give Jimbo a pass if A&M needed a gap year. How confident is this fanbase in their new coach with the Aggies already ranked?
I think A&M's narrow loss to Clemson in September bolstered Aggie fans' confidence in Fisher early on. A&M kind of got put in its place against Alabama (but then again, so has everyone else), but last week's loss was the first point of real frustration I've seen in the fan base this season.
Still, a win over Auburn this weekend would keep the Aggies on pace to top their 7-6 mark last season. With the way Fisher is also recruiting, A&M's trajectory is only going up.
4. Who are some Aggies on offense to be on the lookout for, other than Mond and Trayveon Williams?
The player to watch is tight end Jace Sternberger. He's leading the nation at his position in receiving yards (509) and touchdowns (6). He's 6-5, 240, but is versatile and creates matchup nightmares for defenses. Sternberger had his worst game last week (two catches, 13 yards), so the Aggies are definitely eyeing to get him going again.
Another player to watch is running back Jashaun Corbin. He's bigger than Trayveon Williams and has shown he can hit the holes downhill against SEC fronts. The Aggies might need him to provide a spark in the running game if Williams gets stalled up the middle.
5. Score prediction?
I might regret this one later, but I'll take Texas A&M 20-17.
1. The Aggies have never lost at Jordan-Hare (actually, the road team has won this game all six times, which is so weird), so I'll follow the trend.
2. I think A&M's offense is desperate and will take all measures to get items resolved and I think the Aggies can have more success against Auburn's defense where it matters — in the front seven — than they did last week against Mississippi State. Still, A&M will have to answer Jarrett Stidham.
Catch me at Toomer's getting some lemonade after the game.
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
