Ahead of No. 13 Auburn's matchup with No. 14 Texas A&M, The Plainsman's Caleb Jones (@calebjsports) talked with The Battalion's Jennifer Streeter (@JennyStreeter3) about the upcoming game.
Streeter: My name is Jennifer Streeter and I am one of the two co-sports editors with The Battalion. The Battalion is Texas A&M's student newspaper. I joined in the fall of 2018 as a sports writer, just fell in love with sports journalism and stuck with it.
Jones: What do you what have your reflections been on this season so far? I know it's kind of been an up and down season for Texas A&M.
Streeter: Yeah, this season. Covering Texas A&M has certainly been very interesting. It's kind of a little bit of a roller coaster, if you will, obviously. Haynes King, the arm, the former starting quarterback, his tibia injury really threw everyone for a loop with sophomore quarterback Zach Calzada coming in to take his place. And then, you know, the team really suffered from confidence issues and lost to Arkansas and Mississippi State and then really bounced back in the games following. So now you know a lot is riding on this Auburn game to figure out postseason potential. Whether it's going to be a bowl game, whether A&M is going to win out and potentially have Alabama lose a conference game and get to maybe the SEC championship game. It's just a lot is really depending on Texas A&M's games against Auburn and Ole Miss.
Jones: Yeah, you mentioned kind of like the bounce back against Alabama. That came off of two straight losses. So was there something that you saw maybe in the team, whether it was offense or defense that that really changed that game?
Streeter: "I definitely do think there was certain aspects that found a place to have that win happened for the Aggies for starters, um, I mentioned confidence to you earlier, I think in that game, sophomore quarterback, Zach Calzada, like, really, like found his groove, really, like establish himself as a leader for the maroon and white. And you know, prior to that in weekly press conferences, players were mentioning that he was struggling with a little bit of confidence on the field and how he would do well in practices. And then, you know, on game times, there just be some if he plays, but I really think at that game, Kyle Field was just absolutely packed and Calzada was receiving a lot of support from in the fans. You know, there was even a chant that went out of people chanting his name, and I think once he knew that he had the 12th man behind him, he really stepped up to the plate and was able to perform very well. I think that was certainly a game changer against Alabama."
Jones: And do you think that confidence has carried over to the last two games that A&M has played? they've been blowouts and not really close games?
Streeter: Yes, I definitely do think it's carried over. Now they're kind of transitioning back to the attitude they had last season where you know, they're happy with what they're doing but you know, the sky's the limit and nothing is ever good enough. I remember in the postgame presser against South Carolina, you know obviously like the defense held them to like a record setting limited yards and I asked him 'Are y'all with your performance' and they're like 'Well like we're very happy but like we gave up those those plays in the fourth quarter so we got to go back to the drawing board.' Which essentially really just shows you what Texas A&M's is program is all about. It's about you know, never being satisfied and always having something more to work for.
Jones: Right. What would you say is, is Texas A&M's biggest strengths and what's the weakness, where can Auburn attack and where does Auburn need to be careful?
Streeter: I would say Texas A&M's biggest strength is in its running back duo of junior running back Isaiah Spiller and sophomore running back to Devon Achane. Those two have just combined for so many rushing yards per game. It's insane. They're obviously immensely talented players. Devon Achane was the Orange Bowl MVP in 2021. And Isaiah Spiller combined for over 1,000 rushing yards last season alone. And there have just been numerous games this season where the two have combined for well over 200 yards, which is just very, very impressive. So as for Auburn's defense to look out for I would definitely say for to look out for our running game for sure. But when it comes to our weaknesses, sometimes Calzada does struggle with connecting with the wide receivers. However, I would say, its offensive line this season has just been a little bit less consistent than the offensive line in the year prior, you know, obviously, in the year prior, the offensive line was dubbed the "maroon goons" and was a finalist for the Joe Moore award, I believe. And that's just an award that's given to one of the best offensive line units in the country. And I think this year, they have kind of struggled a little bit just because they did lose a lot of those maroon goons. The only one that returned was Kenyon Green, who is an All-American. So I would say Texas AM's weakness would definitely be in keeping that offensive line consistent.
Jones: So what type of quarterback is Calzada? And where is he most dangerous?
Streeter: I mean, what you have to remember about Calzada is that he has never really been a starter for Texas A&M. You know, he is the starter for Texas A&M now. But he's the starter because Haynes King is injured. So you kind of have to remember he's not really one of those types of core that's going to be 'Oh, is he a dual threat?' He's just trying to get the job done for Texas A&M, and I think he has done a fairly good job of doing that. You know, we have seen that he can be a dual threat quarterback at times. He has had some good rushing plays rushing the ball in for I believe at least two touchdowns now. And you know, obviously he does make some good connections with his receivers. You can see that in the Alabama game. So I think when it comes to looking out for Calzada it's just his biggest weakness I would say is sometimes he's a little bit slow in deciding what he is going to do on a play."
Jones: Obviously, it's a big game. It's the only thing it's the only ranked versus ranked matchup this weekend. So what's what's the buzz been like on campus? Is there a lot of excitement for this game? Is there more excitement for this game than the Alabama game?
Streeter: I'm glad you asked this question. I would not say it is as exciting as the Alabama game just because against Alabama, the Mississippi State game ended they went straight to the ticket pool line to campus start camping out for Alabama tickets. It's been a bye week so that did not happen. But, when I was leaving campus late Sunday night, I did see some seniors camped out for ticket pools so people are definitely excited. The excitement is definitely in the air here in College Station.
Obviously, I think the excitement is more in the air for those who kind of really know a lot more about football, if that makes sense. Because if you know a lot about football, you know that there is so much depending on this game when it comes to postseason play like post regular season play. And I think that really like hardcore football fans who are understanding of that are very excited for this game to see how it plays out.
Jones: You mentioned Texas A&M coming off a bye week. Do you think that gives them an advantage? And if so, like how big of an advantage?
Streeter: I want to say yes, because it gave them more time to analyze Auburn's film. And it gave Calzada a little bit more time to, you know, maybe recover a little bit, you know, he was kind of playing with a brace for a little bit. So I think it did give him time to recover, as well as other previously injured players. You know, I'm at the press conference, Jimbo Fisher did say that all players have been fully recovered. So I think it did provide them an advantage in that sense that they got to review Auburn's film, but you know, with a bye week comes a week of no gameplay. When you're out there on that field, in that game setting, anything can happen. So I do think it is a disadvantage in that they didn't play a game most recently."
Jones: A lot of SEC title game implications, possibly. So can you kind of talk a little bit about that?
Streeter: I think it's a big game in the fact that Auburn is playing Texas A&M at home because currently Auburn has a 4-0 record at Kyle Field. So if Texas A&M were to, you know, defeat the Tigers, that would be the first time its ever defeated Auburn at home. Auburn 6-2 overall this season with two losses to Penn State in Georgia. And, you know, obviously A&M has losses to Mississippi State and Arkansas. So I really just think this game is absolutely huge. I think if Texas A&M wants to have any hopes in potentially reaching the SEC Championship Game, they're obviously going to have to win out every single game for the rest of the season. And that includes against Auburn, and that includes against Ole Miss and LSU. So there's just so much riding on it for A&M. This game, like I really can't even express it. Even a loss here could potentially put them out for a new year six bowl or a really good bowl game. So there's just so much riding on this game for the Aggies.
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Originally from Helena, Ala., Caleb Jones is a senior studying journalism at Auburn University. He has been on staff with The Plainsman since 2019.
You can follow him here on Twitter: @calebjsports
