With bowl eligibility hanging in the balance, Auburn faces off with No. 15 Texas A&M in a crucial conference matchup inside of Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night.
The Aggies (8-2, 5-1 SEC) are currently tied for first in the SEC with the Texas Longhorns. Their only conference loss being a 44-20 defeat at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Tigers (4-6, 1-5 SEC) are looking for their second conference win, with their only win this season coming on the road against Kentucky 24-10.
Auburn will look to build on a positive offensive performance against lesser competition in a 48-14 victory over the UL Monroe Warhawks, a game in which the Tigers scored at least 10 points in every quarter.
Here are some players to watch and keys to victory for Auburn and No. 15 Texas A&M.
Players to Watch
Auburn
Payton Thorne (QB)
Thorne is coming off of a 286 yard and five touchdown performance against UL Monroe. His five touchdown passes tied the Auburn record for most touchdown passes in a single game. While struggling early in the season with turnovers, Thorne has eight touchdowns to only one interception in Auburn’s last four games. He will look to maintain this recent success against an Aggies’ defense that allows 220.4 passing yards per game.
Cam Coleman (WR)
The freshman wide receiver had undoubtedly his best collegiate performance last Saturday, hauling in three of Thorne’s five passing touchdowns. This made Coleman the first freshman in Auburn history to total three receiving touchdowns in a game. To go along with his touchdowns, Coleman also brought in eight receptions for 100 yards. The connection between Thorne and Coleman will be one to monitor against the Aggies.
Texas A&M
Marcel Reed (QB)
Reed has taken most of the snaps over Conner Weigman in recent weeks, and finished with three total touchdowns in the Aggies win over New Mexico State 38-3. The freshman is a true dual-threat quarterback with 375 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. With his arm, Reed has nine touchdowns and two interceptions.
Nic Scourton (DL)
Scourton is a player that is expected to go early in the 2025 NFL Draft. His pass rushing ability could change the game for the Aggies and cause havoc for Auburn’s offensive line. Scourton has 31 total tackles on the season with five sacks and one forced fumble.
Keys to victory
Auburn
Auburn will need to continue to find success through the air to maintain a balanced attack offensively. If Thorne and Coleman can pick up where they left off last week it could be tough to stop the Tigers when you add in the contributions of KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Jarquez Hunter. The biggest question will be, can the Tigers find success in the passing game in order to open up the rushing attack for Hunter.
Texas A&M
The Aggies will need to apply pressure to Thorne, and force Auburn’s offense to operate out of broken plays. The goal for the Aggies’ defense will be to make life difficult for Thorne and force him into second and third reads. Another key will be how Reed performs in a hostile environment.
The matchup between Auburn and Texas A&M is on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CST and will be broadcasted on ESPN.
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Marshall is a junior majoring in Journalism. He joined the Plainsman in the fall of 2024.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @marshalldow02
