Injury update
Senior cornerback Deshazor Everett and redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Germain Ifedi suffered injuries against ULM on Saturday. While Ifedi is likely to sit out the rest of the regular season, Everett has a chance to play this Saturday against Auburn.
“Deshazor has a ruptured ligament in his elbow,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said Tuesday. “He’s iffy for this weekend. I don’t think he’s going to practice this week. It’s a very, very painful situation. I don’t know where he’s going to be. He’s played enough football where if he can go he’ll go, but he’ll have to brace that to see. Germain has a grade two MCL sprain. On bigger guys, that’s a problem. I wouldn’t look to see him for the remainder of the regular season. We’ll probably get him back for the bowl game.”
Reshuffled O-line
Because of the injury to Ifedi, the offensive line had to be reorganized on the fly against ULM. The new-look group will be forced to adapt in lieu of Ifedi’s likely absence until the postseason.
“You saw us scramble a bit,” Sumlin said. “We moved [Cedric Ogbuehi] to right tackle and moved Jarvis [Harrison] out of guard to left tackle, and we went with [Garrett] Gramling and [Joseph] Cheek inside there. That’s where we are. That’s no different than a lot of people this year. We’ve been very fortunate around here to play with the same five guys a bunch. Jarvis will have to play tackle and play very, very well, and he’s capable of that.”
Youth movement
The Aggies started a pair of freshman linebackers against the Warhawks, and defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said he was pleased with their preparation leading up to the game and their in-game adjustments.
“I thought they played pretty well,” Snyder said. “The thing I was most proud of is the things that we practiced game-week getting ready for this game. [ULM] came out in a totally different offense and we had to adjust and switch a little bit. I thought those guys handled it pretty well. I’m very pleased.”
Hostile environment
A&M will travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday to face the No. 3 Auburn Tigers with true freshman Kyle Allen at the helm. The young quarterback will have to respond to the challenge that the opposing atmosphere will present him in his first career road start.
“That’s a lot of pressure for an 18-year-old kid to get thrown into,” said offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. “I think he can handle it, and it’s up to us to get him calmed down. He’s going to have nerves, it’s going to be a hostile environment, there’s going to be a lot of things happening in-between plays and he’s got to calm down, relax, communicate it clearly and just go out there and compete and do what he’s always done. I always tell him, ‘Hey, cut it loose, who cares what happens? Go out there and have fun and play to the best of your ability.’”
Snyder said his first trip to Auburn with the Aggies in 2012 left an impression on him.
“Two years ago going over there I left that place saying, ‘This is one of the nicer environments I’ve been in in my college career,’” Snyder said. “When they let the War Eagle go and the crowd goes crazy — now they were all gone at half, but the beginning of the game? That was a pretty neat experience. It’ll be interesting to see how our guys react.”