Texas A&M came into Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday looking for a big conference win on the road, but the Aggies’ November struggles seemed to continue into 2018 as Auburn went on to hand the team a 28-24 loss.
Auburn struggled through the first three quarters, trailing A&M 24-14 into the fourth, but Auburn junior quarterback Jarrett Stidham led the Tigers to an impressive comeback.
Stidham threw for two touchdowns with no interceptions and racked up 239 yards, leading the unranked Tigers to upset the No. 20 Aggies in front of his home crowd. This was a strong performance for the signal caller as he had only eight touchdowns and four interceptions on the season prior to this game.
A&M’s sophomore quarterback Kellen Mond struggled as he and the offense fell flat in the fourth quarter and ultimately could not answer Auburn’s comeback.
Mond threw for 220 yards and one touchdown. He also threw an interception with 7:14 left on the clock. The Tigers converted this pick into points on the ensuing drive, narrowing the Aggies’ lead to three points at 24-21. Mond also struggled during the final seconds of the game, unable to avoid a sack that brought the game to a close.
“It was very disappointing,” Mond said. “We didn’t execute, and we didn’t hit the big plays when they did, and we’ll need to work on that the rest of the year. We’ve got to find a way to finish in the fourth quarter.”
A&M was off to a strong start earlier however, forcing Auburn to a three and out on their first possession. The Aggies followed this by driving down the field, setting up freshman kicker Seth Small for a field goal on their opening possession. Small secured the field goal for A&M and went on to be 1-2 for field goal attempts during the game. Junior running back Trayveon Williams also had a good day on the ground, averaging 6.3 yards a carry for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
The Aggies played well defensively throughout the first half, forcing several three and outs and allowing only 147 total yards in the half. A&M also played solid defense against the run, allowing the Tigers to accumulate only 19 rushing yards.
A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher stressed that his team needs to limit mistakes, especially toward the end of the game.
“We have to learn to finish,” Fisher said. “I think we ran the ball physically, we stopped the run much better than last week, but we had opportunities to put the game away in the fourth quarter, and we need to capitalize on those.”
The Aggies fall to 5-4 on the season and are now 3-3 in SEC play. A&M will return to action Nov. 10 to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at Kyle Field in College Station.
