Auburn football: Loss against Texas A&M would cement disappointing season

Auburn football came into the 2020 season with high hopes, but after a dismantling at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Tigers could be staring at a downright disappointing record if they lose again to Texas A&M.

Just because Auburn football fell to the #1 team in the country–mind you, a day after Bruce Pearl’s Auburn basketball squad fell to #1 Gonzaga–doesn’t mean we should all be worried about how the season will have turned out from a historical perspective.

We need to start worrying if the Tigers drop their second game in a row next week against Texas A&M. Currently ranked #5 and fresh off of a 13-point victory over the defending National Champions LSU, the Aggies are poised to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff and plan on using Auburn as a springboard to get there.

This has not been a banner season in the Plains, and losing next Saturday–as they are expected to–would truly drive home that point.

With two more contests on the schedule, the show must go on in Lee County. Regarding the end of the season, Gus Malzahn preached staying the course and rebounding just as they did in early season losses to the Georgia Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks in post-game comments following yesterday’s Iron Bowl:

"That’s what we talked about in the locker room. I mean, you gotta be big boys. You got to take it like a man. They got after us. They whipped us. But we’ve got two games left. This is an unusual season, obviously. We’ll need to rebound. We’ll need to rebound like we did earlier in the season. It’s a grind, but that’s just part of it. And playing a really good team next week at home. It will be good to get back home. And then try to get some of our guys healed up."

Clearly, injuries have taken a toll on the season. Several offensive linemen went down against the Tennessee Volunteers last week, and running back Tank Bigsby was limited against the Tide…although most running backs seem that way against the Crimson Tide defense to be fair.

That said, given the loss to the Gamecocks and their relatively weak performances against lesser opponents like Arkansas and Ole Miss, this season is barrelling towards disappointment.

A loss to Texas A&M would get them there.