Saturday afternoon’s marquee matchup between #13 Auburn football and #14 Texas A&M was extremely difficult to watch for Tiger fans everywhere.
Bo Nix made key mistakes when he needed to deliver, and the defense could not contain the Aggies’ running back tandem of Devon Achane and Isaiah Spiller en route to what was an ugly 20-3 loss at Kyle Field…the first of its kind.
Nix had every variety of turnover, both fumbling the ball down six with just over 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter and throwing a pick with the game decided. He also led just one scoring drive and couldn’t avoid punting situations in his other seven drives.
As for the defense, they largely held Zach Calzada in check but could contain the Achane/Spiller duo from putting up 210 yards rushing.
This loss mainly falls on the Auburn offense’s inability to keep up with Texas A&M’s defense, which pressured Nix in the pocket all game and kept everyone in check outside of a few chains-moving Tank Bigsby runs.
Today against Texas A&M may have been the worst loss all season for Auburn football.
At least against Georgia, we saw an offense that would have gotten a significant jolt simply if balls were caught by the receivers. That didn’t happen, but there were signs that the passing game could get better with a few tweaks…and it later did against Arkansas and Ole Miss.
But today? There was very little to be hopeful about. Guys were not open downfield, and Nix was often forced to dump it off for short yardage to the running back:
10 of Bo Nix's 20 completions are to Shaun Shivers and Tank Bigsby. Nothing is open for Nix.
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) November 6, 2021
And there's an interception. Another off-target throw and great catch by the TAMU corner.@AuburnLiveOn3
Gone are the hopes of avenging that loss to the Bulldogs in Atlanta with the SEC Championship on the line…barring truly outlandish finishes to this college football season.
Now, Bryan Harsin needs to simply focus on finishing the season with an 8-4 record, which would mean winning two of their next three. 7-5 would inspire plenty of apathy on the Plains for the SEC newcomer.
Although if the one win is in the Iron Bowl and it ends up keeping Alabama out of the SEC Championship, he might be forgiven.
Either way, the season’s goals are less lofty, but are more in line with what most had over the summer.