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Week 4 opponent’s fanbase fears Auburn backup as scoring threat

By Andrew Hughes

The Auburn football program's Week 4 opponent's fanbase is fearing the scoring threat of a Tigers skill position second-stringer Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
The Auburn football program's Week 4 opponent's fanbase is fearing the scoring threat of a Tigers skill position second-stringer Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports /
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Texas A&M’s fanbase, specifically the folks over at All Aggies, fear the scoring threat backup Auburn football quarterback Robby Ashford presents from the Tigers backfield ahead of a Week 4 clash between AU and TAMU in College Station. All Aggies’ Cole Thompson called Ashford a “real threat to score in packages.”

“Ashford, who split reps with TJ Finley last season under then-coach Bryan Harsin, and later interim coach Carnell ‘Cadillac’ Williams, is the real threat to score in packages,” Thompson wrote. “In last year’s 13-10 win at Jordan Hare Stadium over A&M, Ashford rushed for 47 yards on 16 carries. He averaged 4.6 yards and scored seven touchdowns on the season.”

Ashford’s numbers haven’t popped off the page thus far in 2023 (far from it) but he had a tangible impact getting the ball into the opposite end zone on their deb-Hugh victory in Week 1 against UMass and looked equally sharp against Samford; even tossing a 32-yard touchdown to  Micah Riley-Ducker for his longest pass of the season.

Hugh Freeze can trip up D.J. Durkin’s Aggies defense using two QB Auburn football system

Freeze has backed off the two QB system somewhat in recent weeks, only putting Ashford in the game against Samford on September 16 after it was already decided. But that could be his ace in the hole against an Aggies defense that is vulnerable in the passing game.

How then, might Ashford factor into things, you may ask. Well, with the Redzone Robby moniker established, D.J. Durkin and the Texas A&M defense would never see an Ashford air attempt coming. With Payton Thorne now outed as a rushing threat, the Tigers could keep the Aggies honest by keeping things unpredictable via two potential dual-threat QBs. Of course, neither Ashford nor Thorne has quite earned the second designation necessary to be classified as a dual-threat, passing, but they have done what they can to set up moving the ball through the air with what they’ve done with their feet.

It’s time for the pair to accomplish offensively for AU what every winning team needs: a legitimately threatening passing attack.

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