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NCAA Preview: Texas A&M At Auburn

Inside the Auburn Tigers columnist Stuart Carter crunches the numbers in his StatTiger column and predicts a victor for the Texas A&M at Auburn football game.

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Christian Kirk leads TAMU with in receptions with 13 on the season along with two touchdown receptions. Gus Malzahn is 37-17 all-time and 28-14 as head coach at Auburn.

In deflecting a pass intended for Prairie View A&M’s Demarquo Lastrappe, right, Texas A&M’s Justin Evans helped the Aggies post their first home shutout since 2004.

Sean White is a redshirt sophomore who has started eight games for the Tigers.

The Tigers beat up on Arkansas State 51-14 on Saturday after falling in the season opener to Clemson a week before. Most importantly, they got back to the traditional Malzahn offense, rushing for a whopping 462 yards and three touchdowns against the Red Wolves.

That’s just another sign of the progress the Aggies have made since joining the SEC before the 2012 season, Sumlin said.

Auburn’s offensive line against Texas A&M’s pass rushers. Last year Auburn defeated Texas A&M 26-10 in College Station.

This will be a major key in the outcome of the game.

PETTWAY’S ENCORE: Pettway hadn’t logged a carry for Auburn before last week’s 15-carry, 152-yard coming out party. The front line held its own against Clemson as well. Johnson has had two solid games and totaled 218 yards and three touchdowns after moving into the starting job with the defection of three other tailbacks.

The A&M defense looks vastly improved. We had some first-round picks, but we didn’t have anybody after that. But buying an Aggies defense has again become smart money. The two top performers against Prairie View A&M were Daylon Mack (77.9) and Reggie Chevis (77.2).

When they arrive at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday when Auburn (1-1) hosts No. 20 Texas A&M (2-0), both men will stay true to their values and personality – all business.

For the Aggies to get going on offense, it all starts with the dual-threat quarterback. You will see real players everywhere on the defensive side of the ball. But he probably hasn’t seen a defense as good as Auburn’s either. Auburn matchup will feature two of the nation’s top edge defenders in Myles Garrett and Carl Lawson. He’s a game-changer. Just as Auburn’s O-line has its work cut out, so does A&M’s. In terms of pass block efficiency ratings, the A&M offensive line ranks 4th in the SEC at 85.2% while Auburn now ranks 5th at 84.5%.

But it’s no match for the test they’ll face this week against Texas A&M. Auburn needs to have success on the ground to keep its offense balanced.

Saturday will be a historic day in college football. This game will do a lot for momentum for one of these teams. The seat is getting warm.

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It’s actually hard to remember the last time this game wasn’t on CBS on a late September afternoon (and if it wasn’t, that’s because CBS chose to show it in prime time.) And both teams should be 3-0 heading into it – Tennessee hosts OH and Florida hosts North Texas this weekend, which both should win easily.

Texas A&M running back Keith Ford steps out of a tackle from Prairie View A&M linebacker Steven Guillory while on his way to the end zone for a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday Sept. 10 2016 in College