Auburn Tigers Stock Report After Loss to Texas A&M

Auburn has dropped its second SEC game in as many tries with Saturday's loss to the Aggies.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold has had a massive dip in production since the team began SEC play. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers fell for a second consecutive Saturday on the road, this time to the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies by a score of 16-10. After an up-and-down game against Oklahoma last week, it was more of the same in College Station as Auburn put forth a mix of standouts and struggles.

Here is this week’s Tigers stock report.

Stock Up

The Defense

The Auburn defense allowed just 16 points to an A&M offense that averaged just over 42 points per game entering the contest. The Tigers were able to contain the big play on most drives, though a couple of A&M marches saw rashes of 15-yard gains. Considering the state of Auburn’s offense, it is a minor miracle that the Tigers only lost by six points.

The Auburn Tigers held a Texas A&M offense that averaged 42 points per game to just 16 points. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Though A&M did commit its fair share of penalties, the Auburn defense also made big stops. Xavier Atkins came up with a pivotal interception late in the game, and Auburn was frequently able to hold A&M to field goal attempts in a bend but don’t break philosophy, two of which Aggies kicker Randy Bond missed.

Xavier Atkins

The LSU transfer linebacker continued his breakout season, racking up 10 total tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception. The interception was Auburn’s biggest play of the game, a pick on a batted ball that set the Tigers’ offense up at the A&M 2-yard line and led to the only Auburn touchdown of the day. 

Atkins was the leading tackler for the Tigers headed into Week 4, and he continues to deliver in each game. He has been all over the field for the Auburn defense every week and continually seems to be a vital energy guy for the Tigers.

Newboy Fegans

Though Fegans only had three tackles, the freshman played sound football when on the field and rarely found himself in the wrong position or getting beaten. He also made a pivotal third-down tackle on Texas A&M’s Le’Veon Moss late in the game to get the ball back to the Auburn offense. Though Fegans is still young and inexperienced, the signs are encouraging for the young safety.

Stock Down

Play Calling

After a week of practice where the coaching staff stressed a need to run the ball more, it seemed like the Tigers' coaching staff refused to take its own advice. Jeremiah Cobb had just six carries for 28 yards, and Damari Alston received a measly two carries and gained 10 yards. 

“We probably need to be calling more runs,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said after the game.

In a game that saw Jackson Arnold be sacked five times and hit an additional four times, an effective run game could’ve helped relieve some of the pressure on both Arnold and the Auburn offensive line. Add to that tandem of backs that averaged nearly five yards per carry in limited work, and the running game deserves more of a look

The Offensive Line

The Auburn Tigers' offensive line has given up 15 sacks in the last two games. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

After a game in Norman that saw the Tigers surrender 10 sacks and commit a rash of penalties, there was a lot of talk about how the offensive line could bounce back against the Aggies. The unit did not bounce back. It surrendered five sacks, four quarterback hits and committed five penalties, three of which were procedural.

If Auburn wants to have any chance of competing on the road in the SEC, it needs to figure out how to handle crowd noise and make checks without falling apart. To make matters worse, the majority of the penalties occurred in Auburn’s few plays in A&M territory, killing two different Auburn drives. Thankfully, the next game for the Tigers is back in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Unfortunately, it’s against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Jackson Arnold

After a Week 1 performance that had many Auburn fans excited for Arnold under center, the Oklahoma transfer has struggled mightily the last two weeks. Arnold has been sacked 15 times and is 39-for-65 for 345 yards in his last two games. He has added just two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing.

The one positive is that Arnold hasn’t been throwing interceptions, but he has thrown a couple of passes that were dropped by defenders. Additionally, the sheer volume of sacks are starting to feel like turnovers, killing Auburn drives in their tracks.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Jackson Arnold has only two touchdowns in the last two games. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Additionally, Arnold is struggling to hit receivers. He missed Cam Coleman in the end zone in Oklahoma, and didn’t see a wide-open Eric Singleton Jr. in Texas A&M territory against the Aggies. It isn’t easy to play under constant pressure, but the fact is that some of the pressure on Arnold is of his own making because he doesn’t get the football out of his hand.

If the Auburn offense wants to start being taken seriously, its signal caller needs to start hitting his open receivers and stop loitering in the pocket and taking backbreaking sacks.