Three defining plays in Auburn’s in Loss

[aubiefifty 17,488]

Three defining plays in Auburn’s 20-3 loss at Texas A&M

By Nubyjas Wilborn | nwilborn@al.com

4-6 minutes

Losing a game by 17 points when your defense doesn’t allow a touchdown is incomprehensible. Yet, Auburn (6-3, 3-2) managed to accomplish this dubious feat in Saturday’s 20-3 loss against Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2) on the road at Kyle Field.

Bo Nix had one of his worst statistical performances of the season, with 153 passing yards and 20 completions on 41 attempts. He threw a late interception, but the game was pretty much academic at that point. Nix threw it 41 times, which is telling considering he had fewer than 30 attempts per game in wins against Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Nix had to throw it more often partly because the running game was non-existent. Tank Bigsby led the Tigers with 69 yards on 15 attempts. Jarquez Hunter had one of Auburn’s few big plays with a 14-yard run, but he had one yard combined on his other three attempts. By Comparison, Isiah Spiller (112) and Devon Achane (98) each had more yards as individuals than the Tigers (73) combined on the ground.

Read more Auburn football: Instant analysis: Auburn sputters in 20-3 loss to Texas A&M

Auburn has worst offensive performance in years in loss to Aggies

Bryan Harsin didn’t consider another second-half quarterback change in loss to Texas A&M - al.com

“You’ve got to be able to run the ball. The run game allows us to be able to set up the passing game and give ourselves a chance to have a clean pocket as well,” Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin said Saturday after the game. “We’ve been able to do that in the previous games. That didn’t happen tonight. We didn’t have that same type of momentum in the run game.”

Let’s take a look at three defining plays in Auburn’s loss against the Aggies.

3rd quarter 9:32 2nd-and-9 ball on A&M’s 16: John Samuel Shenker caught a 13-yard pass from Nix two plays earlier. Shenker’s catch was one of the Tigers’ few offensive plays over 10 yards. The game tied at three, any score here could’ve swung the game toward Auburn. Instead, Nix threw an incompletion second down. Tyreek Chappel fought through the Tiger offensive line to rush Nix on his pass attempt. Nix threw another incomplete pass on third down, creating a field goal attempt. Carlson missed the field goal.

Texas A&M scored on its ensuing drive.

4th Quarter 14:13 2nd-and-10 ball on Auburn’s 35: The Tigers were down by six despite not scoring a touchdown and an earlier missed Anders Carlson field goal. Nix dropped back for a pass, and Aggie defensive lineman Michael Clemons met him in the backfield.

Getting chased by a 6-foot-5, 270-pound man with evil intentions isn’t fun. Nix dropped the ball as Clemons was attempting to tackle him. Clemons got credited with a sack, but more importantly, his teammate Jayden Peevy scooped the ball up for a 24-yard touchdown run. The Aggies also converted a two-point conversion, effectively closing the door on Auburn’s hopes.

“We put the ball on the ground, and A&M’s defense was able to score, and that becomes a factor in the game,” Harsin said. “And then, we miss a field goal in the red zone as well, and every point -- all points matter in games like this. So, you know, it comes down to some execution. It comes down to creating some momentum. We didn’t create that momentum to get us going and to get the drive going the way we need to and having those type of plays we had in the past.”

This play was emblematic of Auburn’s woes during the loss. Pass protection broke down, leaving Nix in a dreadful situation.

4th Quarter 6:57 4th-and-14 ball on Auburn’s 34: Down by 14, the Tigers had to go for it. Shenker caught a ball from Nix and ended up one yard shy of the first down. The Tigers would’ve had to score quickly and get an onsides kick likely to tie the game. However, there was still an opportunity if Shenker could’ve found that one more yard.

“We had some drives there that could’ve been touchdowns easily if we just executed a few little things. I mean, they’re a great team; they had a great plan against us, so sometimes you have those days. You hope that when you have these slow days, you can fight through it and scratch off some more points than we did, but that was the outcome today, and they’re still a great team, so you have to give them credit for that.”

Nubyjas Wilborn covers Auburn for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nwilborn19.