Mike Elko claims human psychology will make Auburn offensive line 'the best unit on the field' on Saturday

Giving up nine sacks and fourteen tackles for loss last weekend might suggest Texas A&M could wreak more havoc on the offensive line for Auburn. However, after playing that poorly against Oklahoma, Mike Elko thinks the Tigers will be due for a good day at the line of scrimmage.

Elko was asked on Monday if he thought that A&M felt good about their defensive pressure for this weekend’s game based on what Auburn allowed to Oklahoma in their loss in Norman. He refuted that fully, expressing the Aggies’ respect for their opponent and even citing psychology as a reason that no unit will likely be better on Saturday than the Tigers’ offensive line.

“Oh, I don’t think so at all,” said Elko. “I think they’re extremely talented up front. I think it was a little bit of an anomaly on Saturday. I think we’ve got a ton of respect for them.

“I think human psychology – I said this to the guys this morning. Human psychology says, absolutely, without a doubt, the best unit on the field on Saturday will be the Auburn offensive line. I can promise you that.”

Oklahoma had a field day getting behind the line of scrimmage against Auburn in the 24-17 win on Saturday afternoon. They posted the nine sacks on QB Jackson Arnold, including two on their final two snaps of the game with the last one leading to a game-sealing safety for the Sooners, and fourteen tackles for loss in the victory to open conference play, which led to just 67 yards on the ground for the Tigers. In total, they allowed more sacks and tackles for loss to OU than they did combined over the first three wins over Baylor, Ball State, and South Alabama. Eight of their thirteen penalties on the day were also on their offensive line.

With that, Auburn is now among the worst teams in the nation in allowing pressure on the quarterback. Whether by their line’s play or Arnold’s, the Tigers have given up 16 sacks on the season at 4.0 per game, which each are tied for being within the bottom-three nationally, while also allowing for 25 TFLs in total.

On the other side, Texas A&M is then among the nation’s leaders in sacks and tackles for loss. They’ve gotten 9.0 sacks on the year along with 30 TFLs in their three non-conference wins over UTSA, Utah State, and Notre Dame.

Still, Elko is expecting much better from the Tigers’ offensive line on Saturday. That’ll make it harder, based at least on psychology alone, for the Aggies’ pass rush to get home in their conference opener at Kyle Field.