Game preview: Auburn's offense vs. Texas A&M's defense

AggieYell.com’s breakdown of the matchup between No. 9 Texas A&M (3-0) and Auburn (3-1, 0-1 SEC) continues with a look at the Auburn offense against the A&M defense.

You can find the preview of the Aggie offense against the Tigers defense HERE.

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station Texas

When: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2:30 p.m. central

Weather: Mostly sunny, humid, high around 90 degrees

TV: ESPN (Joe Tessitore, play-by-play; Jesse Palmer, analyst; Katie George, sideline)

Auburn offensive depth chart

QB: #11, Jackson Arnold; Jr.-TR.; 6-1, 219

#9, Deuce Knight; Fr.; 6-4, 217 OR #12, Ashton Daniels; Sr.; 6-2, 219

RB: #0, Damari Alston; Sr.; 5-9, 214

#23, Jeremiah Cobb; Jr.; 5-11, 200

TE: #87, Brandon Frazier; Sr.; 6-7, 267

#15, Preston Howard; Jr.; 6-5, 236

WR (X): #8, Cam Coleman; So.; 6-3, 201 OR #18, Sam Turner; Fr.; 6-1, 207

WR (Z): #5, Horatio Fields; Sr.; 6-2, 201 OR #3, Perry Thompson; So.; 6-3, 220

WR (X): #1, Eric Singleton; Jr.-TR.; 5-10, 180

#4, Malcolm Simmons; So.; 6, 186 OR #6, Bryce Cain; RS-Fr.; 5-10, 165

LT: #65, Xavier Chaplin; Jr.; 6-7, 348

#72, Izavion Miller; Sr.; 6-5, 350

LG: #52, Dillon Wade; Sr.; 6-4, 315

#78, DeAndre Carter; RS-Fr.; 6-4, 355

C: #75, Connor Lew; Jr.; 6-3, 303

#71, Dylan Senda; So.; 6-5, 320

RG: #77, Jeremiah Wright; Sr.; 6-5, 348

#56, Seth Wilfred; So.; 6-5, 339

RT: #76, Mason Murphy; Sr.; 6-5, 319

#79, Tyler Johnson; So.; 6-6, 323

Texas A&M defensive depth chart

DE: #50, Dayon Hayes; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 264 or #18, T.J. Searcy; Jr.-TR.; 6-5, 256

#30, Solomon Williams; RS-Fr.; 6-1, 250 OR #92, Sam M’Pemba; RS-So.-TR.; 6-3, 252

DT: #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295 OR #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295 OR #17, Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317

#55, Dealyn Evans; RS-Fr.; 6-4, 314 OR #99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

N: 17, Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317 OR #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295 OR #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295

#88, DJ Sanders; FR.; 6-3, 315 OR #99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

DT: #11, Tyler Onyedim; Gr.-TR.; 6-3, 295 OR Albert Regis; Gr.; 6-1, 317 OR #5, DJ Hicks; Jr.; 6-3, 295

#59, Chace Sims; Fr.; 6-3, 294 OR #99, Landon Rink; Fr.; 6-2, 294

JACK: #9, Cashius Howell; RS-Sr.-TR.; 6-2, 248

#15, Rylan Kennedy; RS-So.; 6-3, 239 OR #10, Marco Jones; Fr.; 6-5, 258 OR #92, Sam M’Pemba, RS-So.-TR.; 6-3, 252

LB: #21, Taurean York; Jr.; 5-10, 227

#54, Jordan Lockhart; So.; 6-1, 229 OR #27, Daymion Sanford; Jr.; 6-2, 222

LB: #0, Scooby Williams; Sr.; 6-2, 230

#27, Daymion Sanford; Jr.; 6-2, 222 OR #23 Noah Mikhail; Fr.; 6-2, 223

NICKEL: #7, Tyreek Chappell; RS-Sr.; 5-11, 180

#19, Bravion Rogers; Jr.; 5-11, 188 OR #8, Jordan Shaw; RS-So.; 5-11, 182 OR #14, Jayvon Thomas; Jr.; 5-11, 196

CB: #4, Will Lee; Sr.; 6-1, 189

#6, Julio Humphrey; RS-Jr.;-TR. 6-1, 195

#14, Jayvon Thomas; Jr.; 5-11, 196

CB: #2, Dezz Ricks; RS-So.-TR.; 6-1, 188 OR #6, Julio Humphrey; RS-Jr.-TR.; 6-1, 195

#20 Adonyss Currie; Fr.; 6, 174

S: #1, Bryce Anderson; Sr.; 5-10, 186

#29, Myles Davis; So; 6-1, 196

#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson; Fr.; 6-1, 198

S: #25, Dalton Brooks; Jr.; 6, 193 OR #3, Marcus Ratcliffe; Jr.-TR.; 6-2, 209

#33 Jarred Kerr; Sr.; 5-11, 190

#13, Rashad “Tom Tom” Johnson; Fr.; 6-1, 198

Injury update

AUBURN: WR Horatio Fields (broken foot) is out for the season.

RB Durell Robinson is out.

C Conner Lew (knee) is questionable.

WR Malcolm Simmons and RB Jeremiah Cobb are both probable.

TEXAS A&M: S Bryce Anderson (concussion) is out.

LB Scooby Williams (ankle) is questionable.

Auburn offensive statistical leaders

Passing: Arnold, 69-101 (68.3%), 721 yards, 5 TD

Knight, 2-5, 20 yards

Rushing: Cobb, 52 carries, 375 yards (7.2 YPC), 4 TD

Arnold, 55 carries, 181 yards (3.3 YPC), 4 TD

Alston, 23 carries, 109 yards (4.7 YPC), 1 TD

Receiving: Coleman, 13 catches, 237 yards (18.2 YPC), 2 TD

Singleton, 22 catches, 209 yards (9.5 YPC), 2 TD

Fields, 12 catches, 106 yards (8.8 YPC), 1 TD

Texas A&M defensive statistical leaders

Tackles: Ratcliffe and York, 17

Lee and Regis, 15

Onyedim and Scooby Williams, 12

Tackles for loss: Howell, 4

Ratcliffe and Scooby Williams, 2.5

Hicks and Sanford, 2

Sacks: Howell, 3

Six players with 1

Interceptions: Scooby Williams, 1

Forced fumbles: M’Pemba, Kerr and Scooby Williams, 1

Fumble recoveries: M’Pemba, 1

Auburn players to know:

WR Cam Coleman: The former Aggie commit has been the source of nightmares for A&M fans (and a lot of other teams as well). After a great season in a terrible passing offense (37 catches, 598 yards, 8 TD) last year, Coleman has picked up where he left off. His biggest game to date came last weekend at Oklahoma, where he had 3 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, including a season-long reception for the team of 46 yards. He’s the deep threat and will be a tough challenge for either Will Lee or Dezz Ricks.

QB Jackson Arnold: The former OU quarterback is coming off a game where his old school battered him to the tune of nine or 10 sacks, depending on who you ask. But he’s a dual-threat quarterback who ran for 137 yards in a season-opening win over Baylor. He’s extremely accurate and doesn’t make mistakes, as he hasn’t thrown an interception since week 5 of last season. He tends to be slow in his progression and waits too long to throw, which has contributed to the alarming 15 (or 16) sacks he’s already taken. But, given the opportunity, he can make any throw.

RB Jeremiah Cobb: Even though he’s listed as the backup to Damari Alston, Cobb’s been the man at running back so far this season with Alston limited by injury. He’s been extremely effective, to the tune of 7.2 yards per carry. Last weekend, he was Auburn’s running game, as he was able to rip off a 44-yard run and picked up 61 yards on just 6 carries — the rest of the team ran for 6 yards on 29 carries. He’s stout, physical and fast, so he’ll be a challenge.

Head to head: Auburn’s offense vs. Texas A&M’s defense

Category	Auburn	SEC/National rank	Texas A&M	SEC/National rank
Scoring offense/defense	32 PPG	59th/10th	28.7 PPG	102nd/16th
Total offense/defense	383.5 YPG	77th/14th	350.7 YPG	66th/12th
Rushing offense/defense	198.3 YPG	42nd/10th	139 YPG	72nd/13th
Passing offense/defense	185.3 YPG	105th/15th	PD: 211.7 YPG	68th/11th
First downs/defense	89	38th/8th	58	42nd/7th
3rd down conversion %/defense	42.9%	61st/11th	31.8%	38th/8th
Red zone/defense	100%	1st nationally	90.9%	92nd/13th
Sacks allowed/team sacks	4/game	130th/16th	3/game	17th/3rd
Tackles for loss allowed/team TFL	6/game	94th/13th	8.7/game	9th/2nd
Turnovers	1	6th/2nd	2	114th/15th
Turnover +/-	+3	27th/4th	EVEN	61st/9th
Time of possession	31:48	38th/7th	29:09	90th/12th

What Auburn wants to do

Get the running game going again, protect Arnold and get the ball deep to Coleman. It’s pretty simple, if not easy.

Auburn runs a lot of RPO action, uses a lot of motion and a fair amount of four- or even five-wide sets. They run mostly a zone blocking scheme, but nothing they did worked against OU. The Sooners absolutely trounced Auburn’s offensive line, no matter if it was run or pass. They had a total of 14 tackles for loss.

Hugh Freeze went away from his running game way too early, if he even really used it at all. Cobb and Alston combined for 13 carries, and Cobb didn’t play a whole lot because they wanted Alston in the game to pass block or be a receiver. They ran for 67 yards against OU after running for 307 against Baylor, 224 against Ball State and 195 against South Alabama. If they’re going to win, they have to do what Hugh Freeze traditionally has not: run the ball and chew up clock.

Arnold is a normally accurate passer, but he throws a lot of short passes. Some of that is from a lack of time, some if it is because he’s hesitant. But Coleman is a monster and he’s the guy they go to when they look to go deep. He had catches of 46 and 40 yards against OU, so they are capable of throwing the deep ball if given time. But his indecisiveness helped lead to the massive sack numbers last weekend.

Auburn needs to run the ball effectively, including with Arnold, in order to get the Aggies to back off and give him time to throw. If they have trouble at the line of scrimmage like they did against OU, they’re going to have a tough time.

How A&M may counter

Play aggressively and put the game on Arnold’s shoulders. But they’ve got to play smart, too. That starts with putting a stop to the Auburn running game, and not giving up big runs off tackle.

Notre Dame ran for 136 yards against A&M, but it took them 39 carries to do it. That’s 3.5 yards per carry, or subpar in the college game. The Aggies also had 8 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. A&M can apply pressure to the running game, but they need to do it the right way. They can’t get out of position, they can’t forget to cover the outside run and they need to tackle.

One of the keys to the game will be the play of Taurean York, who was pushed around at times by Notre Dame. With an RPO-heavy offense, he’s got to be smart and watch for Arnold to pull. He’s had success in the past against RPO offenses (and Auburn in particular), but the Aggies will need him to be huge Saturday.

Coach Mike Elko may also decide to change a few things up with the benefit of a bye week and add some new blitzes or concepts Auburn hasn’t seen yet. The Aggies showed more of their defense against Notre Dame, but not a ton of it. The extra week of practice may allow them the luxury of adding to the defensive playbook.

Auburn’s tackles, in particular, had a horrible time with OU’s fast defensive ends. That may mean opportunity for Cashius Howell, Marco Jones and Dayon Hayes as they go up against tackles that have to be a little shaken after last week’s debacle. I also get the sense we may see some blitzing from nickel Tyreek Chappell, but it’s just a hunch.

If the Aggies do blitz, it’s going to be up to Ricks and Lee to handle Coleman and Eric Singleton, and that may be the decisive matchup of the day — Auburn’s receivers against A&M’s corners. Losing Horatio Fields to a broken foot Wednesday takes away one of Auburn’s three top receiving options and a starter in the slot, but Coleman and Singleton are difference makers. If Lee and Ricks can handle them in man coverage, that opens up a whole lot of opportunities for the rest of the defense to get after Arnold.