Pick’em: Week 5

AUBURN | Each week the AuburnSports.com staff and friends make their predictions on Auburn and top college football games from around the country.

GAMES	J LEE	JAY G	COLE	DAN
USC at ILL	USC	USC	USC	USC
LOU at PIT	LOU	PIT	PIT	LOU
ARST at ULM	ULM	ULM	ARST	ULM
ORE at PSU	PSU	ORE	PSU	ORE
SJSU at STAN	STAN	STAN	SJSU	STAN
ND at ARK	ND	ND	ND	ND
LSU at OM	LSU	LSU	OM	OM
TEN at MSU	TEN	TEN	TEN	TEN
ALA at UGA	ALA	UGA	UGA	UGA
AUB at TAMU	TAMU	AUB	AUB	AUB

JEFFREY LEE (6-4, 26-14)

Texas A&M 27-24: Marcel Reed’s legs scare me. So do Mario Craver’s hands. A&M will move the ball. It will score points. Auburn’s offense will, too. Just not enough. Auburn drops another close one on the road.

JAY G. TATE (6-4, 25-15)

Auburn 27-20: I liked what I saw from Auburn last week … aside from the incompetent officiating crew that undermined everything. That’s not an Auburn problem, though. Is Texas A&M a good team? Yes, it is. I just think Auburn is a good team, too, and I think it will be playing with a chip on its shoulder. It’s easy to push that US-AGAINST-THE-WORLD attitude when, in fact, the officials actually do what they did last week. Jackson Arnold is a terrific player, he has terrific players around him and I still believe in the defense. So I’ll take the visitors.

COLE PINKSTON (6-4, 24-16)

Auburn 35-34: Taking a leap for Auburn this week. I think the matchup looks eerily similar to the Oklahoma game on paper. I think Marcel Reed is dangeorus, but I I’ll give Auburn’s defense some opportunities. Auburn is due. The Tigers are gritty—but have enough impact players to win these kinds of matchups. I think Auburn will re-establish the run game more this week and that can make the difference. 

DAN PECK (3-7, 23-17)

Auburn 28-27: Auburn played solid defense for much of the game, but miscues (and missed calls) kept the Tigers from scoring the biggest road win of the Freeze Era. Auburn has shown the ability to pound the ball on the ground and collect big yardage through the air; can they find balance and avoid drive-killing negatives? A&M is at home, coming off a bye, looking for revenge after last season’s instant classic.  You’d have to be a real sicko to pick Auburn to win this one.

GAMES	BILL	CALEB	BMATT	JUSTIN
USC at ILL	USC	USC	ILL	ILL
LOU at PIT	LOU	LOU	PIT	LOU
ARST at ULM	ULM	ARST	ULM	ULM
ORE at PSU	ORE	PSU	ORE	PSU
SJSU at STAN	STAN	STAN	SJSU	STAN
ND at ARK	ND	ND	ND	ND
LSU at OM	OM	OM	LSU	OM
TEN at MSU	TEN	TEN	TEN	TEN
ALA at UGA	UGA	UGA	UGA	UGA
AUB at TAMU	TAMU	TAMU	AUB	TAMU

BILL CAMERON (4-6, 22-18)

Texas A&M 27-23: The Aggies had an open date to come down from their road win at Notre Dame and get ready for the Tigers, who are coming off another game where they feel like they SHOULD have won. Auburn has enough to beat A&M, but there have been way too many close but no cigar games, and this ain’t horseshoes.

CALEB JONES (5-5, 21-19)

Texas A&M 27-24: If Auburn can play much cleaner than it did last week, connect on a few more big plays and not face adversity in the form of another terrible officiating crew, this team can win. However, I’m still reluctant to pick Auburn on the road against a ranked opponent. You can be as close to winning all you want, but until Auburn wins a big road game, I’m taking the home team. Give me the Aggies.

BRYAN MATTHEWS (2-8, 20-20)

Auburn 41-38: I just got a feeling Auburn is going to pull a surprise in College Station Saturday with Alex McPherson providing the game-winner. The odds are stacked against the Tigers with two tough back-to-back road trips and Texas A&M having an extra week to prepare. But college football doesn’t follow a script and upsets happen all the time.

JUSTIN HOKANSON (4-6, 18-22)

Texas A&M 31-24: I think Auburn’s offense plays better, but I think Marcel Reed and the Aggies’ offense will score more than Oklahoma did on the Tigers’ defense. It will be another hard-fought game, but bouncing back from a road trip loss at OU and winning this one on the road is a monster task. Texas A&M, coming off a bye, has the clear advantage.