AUBURN — The quest for a seismic shakeup to Auburn football‘s 2024 season begins tonight.
Already, this is a season marred with disappointment for the Tigers. In Year 2 under Hugh Freeze, they’ve shown little signs of progress, highlighted by an offense that has looked as dismal at times as it did last fall.
But with two games remaining, Auburn is somehow still fighting for its postseason hopes. Needing two more wins to clinch a bowl berth, the Tigers will have to take down No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 7 Alabama to make good on the postseason, starting with a game against the Aggies on Saturday under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
As Auburn gears up for an upset bid, here’s everything you need to know about the Tigers and the Aggies.
(This story will be updated throughout the game.)
12:51, Q4: Texas A&M needed to go 15 yards to find the end zone, and it couldn’t do it.
Auburn’s defense comes up with a huge stop, forcing the Aggies to settle for a 32-yard field goal, which Randy Bond converts.
It’s 28-24, Auburn.
14:16, Q4: So much for a momentum shift.
A Payton Thorne pass attempt gets tipped and picked off by Texas A&M’s BJ Mayes deep in Auburn territory.
It’s Aggie ball at the Auburn 15-yard line.
We’ve got a ball game going at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
After retaking the lead, Auburn’s defense comes up with a stop and Demarcus Riddick is the play-maker, swatting a Marcel Reed pass attempt on third-and-5.
The Aggies punt. It’ll be Auburn ball at its own 11-yard line.
2:27, Q3: Auburn regains the lead it, and it does so on the heels of who else but Jarquez Hunter?
KeAndre Lambert-Smith lit the spark, with a contested grab for 44 yards to start the drive, and Hunter capped it with a one-yard touchdown run.
It’s 28-21, Auburn.
5:40, Q3: Auburn got all the way to Texas A&M’s 22-yard and still couldn’t find points.
After driving 52 yards in seven plays, the Tigers stalled and couldn’t convert on a third-and-10. Kicker Ian Vachon was wide left on a 40-yard try.
It’s still 21-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
7:57, Q3: Auburn cornerback Jay Crawford tried to jump a slant from Marcel Reed to Noah Thomas.
It ended in disaster, as Thomas broke free and scored a 73-yard touchdown on a one-play drive for Texas A&M.
It’s 21-21 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
9:25, Q3: The Aggies continued eating clock to start the second half, with a 5:30 drive that covered 76 yards in 10 plays. Reed capped it by finding Noah Thomas for a 14-yard score.
It’s 21-14, Auburn.
The Tigers avoided disaster at the end of the half, after punter Oscar Chapman shanked an attempt for just 17 yards and gave it back to the Aggies at the 50-yard line.
Freshman Demarcus Riddick came up with the crucial play on the ensuing drive, though, sacking Reed on third-and-15 after he was flushed out of the pocket by Keyron Crawford.
It’ll be Aggie ball to start the second half. Here’s the first half stats.
4:13, Q2: Texas A&M receiver Terry Bussey made an extra reach to get the Aggies first points, but fumbled as he broke the plane.
It’s ruled on the field that the fumble occurred after Bussey broke the plane. There was no review.
It’s 21-7, Auburn.
13:09, Q2: Payton Thorne finds Cam Coleman for another touchdown, this time from 15 yards out, and the Tigers are suddenly up three possessions.
Coleman set a career high with 100 receiving yards against Louisiana-Monroe last week. He’s up to 112 yards already, on just four catches.
It’s 21-0, Auburn.
Much like last week’s win against Louisiana-Monroe, the Tigers are pitching another shutout through 15 minutes — only this time against a top-15 team with playoff aspirations.
Auburn is averaging 9.4 yards per play through one quarter, and it’s out-gaining the Aggies through the air 103-48.
1:08, Q1: Just when it looked like the Aggies were driving, Thompson put a stop to it.
Thompson picked off Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed for his second interception of the season. It set up the Tigers at their own 12 yard line.
Still 14-0, Auburn.
6:05, Q1: The Tigers didn’t need hardly any time to find their second touchdown of the day, as Thorne hit Coleman for a 63-yard score on what was a two-play, 64-yard drive.
After posting a generational performance against Louisiana-Monroe, Coleman’s picking up where he left off, with three catches for 97 yards and a touchdown against the Aggies so far.
It’s 14-0, Auburn.
6:43, Q1: Auburn defensive end Keyron Crawford came up with one of his biggest plays of the season on the Aggies’ opening drive, taking down quarterback Marcel Reed for a one-yard gain on third-and-8.
Mike Elko trotted out kicker Randy Bond for a 53-yard try, which was no good.
It’s 7-0, Auburn.
11:22, Q1: The Tigers wasted no time finding the end zone on their opening drive, going 65 yards on 10 plays in 3:33 of game time to score the game’s first touchdown.
Hunter punched it in from two yards out. He had five carries for 20 yards on the opening drive.
It’s 7-0, Auburn.
Listed as a game-time decision on Saturday’s pregame SEC availability report, Fairweather got the start against the Aggies.
FAIRWEATHER GOOD TO GO:Auburn TE gets start despite game-time decision status
He was an active participant in pregame warmups and was also announced in the pregame starting lineup.
Auburn football vs. Texas A&M will air at 6:30 p.m. CST Saturday from Jordan-Hare Stadium. Dave Flemming and Louis Riddick will be on the call for ESPN, and Kris Budden will serve as the game’s sideline reporter.
Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. kickoff between the Tigers and Aggies will be Auburn’s lone home night game in Southeastern Conference play this season. It’ll be just the third night game at Jordan-Hare Stadium this fall, with wins over Alabama A&M and New Mexico also kicking off at 6:30 p.m.
Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email atacole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter,@colereporter.
