Auburn, Texas A&M to Face Off in Battle of Last-Place SEC West Teams

Auburn interim coach Carnell Williams reacts during the first half of the team’s NCAA college football game against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Mississippi State won 39-33 in overtime. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Auburn and Texas A&M are the last-place teams in the SEC West and both are in five-game losing streaks, but one team has to win when they face off Saturday night in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Both are 1-5 in the SEC and 3-6 overall.

It will be Auburn’s second game under interim coach Carnell Williams since the firing of Bryan Harsin.

The Aggies are expected to start Conner Weigman at quarterback, who had an impressive starting debut against Ole Miss. Weigman missed the Florida game with a virus.

The loser of the game is assured of a losing season.  Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher will face even more heat if the Aggies lose this one, though he has a mammoth buyout of more than $85 million.

The key matchup will be Texas A&M’s passing defense against Auburn’s offense. The Aggies rank 11th nationally, allowing 173.6 passing yards per game. In fact, opponents are averaging just 6.1 yards per pass attempt. Auburn’s passing game ranks last in the league, but Robby Ashford is averaging 14.02 yards per completion, 13th nationally.

Ashford makes Auburn’s offense go even when he’s not having much success passing. He passed for just 75 yards on 7-of-22 attempts at Mississippi State but also ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Ashford just became the first Auburn quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game since Nick Marshall did it against the Bulldogs in 2014.

Kickoff is at 6:30PM CST on the SEC Network.

(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)