Game of the week: 5 things to know about Auburn-Texas A&M

Each Friday during the season, we spotlight the best game that weekend. This week, it’s No. 13 Auburn (6-2) at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-2) in a key SEC West matchup.

Auburn has beaten two ranked teams in a row; the last time the Tigers won three in a row over ranked opponents was 2013 — and they played for the national title that season. Texas A&M, meanwhile, will be looking for a fast start: The Aggies are 23-0 under Jimbo Fisher when leading after the first quarter.

The contest kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS; Brad Nessler will handle the play-by-play and Gary Danielson is the analyst.

Here are five things to know about the Auburn-Texas A&M game, plus the predicted final score from the On3 national staff.

1. Auburn QB Bo Nix

Bo Nix, a third-year junior, has been the definition of inconsistent in his career, though he is coming off back-to-back high-level games in wins over Arkansas and Ole Miss. He completed at least 70 percent of his passes in both those wins, just the second time in his career he hit that mark in consecutive games. He still has just four TD passes in five games against FBS opponents this season, but his accuracy has opened up the offense the past two weeks. The question: Can he continue his sterling play against an Aggies secondary that has as many interceptions (nine) as TD passes allowed? Nix’s running ability has been a plus in SEC games; he has four rushing TDs in four conference matchups. Nix doesn’t always play well away from home, but he was sharp (21-of-26 for 292 yards and two TDs) in a road win against Arkansas.

2. Texas A&M’s run defense

The Aggies have allowed just five rushing touchdowns this season, and opponents are averaging 3.7 yards per rush (40^th nationally). In SEC play, Texas A&M is allowing just 3.41 yards per rush, but that is skewed a bit because of games against Mississippi State (which doesn’t really care about the run) and South Carolina (which just isn’t very good). Alabama and Arkansas ran effectively on the Aggies. Texas A&M has a talented defensive front headed by star tackle DeMarvin Leal (35 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss), who is one of the best linemen in the nation, but the linebackers are nothing special. Like A&M, Auburn is a run-first team, and if the Aggies can’t stop Tigers RBs Tank Bigsby and Jarquez Hunter, they’re in trouble. Despite how well Nix has played the past two games, the Aggies want to make him throw.

3. The passing attacks

We talked about Nix and how sharp he has been of late. Can he do it three weeks in a row? Take out the past two weeks, and in his other three games against FBS foes this season, he didn’t even complete 57 percent of his passes. Auburn doesn’t have a wide receiver who truly scares an opposing defense, but sophomore Kobe Hudson has played well of late and sixth-year senior Demetris Robertson has good speed and occasionally gets a deep ball. A&M QB Zach Calzada has been quite pedestrian as a passer — except in the upset of Alabama, where he was 21-of-31 for 285 yards and three TDs. In A&M’s past two wins, over Missouri and South Carolina, he was a combined 25-of-49 (51 percent) for 335 yards and four TDs. A&M ran all over both of those opponents; what has to worry the Aggies is that if Auburn can slow them on the ground, will Calzada be effective enough against the Tigers’ secondary to win it? Despite his play against the Tide, that’s an extremely iffy proposition. A&M has one productive wide receiver (Ainias Smith) and a good tight end (Jalen Wydermyer). But the third- and fourth-leading receivers are RBs Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane. Presumably, Auburn star CB Roger McCreary will spend a lot of time shadowing Smith. As with Auburn, A&M needs to be effective on the ground if it is to win.

4. SEC West race

Auburn is 3-1 in the league and is tied in the loss column with Alabama for first in the division; A&M has two league losses but did beat Alabama. It’s safe to say A&M will be out of the hunt if it loses this one. Auburn has three conference games left after this: vs. Mississippi State, at South Carolina and vs. Alabama. A win over the Aggies and you’d think Auburn would go into the Iron Bowl with one league loss, which means the Alabama-Auburn winner wins the division. A&M, meanwhile, has two league games left after this: next week at Ole Miss, then the regular-season finale at LSU. The Aggies need to win this, then become huge fans of Arkansas (plays at Alabama on November 20) and/or Auburn (November 27 against the Tide).

5. Recent history

These teams played just twice in history, including in the Cotton Bowl following the 1985 season, before A&M joined the SEC for the 2012 season; they now play annually as division opponents and the Tigers have won three of the past four. The Aggies won last season to snap a three-game skid in the series. This will be the fifth meeting in College Station — and Auburn is 4-0 at Kyle Field.

On3 predictions

Mike Huguenin: Texas A&M 27-24
Ivan Maisel: Texas A&M 31-27
Charles Power: Texas A&M 31-28
Matt Zenitz: Auburn 24-21