The Auburn Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies kick off their SEC schedule Saturday at College Sportsbook, where the Tigers have won all three of their visits since the Aggies moved into the conference. Auburn is also off to a 3-0 start to 2019, while A&M shook off a loss at Clemson with a blowout win over Lamar last week.
Auburn Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies (Matchup Report)
Date/Time: September 21, 3:30 p.m. ET
TV Coverage: CBS
Sportsbook Odds: Texas A&M -3.5 | O/U 49.5 (Line History)
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
Road teams have dominated the recent meetings in this series (5-1-1 ATS in the last seven), but that didn’t stop the books from spotting the visiting Tigers more than a field goal. Early action bumped the Aggies up to -4 as of Sunday night.
Auburn News & Notes
After struggling to move the ball on the ground in their first two games, the Tigers resolved those issues in a huge way last week against Kent State. Auburn ran for 467 yards in its 55-16 win over the Golden Flashes, and three different Tigers eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground — the first time Auburn’s done that since 1983. Tigers QB Bo Nix set the tone on the Tigers’ first drive of the game, running for 17 and 18 yards on consecutive plays.
It’ll be interesting to see if that rushing success will continue against an A&M defense that has allowed just 83.7 yards on the ground per game. Auburn may need it to. Wide receiver Seth Williams, whose late catch vaulted the Tigers to victory over the Aggies last year, missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury and his status is uncertain. Auburn will also be without safety Smoke Monday for the first half this week as he serves a suspension for targeting.
Texas A&M News & Notes
You wouldn’t know it from the 62-3 scoreline, but the Aggies weren’t exactly sharp last week against Lamar, especially early. They were penalized seven times, turned the ball over twice, dropped several passes and struggled in the red zone — including on their first drive, when they had to settle for a field goal after having first-and-goal from the three.
On the bright side, freshman running back Isaiah Spiller looked more than capable of inheriting the feature back role from Jashaun Corbin, who is out for the year with a hamstring injury. Spiller ran for 116 yards and a touchdown in A&M’s first game without Corbin, drawing positive reviews from head coach Jimbo Fisher.
Betting Pick: Auburn +4
I’m not willing to call for the outright upset here, but catching more than a field goal with the visitors is enough for me to take the underdog in what should be a great, competitive game.
- Auburn is 4-0 SU in its last 4 games.
- Texas A&M is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games at home.
- The visiting team is 6-1 SU and 5-1-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings.
