Five questions with Texas A&M beat writer Brent Zwerneman
AUBURN -- Each week we hear from a beat writer who covers Auburn's opponent to get some insight into the team on the opposing sideline.
This week we hear from Texas A&M beat writer Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle for some additional background on the Aggies. You can follow Brent on Twitter @BrentZwerneman.
1) With Germain Ifedi out, what's the plan for Texas A&M's offensive line and how confident are they in said plan?
Texas A&M has been fairly fortunate over the past couple of years to stick with mostly the same offensive line, a team strength its first two years in the SEC. The Aggies are no longer fortunate on that front. The O-line was already a head scratcher this season, and with a regular-season ending injury to Ifedi, it's really in a swoon – and the shift is on.
A&M will move left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to right tackle, shift Jarvis Harrison out from left guard to left tackle, and plug in Garrett Gramling at left guard in the hopes of shoring up their problems on the line. An argument could be made it couldn't be any worse for A&M – but it probably could on the confidence front.
2) I'd imagine the loss of Deshazor Everett is devastating to the defense, is there a capable replacement for him, particularly against Auburn's top two receivers?
Everett, best known for his victory-sealing interception at Alabama two years ago, is a tough guy, and chances are he'll likely try to fight through the ruptured ligament in his elbow. He's had his fair share of struggles this season, and if he's not able to go, expect a healthy dose of freshmen Victor Davis and Nick Harvey in his place. The drop-off on the experience front is dramatic, but then secondary (and all its experience) has been yet another head-scratching problem for the Aggies this season, anyway.
3) With Kevin Sumlin saying they weren't a tempo team last week, do you think the Aggies stick to a slower pace on the road?
That's been one of the big mysteries to A&M fans, as well, in terms of what exactly has happened to the Aggies' once breathtaking tempo. By comparison, Google some of their 2012 tape when Kliff Kingsbury was coordinating the offense to now – it's quite a difference. Simply, with their young quarterbacks and a coordinator seemingly learning on the run (or jog) in Jake Spavital, expect the same, much slower pace this season against the Tigers.
It certainly doesn't appear to be the same offense SEC fans grew to expect from Kevin Sumlin over the program's first two years in the SEC – but at least the slower pace helps keeps A&M's poor defense off the field a bit more.
4) How do you think Kyle Allen will handle a road environment for the first time?
Based on his first start against Louisiana-Monroe in a friendly environment, not good, and the learning curve for the true freshman appears steep at this point. He completed less than half his passes against the Warhawks (13 of 28), and his 106 passing yards were an all-time low for a Sumlin squad, either at Houston or A&M.
The Aggies act a bit as if they held a lot back against ULM in preparation for Auburn, but frankly the youngster has a ways to go, and could have really benefitted from a redshirt season.
5) Normally I use this question to ask "Auburn wins if?" but with a 23-point spread I'm going to assume the outcome here and ask what a loss could do to Texas A&M and mean for the rest of its season?
I don't expect Auburn to eases off the gas pedal after 63-21 two years ago, when Kingsbury strolled away from Jordan-Hare wishing the Aggies had "scored 80." I don't expect Auburn to "top" 59-0 (A&M's loss to Alabama), but the Aggies are reeling, and another lopsided loss will continue to make a fan base question its $5 million dollar man, after Sumlin squeezed another $2 million annually out of A&M a year ago based on interest from Southern Cal and the NFL.
Those kinds of crazy setbacks can take years for a program to overcome, and A&M is angling to keep it a ball game to show some sort of improvement from Tuscaloosa. With this program in head-scratching (there's that word again) disarray, I'd bet my press box lunch the Aggies show little improvement against an Auburn program with a long memory, and Sumlin will have to work extra hard to keep a decent recruiting class intact moving forward.