Auburn Tigers vs Texas A&M Aggies Match Player Stats On Nov 04, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 4, 2017

Sophomore quarterback Jarrett Stidham passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 14 Auburn post a 42-27 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday in SEC play at College Station, Texas.

Junior running back Kerryon Johnson rushed for 145 yards and one touchdown and also corralled a receiving score for the Tigers (7-2, 5-1 SEC). Sophomore receiver Darius Slayton's long touchdown catch and a blocked punt late in the first half changed momentum as Auburn won for the sixth time in the past seven games.

Junior receiver Christian Kirk had eight receptions for 62 yards for the Aggies (5-4, 3-3) to raise his career total to 205 catches, becoming just the third player in school history to reach 200. Sophomore running back Trayveon Williams rushed for 103 yards but couldn't prevent the Aggies from losing for the third time in four games.

Texas A&M played well for most of the first half and held a 13-7 edge after junior Daniel LaCamera kicked a 39-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining. But the complexion of the contest changed when Auburn responded with 14 points in 76 seconds.

Stidham moved the Tigers 75 yards on four plays and teamed up with Slayton on a 53-yard scoring play to put Auburn ahead by one with 1:36 to play.

The Tigers then forced a punt and rushing senior Nick Ruffin extended his right arm to block the ball. It caromed off the head of Aggies senior punter Shane Tripucka and rolled into the end zone where a half-dozen Auburn players chased the ball with redshirt freshman Malik Miller making the recovery to make it 21-13 with 20 seconds left in the half.

The Tigers rode the momentum into the third quarter to quickly open up a 22-point advantage.

Stidham tossed a 4-yard scoring pass to junior receiver Ryan Davis to make it a 15-point margin with 10:45 left in the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, Johnson scored on a 2-yard run to boost Auburn's lead to 35-13 with 8:48 remaining.

The Aggies stopped the bleeding when Starkel threw a short slant to Damion Ratley, and the senior wideout turned it into a 62-yard touchdown to cut the Texas A&M deficit to 35-20 with 6:09 left in the third.

But the Tigers put the game way with a punishing 13-play, 96-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Sophomore receiver Eli Stove capped a drive that lasted eight minutes, 17 seconds with a 4-yard run around right end.

Early on, Auburn led 7-3 after Stidham tossed a 2-yard scoring pass to Johnson with 10:50 left in the second quarter to cap a 12-play, 75-yard drive.

Aggies redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Starkel replaced ineffective true freshman Kellen Mond midway through the stanza and immediately led the Aggies on a nine-play, 80-yard excursion. Senior tailback Keith Ford finished the drive with a 2-yard scoring run to give Texas A&M a 10-7 advantage.

NOTES: Aggies junior WR Christian Kirk has recorded multiple catches in all 35 games of his career, which is the nation's longest streak in that category. ... Auburn's blocked punt for touchdown was its first since 2006 against Florida. ... Texas A&M true freshman QB Kellen Mond completed 5 of 11 passes for just 16 yards before being pulled. Redshirt freshman replacement Nick Starkel was 11-of-22 passing for 184 yards and two touchdowns. ... The Tigers were without junior RB Kamryn Pettway, who fractured his shoulder blade in last Saturday's victory over Arkansas. Pettway will miss the rest of the regular season but the possibility remains that he could return for Auburn's bowl game. ... Two Aggies (redshirt freshman Justin Madubuike and senior Armani Watts) blocked field-goal attempts by Auburn senior Daniel Carlson. ... Johnson's 145-yard outing is his fifth 100-yard performance of the season and eighth of his career.