I'm not surprised that we are 2.5-point road favorites at Auburn. Dating back to a 27-24 home loss to Alabama on 11/25/23, Auburn has lost 8 of their last 9 Power 4 games, including 5 consecutive home losses to Power 4 teams. Auburn's only Power 4 win in that span is a 24-10 road win at Kentucky on 10/26. Also, Hugh Freeze is an atrocious 1-7 (1-6 SEC) in Power 4 home games, and his only Power 4 home win was a 27-13 win over Mississippi State on 10/28/2023.
Auburn has not allowed more than 31 points this season, but they have not scored more than 24 points in their last 9 games against Power 4 teams. In contrast, we have scored 33+ points in 4 of 7 games against Power 4 teams, including twice on the road. Other than allowing 44 points to South Carolina, we have never allowed more than 24 points all season. While Auburn has a -11 turnover margin (19 giveaways to 8 takeaways), we have a +4 turnover margin (14 takeaways to 11 giveaways) in turnover margin. Hopefully, we come out prepared and focused to play Auburn from the start.
However, the spread between 8-2 (5-1 SEC) Texas A&M and 4-6 (1-5 SEC) Auburn is just 2.5 points for several reasons. We lost 13-10 in our last road game at Auburn on 11/12/2022. That was a sold-out night game between two teams with identical 3-6 overall records, 1-5 SEC records, and 5-game losing streaks. Auburn had fired head coach Bryan Harsin 12 days earlier on 10/31/2022. Yet, Jimbo Fisher managed to lose to Cadillac Williams, who was only on his second game as Auburn interim head coach. Also, we got smoked by South Carolina 44-20 in our last night road game. In addition, Auburn is playing their final home game at night and needs to win out to reach bowl eligibility.
If we minimize penalties and turnovers, we will overcome the crowd noise to win this night road game. I am predicting a close 24-17 road win.