Ags avoid hangover, pound Auburn on road

AUBURN, Ala. – A relentlessly efficient offense, a stingy defense and an error-free performance ensured no tissue would be strewn over the Oaks of Toomer’s Corner.

Rather, it would be used to wipe away the tears of frustration from the thousands of Auburn fans that made a premature exit from Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night.

A record-setting 63-21 college football loss that No. 22 Texas A&M inflicted upon Auburn will alter tradition.

In hindsight – and even since the first quarter of a blowout which featured the highest point total ever scored against Auburn at Jordan-Hare – it’s almost laughable to suggest that Texas A&M’s first-ever trip to the Alabama plains was made with a measure of apprehension.

There was concern that the Aggies might have an emotional hangover from last week’s gut-wrenching loss to LSU. Would they continue a reign of errors which has included 13 turnovers in their previous three games? Would they be overconfident because Auburn had uncharacteristically managed just one-win all season.

Earlier this week, A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin warned that a lone-win opponent still can be dangerous. He cautioned that a wounded animal can be most ferocious. He was proven prophetic earlier Saturday as Texas needed a near-miracle to defeat 1-7 Kansas, 21-17.

But there was no such danger in East Alabama. By the end of the first quarter, the Tigers were ready for the taxidermist.

“Auburn is a good team,” A&M linebacker Sean Porter said, perhaps repeating a message that Sumlin had preached throughout the week. “They’re no pushover. They had a bad record, but all their games were close. They lost to LSU by two points and LSU beat us. We couldn’t take them lightly.”

A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel just took them to task.

The fabulous freshman led touchdown drives on A&M’s first six series, accounted for 350 yards and five touchdowns and guided the Aggies (6-2) to the most points ever scored against Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium and the third most allowed in Auburn history.

A&M also rolled up 671 yards of offense, the most allowed by Auburn since 1967.

“I think coming off last week’s game, which was really taxing for us physically and mentally, to come out and play with that kind of energy and excitement on the road was extremely important,” Sumlin said. “We wanted to have some success early. We talked about it all week as a team – offensively and defensively, be good on special teams pretty early in the ballgame. Whenever you get on the road, (starting fast) really helps your chances of winning.”

Mission accomplished. A&M’s performance was so dominant that the Aggies held a 28-0 lead before Auburn managed a first down. Their fast start completely took the crowd out of the game, and by halftime, Jordan-Hare, which was originally teeming with 85,119 spectators, was half empty.

“Their fans were rocking at the beginning of the game,” linebacker Jonathan Stewart said. “Our offense went down and scored and then we stopped them. I think in the first quarter, they had three series that were all three-and-outs. Defensively, we came out fast. We’re playing great and the offense is playing fast.”

A fast start was just one goal that the Aggies had for this game. They’ve had some recent problems and issues and they addressed almost all of them.

A&M had been plagued by turnovers – six in a win over Ole Miss, two in a win over Louisiana Tech and five in last week’s loss to LSU. The Aggies had hurt themselves with penalties. They had squandered leads and blown scoring opportunities. They had even missed an extra point in each of the last three games.

Yet, against Auburn they did not lose any turnovers. They were penalized just three times for 27 yards.

Two of those penalties were on back-to-back holding calls that forced a second-and-26. Undeterred, Manziel ran for 36 yards on the next play. Three plays later, he dove into the end zone from 2-yards out. Afterward, Taylor Bertolet converted his fifth consecutive extra point to give the Aggies a 35-7 lead.

The Aggies capitalized on all of their prime scoring opportunities by going 8-of-8 on Red Zone chances.

“I think the big difference between us tonight and the last couple of weeks is we took care of the football,” Sumlin said. “When you do that, and you’re moving the chains and not giving the ball to the other team, that’s how you have this kind of success and you’re able to score like that.”

Really, A&M scored any way it wanted to against Auburn’s overwhelmed defense.

They Aggies relied heavily on running backs Ben Malena and Christine Michael to march down field for a 16-yard Manziel-to-Ryan Swope touchdown pass on their first series.

Manziel ran for a 6-yard touchdown on the second possession. He passed to Swope for a 19-yard touchdown on the third. Then, Michael broke away for a 34-yard touchdown run on their fourth series that staked the Aggies to a 28-0 lead.

But A&M had a 27-0 lead against Louisiana Tech dissolve and then had to hold on for a 59-57 victory. That might have crossed the Aggies' minds when Auburn launched a 10-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a Tre Mason touchdown run.

However, the Aggies responded with Manziel’s two-yard touchdown run and followed with a seven-yard run by Malena to take a 42-7 lead at halftime.

A&M could have added to the lead, but Bertolet missed a 48-yard field goal. The Aggies also failed to force a turnover.

That’s all that went wrong for A&M.

The Aggies were so overwhelming that the Auburn fans that stayed around roared when Auburn forced A&M’s only punt with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.

A second punt might have been sufficient for the fans to roll Toomer’s trees. That is, if the tissue hadn’t already been used to dry their weary eyes.