Moment of truth? Aggie O-line must prove SEC-ready against Auburn

Call it a road trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Call it the third game of the football season.

Call it the Southeastern Conference opener.

But for Texas A&M’s offensive line, call Saturday’s game against Auburn the moment of truth.

Well, unless you’re A&M Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone. Then, you might call it something else.

“I don't look at facing Auburn's front seven as a 'moment of truth' or anything,” Mazzone said earlier this week. “I just look at it as part of a season. We just want to see the same progress that we saw from week one to week two. Obviously, we're playing a talented team, so it'll be fun to see how far we have come.”

That’s the question, though. Just how far has the A&M offensive line come? And how far can it take the Aggies this season?

The Aggies are currently ranked 25th in the nation in rushing offense and have allowed just two sacks after two games.

Except that one of those games was against grossly overmatched Prairie View. The other was against UCLA, which in 2015 was among the nation’s worst in run defense.

UCLA may have been improved with tackle Eddie Vanderdoes back from an injury that forced him out in 2015. And defensive end Takkarist McKinley is considered a next-level talent.

However, Auburn offers a greater challenge and thus a tremendous opportunity for coach Jim Turner’s offensive line to prove itself. The defensive line is the strength of Auburn’s team and as good as any defensive front the Aggies’ rebuilt offensive line will face this season.

Skeptical? Well, consider Auburn held Clemson to 151 rushing yards and frequently pressured quarterback Deshaun Watson in a 19-13 opening loss.

That’s virtually the same Clemson offense that moved the football so well against Alabama’s vaunted defensive front in last season’s national championship game.

Defensive end Carl Lawson is Auburn’s version of Myles Garrett — without the gaudy sacks totals. Lawson’s had injury issues throughout his career, which has presumably lowered those totals.

Auburn points out that Lawson appeared in only seven of the Tigers’ 13 games last season. They posted 16 sacks with them, compared to just seven without him. Opponents averaged 19.2 points when Lawson played. They averaged 32 when he did not.

Inside, the Tiger have the rhyming duo of tackles Dontavius Russell and Montravius Adams. Both are about 6-3 and tip the scales around 310 pounds.

The “weak” link of the defensive line may be the end opposite Lawson. There Auburn may start freshman Marlon Davidson, a five-star prospect who was rated the No. 25 recruit in the nation by some recruiting services.

If he doesn’t start, the Tigers could turn to sophomore Byron Cowart, who was rated the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2015 recruiting class.

That’s a tough challenge for an offensive line with 24 combined starts spread out among tackle Avery Gennesy (15), Jermaine Eleumunor (3), center Erik McCoy (2) and guards Colton Prater (2) and Connor Lanfear (2).

“We embrace that,” Eleumunor said. “We want to go up against the best. That’s why we all came to A&M, because we get to go up against the best. Going up against that D-line is going to test us, but with guys we have in the [offensive line] room I wouldn’t want to go to bat with no one else.”

Of course, there are other factors and key matchups that will determine the outcome.

The A&M defense must rise up to stop the Auburn running game, which burned the Aggies for 311 rushing yards last season.

The Aggies will want to force Auburn to rely on the erratic passing of sophomore quarterback Sean White. Quite frankly, A&M’s secondary is better than Auburn’s receivers.

Also, A&M receivers Christian Kirk, Josh Reynolds and Ricky Seals-Jones figure to give A&M a significant advantage against Auburn’s defensive backs.

That is, if quarterback Trevor Knight has adequate protection in the pocket. A successful A&M running game should effectively slow down Auburn’s pass rush.

Which brings us back to the offensive line.

If Auburn’s defensive front dominates the line of scrimmage, the Aggies may not be able to consistently get the ball to their dangerous receivers or mount a strong enough running game to slow down the Auburn pass rush.

“We want the pressure on us. We like that,” Eleumunor said. “Having coach Turner as the O-line coach, who in my opinion is the best O-line coach in the country, is really good for us. He’s going to give us a great game plan. We’re going to go in with that game plan and we’re going to battle. It’s going to be a war in the trenches. We want it to be on us because that’s how we like it.”

The Aggies offensive linemen are obviously confident. They’re going to have to be productive.

“Auburn is very talented. They played very well against Clemson,” A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “They're great along the defensive line with Carl Lawson and a couple guys on the interior. Coach Turner has done a great job with the offensive line, but this will be a different test from a body-type standpoint. We'll see where these guys are.”

Exactly.

We’ll see how they respond in a moment of truth — or whatever you want to call it.