By the Numbers: Auburn 13, Texas A&M 10

Here’s a statistical look, by the numbers, at the Aggies’ 13-10 loss to Auburn Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium...

-176 - The differential in rushing yards for Texas A&M vs. Auburn. That comes a week after Florida ran for 157 more yards than the Aggies. The Tigers rushed 55 times for 270 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per rush. Playing without star tailback Devon Achane, the Aggies rushed 24 times for 94 yards (3.9 average) ... 38 of that coming on one Amari Daniels run on A&M’s last possession. Daniels was one of the few bright spots for the Aggie offense, rushing just 11 times for 83 yards (7.5 average) and breaking off 4th quarter runs of 17 and 38 yards.

-12:52 - Time of possession disadvantage in the game. That comes one week after Florida possessed the football 14:14 longer than the Aggies last week. A&M held the ball for just 23:34 in the game. Meanwhile, Auburn produced 36:26 of offensive football, including maintaining possession for 20:46 of the 30 available minutes during the second half. The Aggies rank 113th in time of possession (27:57 per game). A&M was #3, #11 and #3, respectively, in TOP during Jimbo Fisher’s first three seasons in Aggieland.

.182 - Texas A&M’s winning percentage vs. FBS teams in its last 10 games. The Aggies are an abysmal 2-9 vs. FBS opponents dating back to a late-season loss at Ole Miss last year. That includes a heinous 1-8 mark in SEC games in that span.

1 - Play in the game for A&M over 30 yards. That was a 38-yard run by Amari Daniels on A&M’s last drive of the game. The Aggies had two additional plays of 20-plus yards ... a 27-yard pass to Jalen Preston that was called back due to a holding penalty and a 25-yard pass to Devin Price.

#1 - A&M’s national ranking in pass plays allowed over 30 yards. Perhaps the lone bright spot on defense is the lack of big plays given up this season through the air. The Aggies have allowed just five passes of 30-plus yards this season ... tied with Florida State, coincidentally, for first nationally in that category. The longest pass play the Aggies allowed on Saturday was a 16-yard TD pass from Robby Ashford to Ja’Varrius Johnson in the first quarter.

2 - Interceptions in the game for the Aggies. A&M entered the contest with just two INTs all season, but Demani Richardson picked off a Robby Ashford pass in the end zone to close the first half, and Edgerrin Cooper hauled in an interception during A&M’s comeback attempt in the fourth quarter.

4 - Plays allowed by the A&M defense of 20-plus yards. All four were run plays ... a 20-yard run by Robby Ashford, runs of 23 and 25 yards by Jarquez Hunter and a 39-yard run by Tank Bigsby.

#5 - Devon Achane’s national ranking in kick return average. This season, Achane has 11 returns for an average of 28.36 yards per return and one touchdown. That’s currently #2 in the SEC behind MSU’s Lideatrick Griffin, who leads the nation with an average of 31.2 yards per return.

9 - Consecutive drives for A&M to open the game that ended in a punt. Only one of those drives spanned more than 30 yards, and the last 5 of them were three-and-outs that totaled -16 yards. Just two of the Aggies’ possessions in the game spanned more than 30 yards, and just one lasted longer than 2:37.

12 - Consecutive games vs. FBS teams in which the Aggies failed to score more than 28 points. A&M managed just 10 points on Saturday ... all coming in the fourth quarter. The last time A&M managed more than 28 points in an FBS game was a 44-14 win over South Carolina last season at Kyle Field.

16.2 - “Havoc Rate” for the A&M defense in the game. Havoc Rate is an advanced metric from longtime stat man Bill Connelly that is determined by calculating the total number of tackles-for-loss, passes defended (including INTs) and forced fumbles divided by the total number of plays. The Aggies had two interceptions, one forced fumble, one pass breakup and seven TFLs (two sacks / five run TFL) vs. Auburn. That’s 11 “Havoc Points” divided by 68 defensive snaps for a game rating of 16.2, meaning that the Aggies created havoc on exactly 16.2% of the Tigers’ offensive snaps. On the season, A&M’s Havoc Rate is 15.8 (113 havoc plays / 713 total plays). Last season, the Ags had a Havoc Rate of 17.8. It was 19.1 in ’20 and 18.6 in ’19. A&M ranked fifth in the nation in 2018 with a Havoc Rate of 20.4.

31.3% - A&M’s conversion rate on third down in the game. The Aggies were 5-of-16 in this category and have now dropped to #110 in third down percentage offensively (33.6%). That is last in the SEC.

39% - Completion percentage for quarterback Conner Weigman on Saturday. Playing without Devon Achane and Donovan Green (both injured) and Moose Muhammad (suspended), and losing top targets Evan Stewart and Max Wright to injury during the game, the true freshman was 14-of-36 for 121 yards and a touchdown ... and that includes a 6-of-9 showing in the 4th quarter. He was 1-of-11 for -3 yards through the air in the 3rd quarter. Weigman was sacked three times (one strip sack and turnover) and hit statistically six other times as he delivered the football.

50 - Years since A&M’s last six-game losing skid. The Aggies dropped consecutive road contests to Mississippi State, Alabama and South Carolina and then fell to Ole Miss and Florida before dropping the game Saturday night at Auburn. The program’s last six-game slide was all the way back in 1972 during Emory Bellard’s first season in Aggieland.

#75 - A&M’s national ranking in total defense. The Aggies, under the direction of D.J. Durkin, allow an average of 383.7 total yards per game. A&M ranked #9 and #14 in total defense the previous two seasons.

85 - Average receiving yards per game for Moose Muhammad over his previous four games prior to missing the Auburn game with a mysterious suspension/benching. The sophomore hauled in seven catches for 99 yards vs. Florida. After opening the year with just one catch for 16 yards total in the first four games of the season and not playing at all vs. App State and Miami, Muhammad had come alive since the Mississippi State game. He had at least six catches in four of the previous five contests and boasted 100-plus-yard games vs. both Mississippi schools but was held out of action for the third time this season Saturday night on The Plains.

#108 - A&M’s national ranking in scoring offense. The Aggies managed just 10 points vs. Auburn and average an abysmal 21.5 points per game this season. That’s dead last in the SEC and just behind Auburn’s 22.9 average (#100).

#126 - A&M’s national ranking in run defense in 2022. The Aggies gave up 270 rushing yards to Auburn on Saturday - one week after allowing 291 yards on the ground vs. Florida and two weeks after Ole Miss ran for 390 yards on the ground - and are now allowing an average of 221.5 rushing yards per game. That’s dead last in the SEC, and Stanford and Colorado are the only Power 5 programs allowing more per game on the ground than A&M. In the previous four seasons under Mike Elko, the Aggies never ranked below 35th nationally against the run and were in the top 3 overall in 2 of those seasons. A&M is 120th nationally in yards per carry (4.96) ... also at the very bottom among SEC teams.

#131 - A&M’s national ranking in runs allowed over 10 yards. The Aggie defense has given up 79 runs of 10-plus yards through 10 games. That is dead last in the entire country ... now two plays behind Georgia Southern. The last time A&M gave up more than 79 runs of 10 or more yards in an entire 13-game season was 2016 (82).

1969 - The last time A&M opened the season with 10 straight games of failing to score more than 31 points. The Aggies defeated Sam Houston State, 31-0, in the season opener and haven’t scored more than 28 points since. You have to go back 53 years to find the last time that has happened at A&M. In ’69, Gene Stallings’ squad went an entire season without scoring more than 31 points in a single game.

1970 - The last time A&M finished the season with fewer than two conference wins. The Aggies are 1-6 in SEC games ... the worst record in the entire league. With only SEC West champion LSU remaining, A&M is in serious danger of going 1-7 in conference play. You have to go back to 1970 to find in-conference futility of this level. That year, Gene Stallings’ Aggies opened the seasons with wins over Wichita State and #12 LSU on the road (The Hugh McElroy Game) before dropping nine straight and finishing 0-7 in the Southwest Conference.

1980 - The last time the Aggies were 3-7 through 10 games. That’s where A&M is at following its loss at Auburn on Saturday. In that year, Tom Wilson’s A&M team started 2-7 before rallying to beat TCU and Texas at the end of the season, finishing 4-7.

A&M in national stat rankings

Team
• Time of Possession = #113 (27:57)
• Turnover Margin = #72 (Even)
• Penalties = #87 with 6.8 penalties per game
   - #50 with 51.2 penalty yards per game

Offense
• Total O = #96 (350.7 YPG)
• Scoring O = #108 (21.5 PPG)
• Rushing O = #103 (122 YPG)
• Passing O = #68 (228.7 YPG)
• Yards Per Play = #77 (5.55 YPP)
• First Downs = #85 (19.3 PG)
• 3rd Down Conversions = #110 (33.6%)
• Red Zone TD% = #62 (63.3% - 19-of-30)
• Explosiveness = #94 (39 plays over 20 yards)
   - #88 with 16 plays over 30 yards
   - #106 with 6 plays over 40 yards
   - #71 with 4 plays over 50 yards
   - #23 with 4 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Run Plays = #80 (11 plays over 20 yards)
   - #52 with 6 plays over 30 yards
   - #77 with 2 plays over 40 yards
   - #37 with 2 plays over 50 yards
   - #18 with 2 plays over 60 yards
• Explosive Pass Plays = #91 (28 plays over 20 yards)
   - #104 with 10 plays over 30 yards
   - #100 with 4 plays over 40 yards
   - #78 with 2 plays over 50 yards
   - #36 with 2 plays over 60 yards
• Sacks Allowed = #72 (22)
• Tackles For Loss Allowed = #64 (55)

Defense
•  Total D = #75 (383.7 YPG)
• Scoring D = #42 (22.8 PPG)
• Rushing D = #126 (221.5 YPG)
• Passing D = #7 (162.2 YPG)
• Yards Per Play Allowed = #56 (5.37 YPP)
• First Downs Allowed = #83 (21.4 PG)
• Opponent 3rd Down Conversions = #59 (37.4%)
• Opponent Red Zone TD% = #20 (48.7% - 19-of-39)
   - #6 in Opponent Red Zone Scoring % (69.2% - 27-of-39)
• Explosiveness Against = #63 (45 plays allowed over 20 yards)
   - #5 with 11 plays allowed over 30 yards
   - #19 with 6 plays allowed over 40 yards
   - #68 with 5 plays allowed over 50 yards
   - #74 with 3 plays allowed over 60 yards
   - #43 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
* Explosive Run Plays Against = #119 (21 plays allowed over 20 yards)
   - #71 with 6 plays allowed over 30 yards
   - #71 with 3 plays allowed over 40 yards
   - #75 with 2 plays allowed over 50 yards
   - #99 with 2 plays allowed over 40 yards
* Explosive Pass Plays Against = #17 (24 plays allowed over 20 yards)
   - #1 with 5 plays allowed over 30 yards
   - #10 with 3 plays allowed over 40 yards
   - #54 with 3 plays allowed over 50 yards
   - #29 with 1 play allowed over 60 yards
   - #65 with 1 play allowed over 70 yards
• Sacks = #103 (16)
• Tackles For Loss = #47 (62)
• Interceptions = #120 (4)
• Fumble Recoveries = #13 (10)

Special Teams
• Field Goal % = #70 (73.3% - 11-of-15)
• Punting = #64 (41.95 Avg.)
• Kick Returns = #26 (21.75 Avg.)
   - #1 in kick return TDs (1)
• Explosive Kick Returns = #32 (3 returns over 30 yards)
   - #9 with 2 returns over 40 yards
• Opponent Kick Returns = #131 (38.25 Avg.)
• Explosive Kick Returns Allowed = #13 (1 return allowed over 30 yards)
• Punt Returns = #104 (5.3 yards per return)
• Explosive Punt Returns = #61 (1 return over 20 yards)
• Opponent Punt Returns = #25 (4.1 Avg.)
• Explosive Punt Returns Allowed = #40 (1 return allowed over 20 yards)

Individuals
• RB Devon Achane = #10 in rushing yards (98.56 YPG); #78 in yards per carry (5.6 Avg.); #85 in rushing TDs (6); #19 in total yards from scrimmage (120.3 Avg.)
   - #50 in total TDs from scrimmage (9); #20 in runs over 10 yards (28); #19 in runs over 20 yards (9)
   - #5 in all-purpose yards (155 Avg.); #5 in kick return average (28.4 Avg.)

• WR Evan Stewart = #43 in receptions per game (5.4 Avg.); #70 in receiving yards per game (67.4 Avg.)

• DL Fadil Diggs = #3 in forced fumbles (3)

• DL McKinnley Jackson = #11 in kicks/punts blocked (1)

• DL Albert Regis = #11 in kicks/punts blocked (1)

• DB Demani Richardson = #28 in forced fumbles (2)

• DB Jardin Gilbert = #83 in interceptions (2)

• PK Randy Bond = #36 in field goal % (83.3% - 10-of-12)

• PK Caden Davis = #10 in kickoff average (64.25 Avg.); #1 in touchback % (88.6%)
• P Nik Constantinou = #53 in punting average (42.3 Avg.)