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Texas = cart. Auburn = horse.
On Monday, Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko offered assurance that the Aggies would not put the cart before the horse.
Excitement is building for the rivalry renewal with Texas on Nov. 30. The game figures to match ranked opponents. A place in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game could be at stake.
But first, the Aggies (8-2, 5-1) must travel Saturday to face Auburn at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. Elko said the Aggies’ focus will be solely on Auburn — aka the horse.
“When you’re in the situation we’re in, it’s easy to focus on the task at hand,” Elko said. “I think those big games earlier in the year, maybe you’d look ahead. If it had at stake what’s at stake, maybe you’d worry about it. Our focus is on Auburn right now. We’re locked in on what we’ve got to get done.”
A&M seems to have a little more trouble arranging the cart and horse correctly. Last Saturday, thousands of students began camping out at the north end of Kyle Field for ticket pull.
No doubt, students are talking about the Texas game to players. But linebacker and team captain Taurean York reiterated the Aggies have their priorities straight.
“We love the support,” York said. “We love to see the videos of the fans camped out there all night. We know deep down in our hearts that we still have a game to play. That’s (Texas excitement) more for the fans, and that’s more towards next week. But we know we’ve got a business trip on Saturday. We’re ready to go play.”
They better be.
Though Auburn (4-6, 1-5) has struggled, the Ags were reminded of the treachery of SEC road games when they were upset at South Carolina two weeks ago.
Also, two years ago, Auburn was struggling when A&M visited Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Tigers prevailed, 13-10.
“The atmosphere is great. There’s a lot of pageantry at Auburn,” Elko said. “It’s a great place to play. It’s one of the iconic stadiums in this conference.”
Elko confirmed A&M receiver Cyrus Allen will miss the remainder of the season with an arm injury.
Allen, a junior transfer from Louisiana Tech, sustained the injury at the end of a 9-yard reception in the first quarter of A&M’s 38-3 victory over New Mexico State last week.
“He’ll have surgery on his arm,” Elko said. “Hopefully, we’ll get him back sooner rather than later. We won’t have him the rest of the year.”
Allen is A&M’s third-leading receiver. He has 18 catches for 269 yards and a touchdown.
His role in the offense will likely be replaced by Moose Muhammad III and Jacob Bostick.
A&M receiver Jabre Barber has a little extra motivation for the game at Auburn. He’ll be playing before family and friends in a return to his home state.
A senior transfer from Troy, Barber is a native of Dothan, AL.
“It’s very big for me this week,” Barber said. “I’ve got a lot of people coming. Obviously, playing back at home and just getting around my people and showing them what I can do.”
Barber got off to a slow start this season because of an injury but has caught 27 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown.
Frustration with penalties is beginning to mount.
The Aggies were penalized eight times for 71 yards vs. New Mexico State. It was their seventh game with at least seven penalties and at least 63 yards.
A&M is 121st in the nation in penalty yardage, averaging 69.1 yards per game.
“It’s ultimately on me because it’s my team,” Elko said. “It’s my job to get them to understand the magnitude of it.
“It’s repeat offenders. It’s the same things. We can just sit here and talk about it, but at the end of the day, my job is to get it done. I’ve got to find a creative way to get it done because it’s not working.”
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