Le’Veon Moss ran for 139 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and Marcel Reed passed for 207 yards as No. 9 Texas A&M outlasted Auburn 16-10 on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference dustup in College Station, Texas.
The Aggies (4-0, 1-0 SEC) got all they needed from Reed, Moss and kicker Randy Bond in the first half and let their defense take over after halftime. Reed went 15 of 22 through the air with one interception on a throw that was tipped and returned to the shadow of the A&M goal line in the fourth quarter to give Auburn some hope.
Bond produced field goals from 33, 49 and 44 yards, hitting the final one with 2:41 to play, giving Texas A&M a six-point lead and forcing the Tigers’ offense to win the game with a touchdown.
It was not up to the task. Auburn’s anemic attack managed just 176 yards in the game, only 72 of them after halftime and just 1 yard in the fourth quarter.
KC Concepcion caught seven of Reed’s passes for 113 yards.
Auburn (3-2, 0-2) got 124 yards passing from Jackson Arnold, but he was also sacked five times, including the Tigers’ final offensive play on fourth-and-1.
The Aggies wasted little time in jumping to the lead, moving 66 yards on four snaps on their opening possession to a 1-yard TD run by Moss. Alex McPherson got Auburn on the board four minutes into the second quarter, trimming the Tigers’ deficit to 7-3 when he booted a 32-yard field goal to culminate an eight-play, 57-yard march.
A&M responded with three points of its own, as Bond converted from 33 yards out at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter to make it 10-3 after a possession in which it took nine plays and four minutes to cover 60 yards. Bond hit again, this time from 49 yards away with 1:45 to play before halftime, to punctuate a 25-yard, eight-play drive, to expand the Aggies advantage to 13-3.
The game completely changed complexion when Auburn’s Xavier Atkins picked off a Reed pass that bounced off the hands of Terry Bussey and rambled 73 yards to the Texas A&M 2-yard line. Arnold plunged in for a TD on the next snap, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 13-10 with 10:20 to play.
