7-TEXAS A&M VS. 24-AUBURN
2:30 Saturday, CBS, 1370
Texas A&M suffered heart-thumping drama late Saturday, as Aggie kicker Josh Lambo converted a 33-yard field goal on the game’s final play to push his team to a 41-38 victory over Mississippi.
The field goal gave seventh-ranked A&M its fifth win of the season. It also continued another season-long trend: The Aggies have scored 40 points or more in every game this year.
Given the upheaval within the A&M defense — first it was suspensions; now it’s injuries — no point the offense scores will be considered superfluous.
That’ll be true again this Saturday when A&M plays host to upstart Auburn, which also is 5-1 and is ranked 24th nationally. The Tigers are coming off a school-record 718 yards of total offense in their 62-3 victory over Western Carolina. New coach Gus Malzahn appears to have turned around the team, which last year was humiliated by the Aggies 63-21 in front of the Auburn home crowd.
The Aggies might be forced to deal with the Tigers, who lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing at 287 yards per game, with a limited Deshazor Everett, A&M’s best defender. Everett, a safety, suffered a thigh injury against Mississippi. A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, who rarely acknowledges injuries, listed Everett as “probably probable.”
But defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said he wasn’t sure Everett would be available for practice.
There is good news for the Aggie defense. Safety Floyd Raven, who missed three games with a collarbone injury, was able to play against the Rebels. Snyder said he’ll be in the starting lineup against Auburn.
Sumlin’s depth chart listed Raven as second team behind Howard Matthews.
“We need to get him back,” Sumlin said of Raven. “He’s a big and fast, talented guy who can help us in the secondary that’s had some moving parts.”
Overall, Snyder is trying to stay optimistic about any progress he sees with his unit, which ranks 113th in the country in total defense and has allowed every team but one to score at least four touchdowns.
“I thought we played a pretty good game for three quarters,” Snyder said of the defense’s performance against Ole Miss. “In the fourth quarter, we were just bad. We have been pretty good in the second half. That’s what we keep talking to these guys about: consistency. Let’s play an entire game.”
Snyder’s one big concern is the lack of a pass rush, other than when he calls a blitz. The Aggies have only five sacks, with just three coming from linemen.
Malzahn was telling reporters earlier this week that the Aggies’ defensive statistics — A&M ranks at or near the bottom of the SEC in most categories — could be deceiving.
“I thought they did a solid job defending Ole Miss,” Malzahn said. “They bring a lot of pressure. They do a lot of different things. We’re going to have to handle that and score some points.”
SEC player of week: Quarterback Johnny Manziel was named the conference's offensive player of the week for the first time this season. His effort against the Rebels allowed him to surpass 7,000 career yards of offense. Manziel, now with 7,378 and counting, tied former Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan for the quickest to 7,000 yards. Both did it in 19 games.
Manziel’s next major stat benchmark is the combo of 2,000 yards rushing and 6,000 passing. He has 1,837 yards running and 5,541 passing. Seventeen quarterbacks have accomplished this, including Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and Texas’ Vince Young.
A walk-off kick: Lambo's field goal on the final play was the first time A&M has won a game this way since 1992. That's when Terry Venetoulias beat Texas Tech on the game's final play with a 21-yard kick.
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