Texas A&M
7-1 , 7-1
Auburn
5-4 , 5-4
No. 5 Texas A&M Finish Strong in 31-20 Win Over Auburn
Dec 05, 2020 | Football
Auburn, Ala. (AP) - Kellen Mond passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third and No. 5 Texas A&M scored 17 points in the fourth quarter of a come-from-behind 31-20 victory over Auburn on Saturday.
The Aggies (7-1) dominated the final quarter to win their sixth straight and remain in College Football Playoff contention. The Tigers (5-4), who have gone 0-3 against teams ranked in the top five at the time, led 20-14 entering the fourth.
Mond rebounded from his worst game of the season against LSU with a strong performance. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards.
Seth Small iced the game with a 32-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining after an earlier miss had helped Auburn remain within a score.
Isaiah Spiller had his fifth 100-yard game of the current winning streak, gaining 120 on 20 carries. Devon Achane also ran for 99 yards on just nine carries. Wydermyer caught eight passes for 89 yards.
The Aggies took a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter when Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain tipped the ball into the arms of tight end Wydermyer for a touchdown - instead of what could have been a game-changing interception.
Then Ainias Smith followed his 37-yard catch with a 4-yard run into the end zone. Auburn couldn't muster any late offense or defensive stops after winning the past three meetings.
Bo Nix had a highlight reel play on one of his two touchdown runs for Auburn, but also overthrew a wide-open Eli Stove in the end zone.
After a 28-yard completion and a 20-yard scramble, Nix escaped the grasp of 325-pound defensive tackle Bobby Brown and appeared about to go down. Then he scrambled left and barreled into the end zone.
Nix passed for 144 yards and ran for 49.
Both quarterbacks ran for touchdowns late in the second quarter, but Mond struck last on a quarterback sneak with 24 seconds left for a 14-10 halftime lead.
Postgame vibes ??#GigEm pic.twitter.com/6594Uo9Cw2
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 6, 2020
Gallery: Football at Auburn
Postgame Notes: Team
- Texas A&M’s 7-1 record against SEC opponents this season marks the most SEC victories in program history since joining the league in 2012.
- A&M finished the victory at Auburn with a season-high 313 rushing yards, the most since tallying 319 in the win over South Carolina last season.
- The Aggies racked up 174 rushing yards in the first half, tallying over 100 rushing yards in the first half for the fourth straight game and surpassing the 150 yard mark through the first two quarters for the second time this year (South Carolina, 153).
- The SEC’s leader in time of possession, A&M held a 16-minute advantage against the Tigers, controlling the game for 38 minutes.
- The win was A&M’s first non-bowl victory in the month of December since the Aggies topped Kansas State on this day in the 1998 Big 12 Championship game.
- Today’s captains at Auburn were LB Buddy Johnson, OL Carson Green and OL Ryan McCollum.
Postgame Notes: Individual
- Senior QB Kellen Mond became just the third quarterback in SEC history to pass for over 9,000 yards and rush for 1,500 more yards in their career, joining Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott and Florida’s Tim Tebow. Mond was less than 50 yards away from both marks entering the game and upped his career totals to 9,148 and 1,513 yards, respectively, against the Tigers.
- Mond also joined the elite club of Prescott, Tebow and Johnny Manziel as the only SEC quarterbacks to pass for 60 touchdowns and rush for 20 more in their careers.
- Mond made it 17 career games with a passing and rushing touchdown after sending a 10-yard pass to sophomore TE Jalen Wydermyer in the back of the end zone in the first quarter and sneaking in himself to extend the Aggie lead before the half.
- Wydermyer’s 10-yard touchdown grab on A&M’s first drive of the game and later his 20-yard reception in the end zone upped his career total to 12 touchdowns, the most in program history by an Aggie tight end. He broke a three-way tie with Jace Sternberger (2018) and Martellus Bennett (2005-07) with 10 TDs apiece to take the record.
- Wydermyer’s pair of touchdowns marked his third multi-touchdown game of the season, fourth of his career.
- Sophomore RB Isaiah Spiller tallied 120 yards on the ground against Auburn for his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season and the 10th of his career.
- Freshman RB Devon Achane neared his first 100-yard game, finishing the game with a career-high 99 rushing yards.
- Junior S Leon O’Neal Jr. helped lead the defense with a career-high eight tackles. Senior DB Myles Jones also added eight takedowns which is a season-high for him, as well as senior LB Aaron Hansford.
- Junior DL Bobby Brown III has recorded a sack in all five games he has played in during A&M’s six-game win streak after getting to the quarterback late in the game at Auburn.
Head Coach Jimbo Fisher
Opening Statement… “Very proud of this football team. Listen, you come into Auburn and play and win a game, it’s extremely tough. I think it is one of the hardest places if not the hardest place to play in this league. It’s very tough. We’re very proud of our guys. We knew it was a big battle coming in here – important game. They’re a physical team. Offensively, we had struggled last week. We knew we had to have a good performance this week. I’m very proud of our guys. We ran the ball for 313 yards. Kellen (Mond) was crazy efficient, 18-of-23. Big throws in the fourth quarter. Big throws on third down. Big catches by our team. Had some opportunities in the game. We’re going to look at some of these chop penalties. I want to see what that’s about. We never had those, so that’s kind of conspicuous. But we’ll look at it and see. Those are big penalties in the game. Defensively, we gave up some things. They ran the ball on us a little bit early and have some things going. The quarterback scrambling and getting him on the ground. Bo (Nix) is a heck of a competitor and player. Gave up a big drive. The second half was disappointing. They got ahead and then we move it and throw the ball. I guess we hit the official and then it’s a third down. We come back and our defense gives up some more plays. The key turning point, and I was very proud of them, was being able to hold them to a field goal down there to keep it to a one-score game. Then we offensively come back and score and then get off and we score again. We do the same thing and eat clock again. The third-down conversions – one with Kellen’s legs in that last drive and the catch by Ainias (Smith) – were huge. It ended up being inches short, but our offensive line ate the clock and took the game. Then Seth (Small) hits a big field goal after missing one in the game. That’s a big-time kick coming back after missing a kick there. We knew it was going to take a team effort. I’m very proud of our guys. They are learning to play and not let the momentum swings bother them and control what they can control. They just keep playing the next play and developing the right mentality and culture for what we’re trying to do. So, very proud of our guys and got to get ready to play a very good Ole Miss team next week.”
Coming home with that W! ??#GigEm pic.twitter.com/0jjGdqXDl7
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 5, 2020
Kellen Mond joins elite company:
Only the 3rd player in SEC history to reach 9k passing yards and 1k rushing yards
4th QB in SEC history to have thrown 60 TDs and rushed for 20
Only three QBs in @SEC history have thrown for 60 TDs and rushed for 20 more...until today. ??@TheKellenMond | #GigEm pic.twitter.com/VRZYJ77uLR
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 5, 2020
.@TheKellenMond has joined an elite group of @SEC quarterbacks. ??#GigEm pic.twitter.com/fgPs83cWQv
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 5, 2020
Wydermyer stands alone at the top:
https://t.co/hjheqf2LXP pic.twitter.com/8ijjp3K80I
— Texas A&M Football (@AggieFootball) December 5, 2020
Team Stats
TAMU 7, AU 0
TAMU - J Wydermyer 10 yd pass from Kellen Mond (Seth Small kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:18
TAMU 7, AU 3
AU - Anders Carlson 37 yd field goal 12 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:17
TAMU 7, AU 10
AU - Bo Nix 5 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:33
TAMU 14, AU 10
TAMU - Kellen Mond 1 yd run (Seth Small kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:12
TAMU 14, AU 17
AU - Bo Nix 3 yd run (Anders Carlson kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:24
TAMU 14, AU 20
AU - Anders Carlson 24 yd field goal 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:38
TAMU 21, AU 20
TAMU - J Wydermyer 20 yd pass from Kellen Mond (Seth Small kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:45
TAMU 28, AU 20
TAMU - Ainias Smith 4 yd run (Seth Small kick), 7 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:42
TAMU 31, AU 20
TAMU - Seth Small 32 yd field goal 12 plays, 55 yards, TOP 5:32
