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Thanks to big days from the power duo of Jarrett Stidham and Kerryon Johnson, the Auburn Tigers got their loaded month of November off to a great start with a 42-27 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station.
Stidham went 20-27 for 267 yards and three touchdowns, including a beautifully thrown 53 yard score to Darius Slayton late in the first half to put the Tigers up 14-13. They would never trail again.
After Slayton’s touchdown, the Tiger defense forced an A&M punt. Nick Ruffin got into the backfield and blocked the punt and Malik Miller fell on it to put the Tigers up 21-13 going into the break. It was at that moment you could really feel the tide turn on this game.
Getting back to Kerryon Johnson, he had 29 rushes for 145 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 5 receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown there, as well. If he’s going to continue to play at this level, Auburn may be able to play spoiler against Georgia or Alabama later in the month.
For A&M, the story was the same as usual. They couldn’t decide on a quarterback and neither was able to get consistently in a rhythm. Kellen Mond started the day and went 5-11 for 16 yards before getting the hook in favor of Nick Starkel. Starkel went 11-22 for two touchdowns. Christian Kirk hauled in a game-high eight receptions.
Texas A&M is now 5-4 and 3-3 in SEC play, while Auburn improves to 7-2 and 5-1. The Tigers host the Georgia Bulldogs next week while A&M hosts New Mexico.