By The Numbers: Auburn 28, Texas A&M 24

Good morning. Let’s get this over with.

3 minutes and 33 seconds. This is the amount of time in the fourth quarter that it took for Auburn to score half of their points: 14 of them, amass 129 yards (46% of their entire output on the day), 114 of them passing yards from Jarrett Stidham, who completed 7 of 8 passes, including that one key touchdown (Stitham was only 11/21 for 110 yards and zero TDs before that crucial interception that led to the beginning of this nightmarish wormhole in time).

-2 turnover margin. Once again, bad decisions and poor execution on offense combined with a complete inability on the part of the defense to create any turnovers to put us in a deeper hole than we could already manage to frantically scratch our way out of.

-6. That’s the accumulated turnover margin for this season. Good for 107th in the country, tied with teams having such stellar campaigns as Nebraska, Baylor, Florida State, and Tulsa. The offense has turned the ball over 10 times in 9 games. The defense has forced 4 turnovers in 9 games. You decide which to become indignant about.

This was a team effort.

5: sacks allowed by the much-hyped Maroon Goons. We’re edging ever closer to dead last in this statistic nationally, and we’ve got last place in the SEC virtually wrapped up.

50% completions. #11 looked more like Freshman Mond out there than 2018 Clemson Mond. Jimbo Fisher has been called a “QB Whisperer.” Question is: what the hell’s he whispering?

22 touches, 182 yards, 3 TDs. Trayveon Williams was the entire offense once again. Imagine how bad it would have been without him.

159 yards / 61 yards. This is the ratio of production in the passing game between RB/FB/TE and WRs. Haven’t we been signing like 13 wideouts per year for the past 5 years? Surely one of them can emerge as a somewhat reliable target and threat.

7 tackles, 2 TFL. The combined output from the two veteran linebackers (Dodson and Alaka). A cornerback led the team in tackles.

1/2. Another missed FG, this one from 36 yards. So close to only losing by one point!

Coming out of September more or less intact, and with a pair of respectable losses to the two most dominant juggernauts in the sport, was more or less expected. Grinding out tough SEC wins for the next few weeks built up a newfound faith in this program’s toughness and character. Unfortunately, all that good will from the fanbase has been more or less squandered in the past two Saturdays. Blown leads and a tendency to make struggling quarterbacks appear godly are the twin Aggie Football curses that have been the undoing of multiple past coaching staffs. Jimbo and crew were supposed to be different. Now, they’re going to get some breathing room in year one, but this little road trip has chipped away at the patience of the masses, leaving an aura of complete desperation heading into the home stretch. Who knows what the hell’s going to happen when we trot out there against the Ole Miss offense.