Aggies Primed For Another 'November To Remember' With Auburn, Trips To Ole Miss, LSU
Texas A&M is 7-3 in the month of November since coach Jimbo Fisher's era started in 2018. If we count his time as Florida State's head coach from 2010-17, he is 34-8 in month 11, including a 5-0 mark in 2013 when the Seminoles won the national championship.
The Aggies (6-2, 3-2 SEC) debuted at No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday after a No. 5 regular season finish last year at 8-1, just missing the four-team Playoff.
Texas A&M begins November by hosting CFP No. 13 Auburn (6-2, 3-1 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS before playing at No. 16 Ole Miss (6-2, 3-2 SEC), hosting Prairie View (6-1, 5-0 SWAC) and closing the regular season at LSU (4-4, 2-3 SEC).
The Auburn game will be the Aggies' last chance to defeat a higher-ranked team and rise in the rankings themselves. Auburn is coming off a 31-20 win over Ole Miss.
"Auburn's really hot, so we're going to have to play a great game," Fisher said. "This is a very good football team, but I think we're playing well, too. We've found out a little bit who we are."
Texas A&M won its last three before an open date last week, starting with a 41-38 upset of No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 9. That tremendous win followed losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State, which ruined the Aggies' Playoff hopes, barring a string of miracles.
"We've got to keep growing," said Fisher, who is hoping for a November harvest.
"The stretch run, as I say, the 'Remember November,'" he said. "November's always important. You put yourself in position to be relevant during the month of November in the first two months. We have a chance to do that."
To do so, the Aggies will have to open November with their first-ever home win over Auburn, which is 4-0 all-time at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, with wins in 2013, '15, '17 and '19. The two schools met just twice in football before A&M joined the SEC in 2012. The Aggies lead the series, 6-5, and have won four of five meetings in Auburn since 2012.
"That happens in time, and hopefully that'll break this week, "Fisher said. "Our players feel good about themselves and about how they're playing right now,"
The Aggies have the "you know" factor, as Fisher puts it.
"Confidence comes from you know and you know, if that makes any sense," he said. "When you're coaching, you know that you know you can get this done. Or as a player, you know that you know you can get this done."