Ahead of Auburn’s SEC opener at Texas A&M on Saturday, Hugh Freeze said in an interview with ESPN’s College Gameday that he thought his initial welcome back into the SEC was warmer than expected.

“I didn’t get anybody to talk ugly to me, flip us off or anything,” Freeze said. “They must have the nicest fans.”

And while Freeze might’ve been shocked by the Aggies’ cordial fans before the start of the game, the surprise wasn’t as pleasant when the rubber hit the road and the Tigers kicked it off against Texas A&M.

It was then that Freeze was quickly reminded he was — in fact — back in the SEC, where the stage is bigger, the game is faster, and the players are stronger.

Like he cautioned Auburn fans heading into Saturday’s game, the talent gap between the Tigers’ and Aggies’ roster became evident as Texas A&M rolled to a 27-10 win, improving the Aggies to 3-1 (1-0 SEC) and dropping the Tigers to 3-1 (0-1 SEC).

Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s action at Kyle Field in College Station:

Auburn loses running back Damari Alston to upper-body injury

Auburn came into Saturday’s matchup with its fair share of bumps and bruises.

It was announced Monday that the Tigers would be without defensive back Keionte Scott for a considerable amount of time after he suffered a high-ankle sprain against Samford.

Freeze also wasn’t sure how much he’d get out of offensive linemen Kam Stutts and Izavion ‘Too Tall’ Miller — two guys who also got dinged up against Samford.

Come kickoff, however, the Tigers appeared to be about as close to full health as one could wish as not only Stutts and Miller played, but as did Donovan Kaufman, who missed last week due to a concussion, and Nehemiah Pritchett, who made his 2023 debut against the Aggies.

But all the good news on the injury front didn’t come without some bad news as sophomore running back Damari Alston took the crown of Texas A&M defensive back Tyreek Chappell’s helmet squarely to the forearm as was on the receiving end of a Payton Thorne pitch.

Following the game, Freeze said Alston received X-rays, but didn’t offer any kind of concrete answer on the severity of the injury or Alston’s status moving forward.

Chappell’s hit dislodged the football, which was initially ruled a fumble and returned for a touchdown.

The call was later reversed, giving Auburn a huge break. But it came at the expense of Alston, who spent quite some time in the locker room before returning to the sideline sporting a sling on his right arm and a towel over his head.

Alston had two carries for 12 yards before his day ended and was Auburn’s second leading rusher with 121 yards and a touchdown coming into College Station.

Auburn’s offense still looks like an unfinished product and the offensive line didn’t help

In Auburn’s first offensive possession of the second half, the Tigers went three-and-out, facing a third-and-19 situation that saw Thorne drill a shallow pass into the turf. The third-and-long was the result of a Jarquez Hunter rush for -1 yard, Thorne being sacked for a loss of three yards and a false start.

And that was the story for the better part of the day as Auburn’s offense played well behind the sticks.

Payton Thorne didn’t look like the Payton Thorne the Tigers got out of him against Samford last week as he finished the day 6-for-12 for 44 yards and -34 on yards on the ground.

“I certainly don’t want to sit here and make a lot of assumptions without watching the film, it’s just that we had people open,” Freeze said following the game. “And we either missed them or the pressure distracted us, it seemed. I’ve gotta watch the film and see exactly what was going on to cause that. But we certainly missed a few opportunities in the passing game.”

However, Auburn’s offensive line did him no favors.

Through one half, Texas A&M’s defense tallied four sacks, six tackles for a loss and allowed the Tigers to rush for just three yards per carry.

By the game’s final whistle, the Aggies’ defense recorded six sacks, 13 tackles for a lost and 2.8 yards per carry.

“I thought we were holding up pretty good in the middle,” Freeze said of the offensive line following the game. “We just got distracted some with edge pressure.”

All of that came after a week of Freeze harping on the importance of working towards third-and-manageable situations and avoiding third-and-long situations.

By the time the second half kicked off, Auburn’s average distance to go on third down was more than 11 yards and the Tigers were just 1-for-7 on third down conversions.

At the conclusion of the ball game, Auburn’s average distance to go on third down was 11.7 yards and the Tigers ended the day just 3-for-15 on third down, including 1-for-2 when looking at a third-and-short situations.

Auburn’s offense averaged just 3.7 yards on third downs, while giving up three sacks for a total additional loss of 14 yards on the crucial down.

The Tigers’ offense mustered just 200 yards of total offense against the Aggies and managed to score just three points via a 53-yard field goal off the foot of Alex McPherson to end the second quarter.

Tigers’ defense holds its own in the first half, crumbles in the second

At the start, it felt like the Cal game all over again — the Auburn defense was going to bail out its defense, perhaps just long enough for the Tigers’ offense to find something to work with.

Unfortunately for Auburn, that wasn’t the case.

A day full of three-and-outs on offense makes for a long day when you’re on defense wearing a jersey of the same color.

Auburn’s defense responded to the call early, forcing Texas A&M to settle for a pair of field goals.

The Aggies also lost starting quarterback Conner Weigman to a lower-leg injury before the game could get out of the first half. Weigman went 8-for-14 for 70 yards before being taken to the locker room.

But if the Tigers thought now having Weigman would negatively impact the Aggies, they were mistaking.

Relieving Weigman under center was sophomore Max Johnson, who opened the game on a 5-for-5 tear, passing for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson first found his brother and Texas A&M tight end Jake Johnson for a 22-yard touchdown and followed it with a 37-yard touchdown to Evan Stewart on the following drive, giving the Aggies a 20-3 advantage with 6:22 to play in the third quarter.

Auburn’s defense finally got its break early in the fourth quarter as freshman defensive back Kayin Lee, who was in coverage for the touchdown to Stewart, stripped Rueben Owens of the football and allowed linebacker Eugene Asante to return it 67 yards to the house — good for Auburn’s first touchdown of the afternoon.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Asante’s scoop and score — which was Auburn’s second defensive touchdown of the season — was too little too late.

It didn’t help that Texas A&M put the game on ice with 3:59 to play, courtesy of a 79-yard rush from Amari Daniels, setting up the 4-yard touchdown rush from Le’Veon Moss, which gave the Aggies their 27-10 advantage.

“I thought our kids played well enough on defense — outside of the few explosive plays — to give us a chance to win the game,” Freeze said following the loss. “But offensively, we’re searching. And we’ve gotta find some answers.”

Texas A&M’s offense went on to tally 403 yards in a very balanced effort that saw them average 7.1 yards per play.