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Who had the highest and lowest PFF grades in Auburn’s win over Texas A&M?

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Auburn’s thrilling 43-41 win over Texas A&M was much needed. It kept the Tigers’ bowl hopes alive and sent Auburn’s seniors out of Jordan-Hare Stadium one last time with a win.

It wasn’t a perfect game and Pro Football Focus didn’t give Auburn stellar grades all around. The Tigers earned a 73.7 overall grade, the lowest it has had in a win this season. Not that anybody in the Auburn locker room will care after a four-overtime victory.

PFF also graded every player who played a snap in the game. Here are the highest and lowest graded players:

Offense

Top 5

  1. RB Jarquez Hunter 76.4
  2. WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith 74.2
  3. WR Cam Coleman 71.5
  4. OL Izavion Miller 65.4
  5. QB Payton Thorne 64.2

Analysis

The trio of Hunter, Lambert-Smith and Coleman has carried Auburn’s offense in recent weeks and that was no different against Texas A&M.

Hunter rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns and Coleman and Lambert-Smith both went over 100 yards receiving for the second straight game.

Thorne was the one distributing the ball to the two prolific receivers, explaining his high grade. Miller was one of few offensive linemen to earn a decent grade from PFF, highlighted by a 67.5 run blocking grade.

Bottom 5

  1. OL Tate Johnson 41.1 (six snaps)
  2. OL Jeremiah Wright 51
  3. TE Luke Deal 53.3
  4. OL Connor Lew 53.7
  5. OL Dillon Wade 56.6

Analysis

This list features a heavy dose of Auburn’s offensive line, sparked mainly by repeated pre-snap penalties late in the game.

Run blocking was another struggle for these players, as the highest run blocking grade among the group was a 58 by Wade. Auburn earned an overall run blocking grade of 56.1 in the game, one of its lowest this season.

Defense

Top 5

  1. LB Dorian Mausi 75.5
  2. DL Philip Blidi 71.3
  3. LB Demarcus Riddick 68.7
  4. S Kaleb Harris and Jerrin Thompson 68.3
  5. DL Zykeivous Walker 68

Analysis

Many of the usual suspects make up the top five list on defense. The number that stands out most here is Thompson’s 89 tackle grade.

All of the players on the list had a solid tackling grade and Auburn finished with a high 81.6 team tackling grade. Mausi also deserves some credit, playing one of his best games of the season. He had the highest coverage grade on the team (78.8) in 30 coverage snaps.

Bottom 5

  1. LB Keyron Crawford 45.4
  2. DL Trill Carter 46.9 (eight snaps)
  3. LB Austin Keys 53.7
  4. DL Quientrail Jamison-Travis 56.6
  5. DL Isaiah Raikes 57.1

Analysis

Auburn’s defense did struggle against the run at times, which explains the low grades on the defensive line, but Crawford’s low grade is a little more puzzling.

He was second on the team in both total pressures (4) and pass rush grade (78.1), but didn’t earn high marks in other areas. Crawford had a 37.5 rush defense grade and missed two tackles.

Those grades came on a night where Auburn’s defense wasn’t quite as good as it had been in recent weeks, but still did enough to get stops when needed.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m