Trevor Knight, No. 17 Texas A&M overpower Auburn, 29-16

Published Sep. 18, 2016 1:37 a.m. ET

foxsports

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) Trevor Knight passed for 247 yards and Daniel LaCamera kicked five field goals to lead No. 17 Texas A&M to a 29-16 victory over Auburn Saturday night.

Knight also ran for 42 yards and several first downs in his first Southeastern Conference game for the Aggies (3-0, 1-0 SEC), who are off to another fast start. Myles Garrett had two sacks and Texas A&M's defense harassed quarterback Sean White enough to minimize big-play chances for Auburn (1-2, 0-1).

In a matchup of teams trying to defy modest preseason SEC West forecasts, Texas A&M kept that hope firmly intact with a 478-yard offensive performance. Freshman Trayveon Williams weaved through Auburn defenders for an icing-on-the-cake 89-yard touchdown run with 6:52 left and gained 127 yards on eight carries.

Mostly, though, the Aggies scored three points at a time.

''It's frustrating. We'd get down there and have some opportunities to get the ball in the end zone,'' Knight said.

''We put enough points on the board to win this ball game. Great job by Daniel, being almost automatic.''

The Aggies are 3-0 for the third straight year, a run they haven't had since 1939-41.

Knight kept the Aggies moving even if though they struggled to find the end zone. He completed 20 of 40 passes but led one 92-yard drive in the first half and another march for three points in the fourth quarter.

Auburn couldn't cash in on defensive stops with any points in the third quarter.

''I really thought the third quarter was probably the key to the game,'' Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said. ''It was a dogfight, and then in the third quarter I thought our defense played very good, gave the offense a lot of opportunities, and the offense just couldn't seize the moment.''

Auburn drove deep into Texas A&M territory with runs by speedy backup quarterback John Franklin III and hard running Kamryn Pettway. Then Daeshon Hall stuffed Franklin behind the line on fourth down from the 12. Williams put it away with his sprint to the end zone, though Franklin did lead an Auburn scoring drive in the final minutes.

''I wasn't happy with how we finished the game,'' Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said. ''To really kind of let down on defense and give up the score and then not close out things the way we needed to in the final 5-6-7 minutes. We've got to improve there.''

Knight gave Texas A&M a 16-7 first-half lead with the long second-quarter drive. He completed all four attempts for 86 yards, including a dead-on 51-yard strike to Josh Reynolds. That set up Reynold's 5-yard touchdown catch.

LaCamera had kicks of 46, 35, 31, 37 and 26 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Texas A&M: The Aggies sputtered at times offensively - mostly in the red zone, but also going three-and-out on their first three drives after halftime. Converting 2 of 15 third-down attempts won't always get the job done.

Auburn: The Tigers are still plagued by inconsistent offense and are just 2-10 over the last 12 SEC games. Sean White hit some third-down passes but nothing downfield and was 18-of-27 passing for 126 yards.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Aggies could make some headway in the rankings with the win and face tougher games ahead.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M faces No. 24 Arkansas in Arlington, Texas after winning in an overtime thriller last season.

Auburn hosts SEC West rival LSU, which won the last meeting 45-21.

---

AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org