Trenches Preview: Texas A&M at Mizzou
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After a dominant second half saw Texas A&M power to a 49-25 win over LSU, the Aggies sit at 8-0 on the season and ranked No. 3 in the country in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. Now, Texas A&M returns from the idle week with just four contests remaining in the regular season. The first of those contests represents another ranked SEC opponent on the road. The Aggies head to Columbia this Saturday to take on No. 19 Mizzou in a game that sets the tone for the final third of the season.
What do the Aggies need in the trenches to keep their winning way going? Let’s dive in.
Offensive Line
Texas A&M faces a Missouri defense that excels in the trenches. That makes Saturday’s contest between the Aggie offensive line and the Tiger defensive line a fascinating case study for just how good this Texas A&M squad is. Missouri ranks fourth in the SEC in rush defense and sixth in the conference in sacks. While the Aggies have allowed just seven sacks on the season, Missouri represents a stiff test for protecting Marcel Reed. While I believe Texas A&M is up for the challenge, they will have to minimize mistakes in order to give Reed the time to hit his receivers and let them go to work.
The rushing game presents more of a challenge, and I do have questions about how the Aggies will attack this Missouri defensive front without Le’Veon Moss. In my mind, Texas A&M will likely lean on the offensive line as usual, but the latest trend has been Marcel Reed getting much more involved in the running game. I expect that trend to continue this Saturday.
What does this mean for the offensive line? Business as usual. They’ve done a fantastic job of finishing blocks to spring big gains. If they can continue to do that while also minimizing penalties, expect another strong performance from the offense.
Defensive Line
The formula for success for the Texas A&M defense all year has involved winning on the early downs and forcing teams into bad situations on third down. That equation remains the same on Saturday, but the challenge gets much more difficult against a Mizzou squad that has most of its success running the ball with Ahmad Hardy. Mizzou mixes in a lot of outside zone and stretch plays, something that still presents trouble for this Texas A&M defense at times.
Hardy excels at shedding tackles, and with Texas A&M still failing to set the edge properly at times, those edges are going to be an area to watch. It’s going to take a fantastic effort from defensive linemen, shedding blocks and securing tackles to minimize the opportunities Hardy has to get to the second level. Texas A&M doesn’t have to win every single down, but any negative plays on first and second down will hurt Mizzou. Those plays will need to come from a technically sound effort up front.
If Texas A&M wins on the early downs, that’s where things get much simpler for the Aggies. Missouri ranks in the back half of the conference in sacks allowed. We know what happens when Mike Elko gets you to third and long. Toss a reserve freshman QB into the equation after the injury to Beau Pribula, and the defensive line ought to be able to generate pressures and force errors. If the Aggies are consistent with their effort, they are the better team across the board.
I would love to see this team put together a complete game performance. No dumb penalties on the offensive line. No missed assignments on the defensive line. Set the tone and finish strong. Prove why Texas A&M is in the playoff discussion. Take care of business against Mizzou and move to 9-0. From there, the Aggies have everything to play for.
#BTHOmizzou
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