Breaking down the Hurricanes’ first-round playoff opponent, Texas A&M

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The jubilation from simply making the College Football Playoff is easing up, and now the Hurricanes are focusing on their opponent in their first-ever playoff game: Texas A&M.

Like UM, the Aggies are in the playoff for the first time in their history. After starting the year 11-0, Texas A&M fell to archrival Texas in their regular-season finale, costing it a first-round bye and a shot at the SEC title.

Now the Aggies are set to host an 11 a.m. playoff game (noon Eastern Time) against Miami for a shot to play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Here is a look at Texas A&M:

Coach: Mike Elko

Elko is in his second season at the helm in College Station. He turned the Aggies around last year, improving their record from 7-6 in 2023 to 8-5 last season. Now, Texas A&M is an 11-1 playoff team.

Prior to his current position, Elko was Duke’s head coach for two seasons. He went 16-9 in two years with the Blue Devils, and his 2022 squad beat Miami 45-21 at Hard Rock Stadium.

Elko is a defensive-minded coach who previously worked as the defensive coordinator at Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

Quarterback: Marcel Reed

The Aggies’ signal-caller is a dynamic playmaker, capable of making big plays through the air or on the ground.

Reed ended the regular season with 2,932 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He completed 61.8 percent of his passes. Reed also rushed for 466 yards and six touchdowns. Pro Football Focus gave Reed a 66.1 offensive grade this season.

Offensive playmakers

Running back Rueben Owens: Owens is the Aggies’ leading rusher, racking up 618 yards and five touchdowns on 112 carries. PFF gave him a 78 rushing grade.

Wide receiver Mario Craver: Craver, a transfer from Mississippi State, had a strong sophomore year. He was second on the team with 52 catches for 825 yards and four touchdowns. PFF gave him an 82.3 receiving grade, and he also made one of the plays of the year against Notre Dame early in the season.

Wide receiver KC Concepcion: Miami fans may remember Concepcion from his ACC days at N.C. State. In his first year with the Aggies, Concepcion racked up a team-leading 886 receiving yards with nine touchdowns. PFF gave Concepcion a team-leading 83.2 receiving grade.

Defensive playmakers

Defensive end Cashius Howell: Howell has been one of the nation’s top defensive ends this year. The senior paced the team with 14 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Howell racked up 41 quarterback pressures. PFF gave him a 90.4 pass-rushing grade, which was 16th nationally. Howell was named an All-American by The Athletic on Wednesday.

Linebacker Tauren York: York has been a solid linebacker for the Aggies, leading the team with 67 tackles. York had 6.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two pass deflections. PFF credited York with a team-best 39 stops and gave him an 81.1 defensive grade.

Strengths

Reed’s dynamism: Reed’s ability to make plays makes him one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation. Miami has had mixed results when playing against quarterbacks like Reed.

The Hurricanes held USF’s Byrum Brown and Florida’s DJ Lagway in check in early-season wins. Brown gained only 23 yards total (and netted 2 yards when accounting for sacks) against UM, while Lagway lost more yards than he gained.

FSU’s Tommy Castellanos had the most success on the ground, gaining 80 yards on the ground (and netting 57) in the Seminoles’ loss to Miami. SMU’s Kevin Jennings netted negative yards, but did scramble for a touchdown in a win over Miami. Virginia Tech’s Kyron Drones also proved tough to tackle when UM faced the Hokies.

Third-down defense: Miami will have to avoid long third downs against Texas A&M. The Aggies are No. 1 in the nation on third down, allowing conversions on just under 23 percent of third-down attempts.

The Hurricanes are 20th nationally in third-down conversion percentage, securing a first down on just over 47 percent of their attempts.

Pass rush: Howell leads the way for an excellent pass-rushing unit. The Aggies are tied for first in the nation with 41 sacks, and PFF gives their defense an 83.1 pass-rushing grade.

Miami matches up well with Texas A&M’s pass rush, as the Hurricanes have kept quarterback Carson Beck clean on 85 percent of his dropbacks. However, when Beck is pressured, he is not usually quick enough to gain many yards, and his passing numbers tank (like most quarterbacks’ numbers do when facing pressure). Beck had the 57th-best passing grade in the nation when facing pressure (among 150 quarterbacks with 50 or more dropbacks under pressure).

Weaknesses

Turnovers: The Aggies were one of the most turnover-prone teams in the SEC. They gave opponents the ball 16 times, which was 11th in the SEC (ahead of only conference cellar-dwellers Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas) and tied for 76th nationally.

The Aggies were not adept at taking the ball away from opponents, either. Texas A&M had only nine takeaways all season, and its turnover margin was 113th nationally.

Pass defense: The Aggies have not been bad defending the pass, but it also has not been one of their strong suits. Texas A&M is 21st nationally in passing yards allowed per game (182.8 yards per game). But that could be partially the result of not facing many good passing offenses.

Notre Dame’s CJ Carr was the best quarterback the Aggies faced this year, and he completed about 63 percent of his passes for 292 yards and a touchdown (with one interception). The best passing offense Texas A&M faced, statistically, was Arkansas, which ranked 32nd. The average national passing offense rank among the Power 4 teams on Texas A&M’s schedule is about 67th.

Miami has the No. 19 passing offense in the nation. Although Beck has been prone to interceptions at times, he has thrown only one in his past four games, and the Aggies have only three interceptions all season.

Explosive plays: Texas A&M has been susceptible to giving up explosive plays.

The Aggies have surrendered 54 plays of 20 yards or more, which is 79th nationally. Texas A&M has given up 26 plays of 30 yards or more, which is 93rd nationally.

However, the Hurricanes have not been adept at creating big plays, ranking 65th nationally in plays of 20-plus yards and 52nd nationally in plays of 30 or more yards.

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