Trenches Preview: Texas A&M at Alabama
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The Aggies got back in the win column with a 41-0 victory over The Citadel at home last week, moving to 4-3 on the season. With the brief respite of an FCS foe out of the way, the true gauntlet of the SEC begins as the Aggies face Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Texas to finish out the season – though a bye week is mixed in. That stretch begins with Alabama, as the Aggies will need to find a way to win in the trenches more than ever.
Let’s dive into some of the vulnerabilities this Crimson Tide squad possesses and talk about what Texas A&M needs to do to capitalize and pull off the upset.
Offensive Line
Texas A&M completely controlled the line of scrimmage against The Citadel last week as the Aggies ran the ball for 264 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Obviously, the odds of Texas A&M replicating that effort are slim to none with a big step up in competition, but I still believe the Aggies need to rely on the rushing attack to find success against Alabama and shorten the game.
Unfortunately for Texas A&M, if this Alabama defense has a strength, it is playing against the run game. The Tide are 6th in the conference, allowing 107 yards per game. That number is good enough for 29th in the country. However, that rushing defense did show signs of cracks last week against Tennessee, as DeSean Bishop rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns against the Tide. Both touchdowns came in the second half, sealing the eventual win for Tennessee. Now, I still don’t think that running directly at opposing defenses is a strategy that works for this offensive line. I believe the Aggies need to help the offensive line out by moving linemen either in zone-running schemes or by pulling and allowing the running backs to make cuts behind them. KJ Edwards and Jamarrion Morrow are both capable of making men miss in the hole and creating bigger gains; they’ll need to do that against the Tide for the Aggies to find any offensive success and avoid the three-and-outs that have stressed this defense against top competition.
The Alabama passing defense ranks near the bottom of the country at 101st in passing yards allowed. While I’d love to see the Aggies take advantage of that, I still don’t believe relying on the passing attack is a feasible path to victory. The Aggies should use Reed’s arm sparingly, and I expect them to rely heavily on play-action game and quick passes to minimize risk. The Texas A&M offensive line will need to account for Alabama’s top edge rusher, Yhonzae Pierre, as well. If there is a positive, this Alabama defense is not one of the more creative schemes I’ve seen on tape. Perhaps that allows Reed to find a bit more success.
Ultimately, though, I still think the offense needs to rely on the run game. The keys to having a chance here, outside of finding run game success? Jump out to an early lead, avoid three-and-outs, and protect the football. Of note, the Aggies still have yet to score a touchdown on the road this season. We’ll see if the offensive line can do its part.
Defensive Line
On the defensive side of the ball, Texas A&M has to find ways to win on the early downs. That starts with the defensive front playing better against the run than they have so far this season. This Alabama Crimson Tide squad is not the force up front that they have been in the past, and that has shown with the Tide currently ranked 9th in the conference in rushing offense. Against Tennessee, the Tide ran the ball 26 times for just 54 yards. Now, admittedly, those numbers are helped by Keelon Russell taking five sacks on the day, but the blueprint is there – especially if Texas A&M is back to full health after resting some key members of the squad against The Citadel last week.
The most challenging aspect of this week will be accounting for Keelon Russell, both in the rushing attack and the pass game. While Russell is a young QB, prone to making mistakes, he has the ability to hurt the Aggies with his legs and arm – the latter especially if Ryan Coleman-Williams is available. The Aggies will need to be disciplined against any zone-read looks, as well as when rushing the passer. I know we’ve lamented the pass rush this season, but if there is one bright side to the pass rush, we haven’t seen as many gashing runs by scrambling quarterbacks this season.
Circling back to that pass rush, the Aggies are 135th in team sacks. That is simply an unacceptable drop-off after ranking in the top five last season. Again, a four-man rush simply won’t get the job done. The Aggies have to find a way to get pressure on quarterbacks, and in my mind that will come from exotics or not at all. Still, if there is a bit of hope in this one, the Crimson Tide rank 129th in the nation in sacks allowed. Pass protection is a clear weakness for Alabama. I’m just not sure if it’s a weakness the Aggies will be able to capitalize on.
While I’d love to believe that Texas A&M is capable of finding some momentum and handing Alabama a third straight loss, I still don’t trust this squad to get the job done on the road in Tuscaloosa. Texas A&M getting on the board early would be a big help for the Aggies, but I think it’s more likely the Crimson Tide jump out front to start, and as we’ve seen, this Aggie squad simply isn’t built to play from behind. I have Alabama winning this one 31-10.
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