Texas A&M vs. Alabama Complete Game Preview
The Texas A&M football team will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday. The Aggies have to beat the Tide if they want to remain in the race for the SEC West title.
Texas A&M is 5-2 with a 2-2 conference record and ranked No. 21 in the latest Associated Press poll. Alabama is 5-1 with a 3-1 record in the SEC and ranked No. 7. This will be the Aggies' third straight game against a Top 10 opponent in three weeks.
The Aggies are coming off a 35-20 defeat to Ole Miss at home. Alabama traveled to Arkansas and got a 14-13 victory over the Hogs.
Texas A&M has looked unprepared to play in two consecutive games. The Aggies are suffering from a bit of an identity crisis and appear tentative on the field, especially on offense. They need to return to their attacking ways on offense if they want to get back into the SEC race.
This is a look at how Texas A&M and Alabama match up with each other.
Texas A&M's Keys to Victory
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The Texas A&M offense during the last two games has not looked like an Aggies offense under coach Kevin Sumlin. Sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill needs to find his swagger again.
There has been a combination of tentative play, poor play-calling and failure to execute during the Aggies' two-game losing streak. With Malcome Kennedy out with an injury, the Aggies are putting four receivers on the field who are first-time starters and basically first-year players.
That youth and inexperience were on display in Starkville, Mississippi, where the receivers dropped a number of catchable passes, which hampered the offense. Against Ole Miss, offense coordinator Jake Spavital seemed reluctant to call a pass play that was more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage in the first half.
The result was that the Aggies were shut out in the first half, which was a first for a team coached by Sumlin. The Aggies need to get their confidence back on offense and play like a typical Sumlin-coached team.
On defense, they need to find a way to limit the Alabama running game. If they can make the Tide one-dimensional and force them to pass in order to win, they will have a chance at leaving Tuscaloosa with a win.
Alabama's Keys to Victory
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Alabama needs to rely on its two-headed monster at running back if it wants to get its sixth win of the season on Saturday. Junior running back T.J. Yeldon and sophomore running back Derrick Henry are a terrible matchup for the Aggies defense.
As long as Alabama limits turnovers on offense and finds a way to get Yeldon and Henry a combined 40 carries, the team should have more than enough to get a victory at home.
On defense, the Tide need to stop the run and force the Aggies to pass. Texas A&M has not moved the ball effectively during its two-game losing streak. If the Tide can make the Aggies offense one-dimensional, then they should be able to keep Texas A&M contained.
Texas A&M Players to Watch
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Texas A&M freshman defensive end Myles Garrett leads the Aggies with 7.5 sacks. If he gets another sack this season, he will break Jadeveon Clowney's SEC freshman record of eight sacks. Garrett will line up against Alabama's true freshman left tackle Cameron Robinson.
Garrett gave Robinson all kinds of problems during the practices leading up to the Under Armour All-American Game in high school. Garrett could be very disruptive if Alabama does not double-team him.
Kenny Hill needs to have a good game against Alabama. He has thrown seven interceptions in the Aggies' last four games. He simply needs to make better decisions with the football.
Sophomore middle linebacker Jordan Mastrogiovanni needs to have a great game against Alabama if the Aggies are going to find a way to win. If fans see Mastrogiovanni diving at the feet of Tide running backs in a futile attempt to tackle them in the first quarter, then it will be a long day for the Aggies.
Sophomore wide receiver Josh Reynolds leads the Aggies with eight touchdown receptions. He has 29 catches for 476 yards on the season but has struggled to catch the ball consistently during the last three games.
Reynolds is the Aggies' most polished wide receiver. He has the best combination of size, speed and route-running ability on team. He will need to have a big game in Tuscaloosa in order for the Aggies to win.
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Alabama Players to Watch
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Alabama has more talent at the skill positions than it has ever had under head coach Nick Saban. No team in the country can compare to what the Tide have at running back, tight end and wide receiver.
Junior wide receiver Armani Cooper might be the best offensive player in the country. He has caught 54 passes for 768 yards and five touchdowns in 2014.
Sophomore tight end O.J. Howard only has six receptions on the year but is averaging 25 yards per catch. The Aggies do not have a linebacker who can cover him one-on-one.
At running back, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry form the most talented duo in the country. Yeldon has rushed for 452 yards and two touchdowns in six games, while Henry has rushed for 382 yards and two touchdowns. The 6'3", 240-pound sophomore is bigger than any linebacker the Aggies have on their roster.
Both running backs will take advantage of the Aggies' lack of size at the linebacker position. On defense, junior safety Landon Collins leads the Tide with 46 tackles and has grabbed two interceptions.
What They Are Saying
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Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin at the Ole Miss postgame press conference on what the Aggies will do moving forward:
"As a coach you have to be honest with your schemes and with yourself and really that was a message to players and coaches. You have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and be honest with deficiencies that have been presented and then either be able to fix those during the week or adjust during the week. There were a number of times during the day when we just got whipped and it’s hard to fix that.
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Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill on struggles against the Ole Miss defense:
"They did play great. They’re the top defense in the country for a reason, but I think we had our opportunities and missed them. I turned it over twice and they turned them into touchdowns. They scored 35 points and it could've ended up being 21-21 there at the end. I think we just stopped ourselves a little bit but they are a great defense and they played very well tonight.
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Nick Saban in the postgame press conference after the 14-13 win over Arkansas: "We can get better at the things we didn't do well. We certainly struggled offensively. Arkansas has got a good team, they really do. Better than people think. Our guys did a good job today stopping the run."
Prediction
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Alabama is a terrible mismatch for the Aggies. Their only hope on defense is that Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin decides to throw the ball 50 times and refuses to feed his running backs.
On offense, the Aggies will have to go uptempo and try to keep the Crimson Tide defense on its heels. The Aggies are too young and inexperienced to go into Tuscaloosa and beat a team as talented as Alabama.
Alabama will beat the Aggies, 31-17.
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