Texas A&M vs. Louisiana-Monroe Complete Game Preview

The Texas A&M football team will take on the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station. This is a game the Aggies have to win to become bowl-eligible. 

The Aggies are 5-3 with a 2-3 record in the SEC. They are coming off a bye week after an embarrassing 59-0 loss to Alabama. 

The Warhawks are 3-4 and are coming off a 22-18 loss to Texas State. The loss dropped Louisiana-Monroe to 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. 

This will be the last nonconference game for both the Aggies and the Warhawks. After the loss to Alabama, the Aggies need to get a win against Louisiana-Monroe in order to regain some confidence and get some momentum before finishing out the regular-season schedule. 

This is a look at how Texas A&M and Louisiana-Monroe match up with each other.

Texas A&M Keys to Victory

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The Aggies are in the middle of a three-game losing streak and do not resemble the confident team that took the field to begin the 2014 season. In order to get a win against Louisiana-Monroe, they simply need to take the field and play football with emotion and confidence. 

The Texas A&M football team quit on the field against Alabama. The Aggies had a bye week to re-energize and to reassess where they are at and who they are as a team. 

How they perform against Louisiana-Monroe will go a long way toward telling fans what they can expect from this team for the remainder of the season. 

If they sleepwalk through the game, then the Aggies will know that another win in 2014 will be hard to come by. If they play with emotion and effort, then Aggie fans will know that the 2014 season is not over yet.

The Aggies have a much more talented team than Louisiana-Monroe. They simply need to take the field and execute their offense and defense to the best of their abilities in order to get the win. 

Texas A&M needs to play with tempo and catch the ball on offense. On defense, the Aggies need to read their keys, tackle and force turnovers.

Louisiana-Monroe Keys to Victory

Dave Martin/Associated Press

The Louisiana-Monroe defense has forced seven interceptions in seven games. If they want to beat the Aggies, the Warhawks are going to have to force multiple turnovers in the game. 

The Warhawks have a very solid defense, allowing just 364.7 yards per game and registering 26 sacks on the season. The defense knows how to get to the quarterback and force turnovers. 

If it is able to force multiple turnovers, then Louisiana-Monroe has enough of a passing game to score points and put pressure on the Aggies. The Warhawks average 241.6 yards passing per game. 

The Aggies are on a three-game losing streak. If Louisiana-Monroe forces a couple of turnovers and gets up by multiple scores early, that could cast some doubt in the eyes of the Aggie players. That is what the Warhawks would have to do in order to have a shot at leaving College Station with a win.

Texas A&M Players to Watch

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After the performance against Alabama, really the entire team needs to be watched against Louisiana-Monroe. Keep a close eye on sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill. 

He played very poorly against Alabama and appeared scared in the pocket. At times, he simply waited for the sack to happen. The Aggies offense cannot function if the quarterback is not out there distributing the ball. 

Hill has been very poor the past three games. If he does not play well against the Warhawks, then Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin may be forced to make a change. 

Aggie freshmen Speedy Noil and Myles Garrett are two players whose effort cannot be questioned. They have played hard on every play during this losing streak. 

Do not be surprised if Noil finally returns a punt for a touchdown. The freshman receiver from New Orleans is averaging 16.3 yards per punt return. He is a very dangerous player in space. 

Garrett leads the team with nine tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. If he gets a sack against Louisiana-Monroe, he will set the SEC freshman record for sacks in a season.

Louisiana-Monroe Players to Watch

Dave Martin/Associated Press

Louisiana-Monroe running back Centarius Donald is the type of back the Aggies have struggled with in 2014. The 6'1", 223-pound senior has rushed for 436 yards and four touchdowns on the season. 

The Aggie linebackers have struggled with tackling bigger running backs, and Donald will present them with a challenge on Saturday. 

Senior quarterback Pete Thomas is Monroe's biggest offensive threat. The 6'5", 235-pound athlete has passed for 1,562 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. 

Junior nose tackle Gerrand Johnson is the Warhawks' best player on defense. He is second on the team with 50 tackles and six tackles for loss from his position. He is tied for the team lead in sacks with four on the season.

The fact that a nose tackle in a 33-stack scheme can put up those kinds of numbers is a testament to the kind of player Johnson is. Do not be surprised to see Johnson playing on Sundays in two years.

What They Are Saying

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Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin discussed the tempo of the offense in the press conference after the Ole Miss game:

"We’ve never really looked at our offense as how quick you snap the ball. We’ve never done that. I feel the tempo and pace are the same as they’ve always been. I could be wrong, but that’s how I feel."

Sumlin continued after the Ole Miss game, this time dealing with adversity: 

"

It’s something we talk about all the time as a team, expectations and whether you’re winning or losing, and the ability to trust the things within the building, the things within the room. An old coach told me, 'You start listening to everybody else, you ain’t never been that good and you ain’t never been that bad.' You try and keep an even keel and be honest with where you are. Coming into this thing, nobody said this would be easy. This is a difficult league.

"

Louisiana-Monroe head coach Todd Berry talked about injuries affecting his team: 

"I think that there is a confidence thing that comes from playing next to a guy who has played significantly for the program. There is a depth issue. You take some significant players out of your program, and it changes some things."

Predicted Outcome

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This is a game where the Aggie offense will get its mojo back. Texas A&M should dominate on both sides of the ball against the Warhawks. 

If the Aggies struggle in this game, then the season is effectively over, and Texas A&M fans should focus on recruiting. Aggie fans should expect the offense to move efficiently up and down the field and the defense to force multiple three-and-outs. 

The Warhawks simply do not have the personnel to hang with the Aggies. Texas A&M will win this game 52-13.