Texas A&M vs. Missouri: What Tigers Must Do to Beat the Aggies
The Missouri Tigers will be looking to move one step closer to securing back-to-back SEC East titles when they travel to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network).
However, coming off an impressive result of their own—a 41-38 victory over then-No. 3 Auburn last weekend—the Aggies will be coming in poised and confident.
It’s a formula that could spell doom for the Tigers. Odds Shark currently lists them as 3.5-point underdogs.
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Here’s what Missouri has to do in order to avoid a setback.
Keep Mauk’s Jersey Clean
If the Tigers hope to win, the offensive line must do whatever it can to keep quarterback Maty Mauk off the ground.
Entering this weekend, Texas A&M has compiled a whopping 32.0 sacks. That’s good enough to tie for No. 6 in the nation and first—along with Mississippi State—in the SEC.
Look for freshman standout Myles Garrett to continually create havoc in the backfield. The Arlington, Texas, native has already racked up 11.0 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss and nine quarterback hurries on the season.
On the year, Missouri has been solid at limiting the amount of sacks given up. Thus far, the Tigers have allowed just 15.0 sacks, ranking No. 37 in the nation.
With Mauk already struggling to make noise in the passing attack, having to deal with a disruptive pass rush wouldn't make matters any easier.
Continue Riding Strong Defensive Play
The Tigers have had a pretty impressive defense all season long.
In fact, through nine games, the unit ranks No. 24 in total defense (339.8 YPG). The strength is strong play in the secondary—it's only allowed eight passing touchdowns and intercepted 10 passes—and a stifling pass rush that has racked up 31.0 sacks on the year.
Most impressive is Shane Ray, whose 12.0 sacks represent a single-season school record.
“He’s one of the great competitors I’ve ever been around,” head coach Gary Pinkel told Kristie Rieken of The Associated Press. “I’d put him in my top five since I’ve been coaching.”
Along with Ray, the Missouri defense as a whole has only been getting better in recent weeks.
The unit has now held three straight opponents to under 300 total yards of offense and fewer than 15 points. The Tigers have gained eight turnovers while racking up 10.0 sacks during that span as well.
With the Aggies appearing to rediscover their offensive firepower, the Missouri defense will be put to the test.
Play Mistake-Free Football
Avoiding sacks and playing stout defense will help, but as Missouri blog Rock M Nation puts it, playing turnover-free football is the key:
Although Mauk has been a solid game manager, he struggled to find much accuracy in his only two SEC road starts.
In games against South Carolina and Florida, the sophomore completed just 18 of 52 passes (34.6 percent). He also failed to throw a single touchdown and tossed one interception.
Sure, Texas A&M isn’t a turnover-making machine, ranking just No. 112 in the nation with 10 takeaways. However, it wouldn’t be wise of the Tigers and Mauk to gift the Aggies careless mistakes.
Against the last tough defense he faced (Georgia), Mauk struggled. In a 34-0 loss, the Kenton, Ohio, native threw for just 97 yards and four interceptions on 9-of-21 passing.
If he’s not careful, Mauk could be in for a devastating repeat performance on Saturday.
All stats, recruiting information and rankings used in this article are courtesy of cfbstats.com and 247Sports.
For complete coverage and everything college football, you can reach Sebastian on Twitter and via email at Sebastian.LenaBR@gmail.com.
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