2011 Texas Bowl: 5 Things Texas A&M Needs to Improve on in 2012

The Aggies had a rough season. A year in which a lot of people, including some top-notch analysts, thought they had a chance to not only win the Big 12 but also possibly compete for a national title.

Returning ten starters on offense including a superstar QB in Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M just plain failed to produce in the big games. The Aggies were just 1-5 against ranked teams, their lone win coming over Baylor at home.

As 2012 has just arrived, A&M will start to prepare for next season under their new head coach Kevin Sumlin as soon as the spring semester begins. There are many places that need some major improvement if the Aggies want their inaugural SEC year to be a success.

We take a look at the top five things Sumlin needs to address to get this program back on track to a winning season.  

The Turnover Margin

The Aggies had a horrible turnover margin of minus-9 on the season. Despite creating 15, they lost 24 and in key games, a fumble or quick interception can be the difference. 

Overall, only grabbing eight fumbles and seven interceptions is weak. Despite top-notch sack totals, A&M couldn't seem to pressure more fumbles or force more interceptions on a weekly basis. For the defense to be successful in a highly dangerous SEC, it needs to create more turnovers.  

As for the offense, they fumbled nine times and threw 15 interceptions, some of them coming at crucial moments in the game. That's from experienced senior QB in Ryan Tannehill and running backs Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray. Times will be even tougher in the SEC as their defenses are considered the best in the country. 

Creating more turnovers and giving away a lot less would do big things for the Aggies. This has to be one of the top things on Sumlin's list of things to fix.

Consistency

You could never tell which Aggie offense was about to come out onto the field. It could be the one that scores touchdowns in mere plays or the one that stalls after just three plays. 

For such a loaded and talented side of the ball, A&M just couldn't seem to be consistent. New head coach Kevin Sumlin could be the solution to that problem, but it is certainly something that needs to be addressed. 

As for the defense, they would stop teams easily sometimes and force quick three and outs on occasion. Other times, it was like they didn't even exist. Big plays killed A&M and whoever the new defensive coordinator is, he needs to morph his defense into a stronger big play deterrent.

Pass Defense

The A&M secondary certainly improved throughout the season, but allowing 280 yards on average in the air is completely unacceptable. Quarterbacks will tear apart the Aggies through the passing game if this isn't fixed.

Losing three of their four starters in the secondary, new and inexperienced talent will be taking over. This may be the solution while also being a curse. It all depends who is coaching them and who A&M faces and when.

Just this past season, Tyler Wilson of Arkansas had a career game against this secondary. It was like watching surgery. That can not continue.

Win More at Home

The Aggies were 4-3 at Kyle Field this past season. They took down Baylor and Kansas during conference play and lost to Oklahoma State, Texas, and Missouri. 

The other two wins were against cupcake squads Idaho and SMU. Essentially, if you exclude SMU and Idaho, A&M was only 2-3 at home. For a place as big and as loud as Kyle Field, a record under .500 isn't acceptable. 

Winning all your games at home would be huge next season, especially since LSU and Florida will be visiting. Sumlin really needs to inspire these kids to defend their own house. 

Finishing Games

This is a major problem. The Aggies had late leads in every one of their losses except against Oklahoma. That's five games that could have gone their way if they had shut down the other team's offense on third down or gained a first down in a crucial play with minutes left. 

A&M led Oklahoma State by 17 at the half, yet lost by a point. They led Arkansas by 18 at the half, yet lost by four points. They led Missouri by 11 at the half, yet lost in overtime by seven. They had K-State on the ropes in the fourth quarter, yet lost in quadruple overtime by three. They led Texas with just around two minutes to go, yet lost by two. 

Not finishing out games is completely and utterly the most disappointing thing that can happen to a team of young men. They say losing by a close margin is worse than losing in a blowout. They are right.