2013 Recap: Last season was very much a ‘what could have been year’ as the Aggies wilted defensively in key games to turn possible victories into defeats. Nobody can forget the Alabama game at Kyle Field, with the 12th Man in full force as A&M raced into a 14-0 lead. Even before half time, their defense started to show the frailties that would plague them all season as they gave up easy touchdowns to the Crimson Tide, just as the Alabama defense was starting to adjust to the threat of Johnny Manziel. Later in the season, against both Auburn and Missouri, the Aggies failed to capitalize on or even hold onto early leads.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom in College Station. Manziel, once again, pulled off a fantastic late comeback against Ole Miss to deny them for the second straight year at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, and a superb second half against Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl meant Manziel left on a high note. Elsewhere the Aggies produced arguably the most comprehensive destruction of the Commodores in then-head coach James Franklin’s time at Vanderbilt. After going 11-2 in 2012, though, the expectation was for the Aggies to make the jump into the national title conversation. It turned out that their inexperienced defense was too much for even Johnny Football to overcome at times.
So on the tail of a somewhat disappointing 2013, what is in store for Texas A&M in 2014?
Life After Johnny Manziel
Offense: The expectation is for a very different looking offense from the Aggies; with Manziel gone it’s all dependent on who wins the QB job. With sophomore Kenny Hill (16-22 for 182 yards and one TD in relief last year) starting to fall behind in the race for the starting job after an arrest for public intoxication, it could mean true freshman Kyle Allen will start on opening day. Allen was the #1 pocket passer in the country coming out of high school last year so if he takes over the offence things will be very different from the scrambling chance-taking days under Manziel.
Another change will be an increased reliance on the running game; once again offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has great depth in talent at running back with Tre Carson, Brandon Williams and Trey Williams. To bolster the running game the “Maroon Goons” on the offensive line once again look like one of the best in the nation. The recent departure of Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews to the NFL means its now the turn of Cedric Ogbuehi to man the Left Tackle position and push to be the top offensive tackle drafted in 2015. Jake Matthews’ brother Mike is now the starter at center on a line that should dominate a lot of the defensive lines they face this season.
Defense: For all the promise on the offense, the defense is still a young, inexperienced group that will struggle to match the top offenses they’ll face in the SEC. It’ll be an improved unit from last year- you could argue it would be hard to be much worse, as the Aggies’ average points allowed jumped up from 10.4pts in 2012 to 32.2pts. Fortunately, the defensive line should be wiser for the experience last year, as they did show signs of improvement as the season wore on. Their only major loss is capable senior Kirby Ennis. At linebacker, they are still very raw in the 3-4, but the secondary has three seniors in the lineup. Watch for Deshazor Everett who is quietly becoming a standout cornerback. The key for the defense will be to match the sort of pressure they applied to opposing quarterbacks in 2012, when they were lead by current New York Giant Damontre’ Moore at defensive end. Last year the pass rush was very weak, managing just 21 sacks for the season (seven of which came against Vanderbilt).
Coaching: Kevin Sumlin returns for his third year as the Aggies’ head coach after briefly being linked with the USC job before Steve Sarkisian. Sumlin’s stock in college football continues to rise, but this year he is faced with one of his biggest challenges as the Aggies’ fans still expect their team to challenge the top teams in the SEC West. Offensive coordinator Jake Spatival took over from Kliff Kingsbury, who left for the head coaching job at Texas Tech a year ago, and handled the transition with the offense seamlessly. He has an intriguing quarterback competition underway and can heavily rely on his offensive line to keep the new starter upright. It’s defensive coordinator Mark Snyder who has the unenviable task of trying to bring this defense together, and he will be under increasing pressure if he fails to do so.
Schedule: Once again the Aggies navigate a cupcake schedule outside of the SEC, facing FCS Lamar on September 6, followed by Rice and SMU, and a late-season tilt against Louisiana Monroe. They open, however, with a tough trip to Williams-Brice Stadium on August 28 to face South Carolina. That game will be a big test for the new starting quarterback, whether it’s true freshman Kyle Allen or sophomore Kenny Hill. The next six games are very manageable as, after the three non-conference games, they take on the weaker teams from the SEC West in Arkansas, Miss St and Ole Miss, with only the Bulldogs on the road. The Aggies could easily jump out to an early 6-1 record, but with Alabama, LSU and Auburn waiting in the second half of the season, it could all go downhill fast.
As part of the SEC’s rivalry schedule between divisions, Missouri are to visit Kyle Field in November and are arguably a different proposition this year having lost so many key players to the NFL.
Prediction: The defence should be improved from last year but is still at least a year or two away from being talented enough for them to be in the national title conversation. The pressure on the offence to keep up will be immense again this season. I’m predicting a 7-5 season with wins over Lamar, Rice, SMU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Louisiana Monroe and Missouri.
