On Saturday when Texas A&M welcomes the Alabama Crimson Tide to College Station, it will be nearly a year to the day since the Aggies went to Tuscaloosa and were shut out in a 59-0 defeat. This year the Aggies come into the game having beaten Mississippi State in the lead-up to remain undefeated on the season.
So what does Texas A&M have to do to beat Alabama this year?
Without doubt it starts with the defense. Last year the Aggies had no way to stop the Alabama running game, and if you can’t do that then you have no chance of beating a team this talented. Blake Sims had an impressive game as well because as the Aggies tried to load the box to stop the run, he was able to pick apart a woeful secondary. The Crimson Tide were basically able to choose how they wanted to score, either on the ground or through the air, and the game became a blowout very quickly.
A huge reason for spending big money in acquiring John Chavis as defensive coordinator is for games like this. I doubt there’s any coach with the experience that Chavis has in winning games and stopping offenses in the SEC. He’s fought against Nick Saban and Alabama many times with LSU. So clearly he knows what they need to do to succeed. Myles Garratt and Dashon Hall are arguably the most talented pair of defensive ends in the nation, but their talent is rushing the quarterback which they won’t get a chance to do if the Aggies can’t stop the run. The success the defense had against Mississippi State was because they forced lots of third and long situations to allow them to get after Dak Prescott.
The offense first off will need to help the defense out wherever possible. Quick three and out drives will put a huge amount of pressure on the defense if they have to stay out on the field for long periods. The Aggies need to try and control the tempo by staying on the field to allow the defense to rest up and make adjustments between drives. The spread attack has usually given Alabama problems and getting the ball to players like Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds in space will be key.
But the far more crucial element to the Aggies’ offense will be the running game. They need the offensive line and Tra Carson to have some success against this dominant Alabama front seven. If the Alabama defense doesn’t have to respect the Texas A&M running game then they can concentrate on rushing Kyle Allen in the pocket and flooding the secondary with players in coverage to slow down the passing attack.
Texas A&M has run the ball reasonably well this year but they’ve yet to face a defense as dominant as the one coming to College Station on Saturday. If they can at least be consistent in making four yards per carry then it will force Alabama to at least respect the running game and open up opportunities down the field as the game goes on for the dangerous Aggie receivers.
The last time these two sides met at Kyle Field we saw an absolute classic as Alabama came away victorious 49-42 in a shootout. With both sides in the hunt for the SEC West title and a possible place in the playoff, the stakes couldn’t be higher this time round.
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