The 2014 season just days away and the Aggies are deep in preparation for their first game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. A big third year for Kevin Sumlin starts with one of the toughest SEC road games and much like his first game with the Aggies in 2012, a 20-17 loss at home to Florida, he’ll be hoping his team shows some spark even if they don’t win. The key will be leaving Columbia with some confidence and positive momentum to take into the season with a team lacking experience on offence and playmakers on defence.
The Last Word on 2014 Texas A&M Season
With many big names gone there will be a reliance on the new blood to step up and start the new era. At QB that appears to be Kenny Hill who was named as the starter on the Aggies depth chart for week one. He appears the more poised of the two QBs, with Kyle Allen the true freshman as the other, and certainly seemed to be more comfortable in the Aggies system having spent last year as backup to Manziel. With a staple of experienced running backs there will be a more balanced offense this season.
It’s at receiver where the new talent is really intriguing, true freshman Speedy Noil is expected to start right away at wide receiver and on special teams. He has top end speed and is elusive in space so could really be a home run threat on any play and he will paired with Ricky Seals Jones who is back after missing last year with a knee injury. Seals-Jones was a 5 star recruit but has struggled to live up to that billing due to problems with injuries and with the law after being arrested earlier this year for disorderly conduct, just one of many Aggie players arrested this off-season.
The Aggies season realistically hinges on the success of the defence which might not be a good sign as they were plain awful last year. They ranked 121st in yards allowed and 103rd in points allowed all despite the fact that their four non-conference games were virtual walkovers. Even Rice managed to cause them problems at Kyle Field for a half. This year they are improved in the secondary through experience but in the trenches they will struggle to stop the run and create consistent pressure on opposing QBs. It will be a year where a lot of talented but raw young players get a chance to gain some experience and the inevitable problems that will bring. This is an Aggies side that may surprise a team or two over the course of the year but may also lose a game or two where you’d expect them to win.
It’s a momentous season off the field in College Station too as redevelopment of Kyle Field officially started after the end of the 2013 season. Over the next two seasons the stadium will be expanded to house 102,500 fans for games and will also give them brand new state of the art facilities. The plans for the new Kyle Field look fantastic and will certainly be impressive to visit on gamedays as well as for potential high school players on recruitment days. The arrow is certainly trending up as far as the Aggies are concerned at the moment but if you offered Kevin Sumlin another 9-4 season with a bowl win he’d certainly take it.
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