Trenches Preview: Tennessee at Texas A&M

Texas A&M returns to Kyle Field for the first time in three weeks after two straight road losses, sandwiched by an idle week. The Aggies fell 17-9 to South Carolina last time out in a contest that saw Texas A&M accumulate over 450 yards of offense and fail to produce a touchdown. The Aggies will hope to rectify that this week in College Station as they welcome the #8 Tennessee Volunteers to town. The trenches are going to be extremely important if Texas A&M is going to steal a win this Saturday. Let’s dive into what needs to happen up front for the Aggies to come out on top.

Offensive Line

Against South Carolina, Texas A&M moved the ball well. As mentioned above, the Aggies racked up over 450 yards of offense. Rueben Owens ripped off multiple explosive runs, and Texas A&M had 206 yards on the ground. Yet, zero touchdowns made the hope that would be rendered by the yardage a grand disappointment instead. Simply put, field goals do not win games. The Aggies have to be able to finish drives off to win games, and Texas A&M has failed to do so in three out of the four road contests this season.

The Texas A&M offense has fared better at home for the most part, but frankly I don’t expect that to continue against an absolutely elite Tennessee defense. The Vols rank second only to Georgia in scoring defense. Tennessee’s passing defense is staunch, though the Aggies wouldn’t likely be able to test them there either. The rushing defense isn’t in the upper tier of the conference but is also solid. Most significantly, the Volunteers lead the country in sacks.

Defensive end Tyree Weathersby has seven sacks this season. The Vols also get pressure from the interior, as defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam has six sacks. Gilliam is a force to be reckoned with in the run game as well. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching film on the gifted DT this year, but I don’t think his ability bodes well for this Texas A&M offensive line. I don’t think this offensive line is horrible, and I think they’ve continued to play better as the season has progressed, but against this defensive front for Tennessee, it’s going to feel like all that progress has left. In short, if the Aggies score a touchdown this week, I’d be surprised if it came from the offense.

Defensive Line

While the situation for the offensive side of the ball is dire, I think the defensive side of the ball largely shouldered the burden well against South Carolina. The Aggies held what was the top rushing offense in the country at the time to under 100 yards right up until LaNorris Sellers ripped off a big run at the end. The Aggies also sacked Sellers twice, including a massive strip sack by Bryce Perry-Wright. We’ll see if those run game improvements carry over as the Aggies face yet another powerful rushing attack.

Powered by the legs of running back DeSean Bishop, Tennessee is the current top rushing attack in the SEC. However, if Texas A&M can find a way to slow down this rushing attack, the Aggies just might have a chance in this one. Discipline and sure tackling are going to be of the utmost importance as this Josh Heupel offense looks to spread opposing defenses out in order to capitalize on seams. Missed tackles against this Tennessee offense are extremely disastrous, and the Aggies can’t afford to lose one-on-ones. The front four must maintain gap discipline as the secondary will be forced to honor Tennessee’s formations. Get Tennessee behind the chains, and this becomes a drastically different ball game.

While Tennessee ranks at the top of the conference in rushing, the Volunteers are the only team in the SEC below Texas A&M in passing offense. After Faizon Brandon started the season under center for Tennessee, George MacIntyre has since taken over. However, neither QB is a game changer on this offense, making the Vols basically one-dimensional. The equation for success against Tennessee is simple. Stop running backs DeSean Bishop and Daune Morris or get ground to a pulp. If the Aggies can make the improvements against the run permanent, they can hang around in this one – and that starts with the defensive tackle position and Brandon Davis-Swain, DJ Hicks, CJ Mims, and Landon Rink, in my opinion.

While I think the Aggies keep this contest close in the first half, I think repeated three-and-outs by the Aggie offense eventually allow the Volunteers to wear down the Texas A&M defense in the second half. I have Tennessee winning this one 20-3.

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