Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Football
Reality Check: What does Texas A&M's uncertainty against Vanderbilt say?
Perhaps nothing sums up the disappointing turn Texas A&M’s football season has taken more than the following quote:
“We’ve got a challenge ahead of us going on the road. It’ll be senior night for them, an emotional night, but it’ll be emotional for us, too, because we want to get No. 8 as bad as everybody.”
That was Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin referring to the challenge of facing 4-6 Vanderbilt, which has lost to Western Kentucky and was blasted 34-0 by Houston.
The natural order of college football in Texas should all but guarantee A&M clobbers any opponent that loses to Houston by five touchdowns.
Yet, A&M is facing a major challenge.
True, coaches always build up opponents. Coaches always want to create the scenario that their team is facing a colossal obstacle. Coaches never want to appear overconfident.
Unfortunately, Sumlin was not just spewing coachspeak.
Usually, the biggest question about a trip to Nashville is choosing between Prince’s and Bolton’s for spicy hot chicken. Yet, many Aggies are experiencing real angst about leaving Music City with a victory.
They should. And that’s disturbing, because the Vanderbilt Commodores are not a good football team.
Brandon Jones, TexAgs
Derek Mason's Commodores, with no good wins and a few bad losses, shouldn't pose any threat to the Aggies ... on paper.
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Their four victories, none of which are against teams with a winning record, include a 17-13 win over Middle Tennessee, in which they had to rally from a 13-3 deficit in the fourth quarter.
There was also a 42-7 blowout of Austin Peay, an FCS member with an 0-11 record.
They beat Missouri, 10-3. They needed a defensive touchdown and a trick play to edge Kentucky 21-17.
Sure, they lost on a late field goal to Florida, 9-7. But Florida lost a fumble at the Vandy 12, two more at the Vandy 19 and threw an interception from the Vandy 43. The Gators also were stopped on downs at the Vandy 3-yard line.
Meanwhile, one-fourth of the Commodores' offensive productive came on one play — a 74-yard touchdown run by Ralph Webb.
Therein lies one of the main reasons the Aggies are nervous. The Commodores are pretty good in areas in which the Aggies are not.
Webb won’t be mistaken for Derrick Henry or Leonard Fournette — or even Alex Collins. However, he’s a solid running back who has rushed for at least 99 yards in each of the last four games. He also gained 90 yards on 25 carries in a loss to Ole Miss.
Guys like Auburn’s Jovon Robinson, South Carolina’s Brandon Wilds, Nevada’s James Butler and even Western Carolina’s Detrez Newsome have rushed for more than 100 yards against the struggling A&M run defense.
Why wouldn’t Webb be expected to do the same?
“They’re protecting the football and they have two running backs (Webb and Darrius Sims) that are good players and a good SEC offensive line,” Aggies defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “They want to run the football and let their defense play, and that puts a burden on us because we can’t give up the big plays. You can’t do that in the SEC and win.”
Conversely, Vanderbilt isn’t giving up many big plays.
The Commodores are 17th in the nation in total defense. They’re 10th in scoring defense. They’re fourth in stopping opponents on third down.
Those stats may be somewhat skewed because five of their FBS opponents are ranked between 78th and 124th in offense. Nevertheless, those numbers are impressive.
Conversely, A&M’s offense hasn’t been impressive lately against SEC competition.
In three of its last four SEC games, the A&M offense has been stagnant and turnover prone. A&M quarterbacks have thrown seven interceptions in losses to Alabama, Ole Miss and Auburn. They averaged just 270.3 yards in those games.
"They pride themselves on three-and-outs,” Sumlin said. “You combine that with a west coast-style offense and a running back creeping up on 1,000 yards, they're going to try to control the ball. They make it hard to score, they're going to hold people to field goals, control the clock and the game and play good defense. That's been their formula.”
Sumlin desperately needs to find a formula or win No. 8 may not come this week.
And indeed, if win No. 8 doesn’t come against a bad Vanderbilt team, it may not come at all.
“We’ve got a challenge ahead of us going on the road. It’ll be senior night for them, an emotional night, but it’ll be emotional for us, too, because we want to get No. 8 as bad as everybody.”
That was Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin referring to the challenge of facing 4-6 Vanderbilt, which has lost to Western Kentucky and was blasted 34-0 by Houston.
The natural order of college football in Texas should all but guarantee A&M clobbers any opponent that loses to Houston by five touchdowns.
Yet, A&M is facing a major challenge.
True, coaches always build up opponents. Coaches always want to create the scenario that their team is facing a colossal obstacle. Coaches never want to appear overconfident.
Unfortunately, Sumlin was not just spewing coachspeak.
Usually, the biggest question about a trip to Nashville is choosing between Prince’s and Bolton’s for spicy hot chicken. Yet, many Aggies are experiencing real angst about leaving Music City with a victory.
They should. And that’s disturbing, because the Vanderbilt Commodores are not a good football team.
Brandon Jones, TexAgs
Derek Mason's Commodores, with no good wins and a few bad losses, shouldn't pose any threat to the Aggies ... on paper.
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Derek Mason\u0027s Commodores, with no good wins and a few bad losses, shouldn\u0027t pose any threat to the Aggies ... on paper.","MediaItemID":44473}
There was also a 42-7 blowout of Austin Peay, an FCS member with an 0-11 record.
They beat Missouri, 10-3. They needed a defensive touchdown and a trick play to edge Kentucky 21-17.
Sure, they lost on a late field goal to Florida, 9-7. But Florida lost a fumble at the Vandy 12, two more at the Vandy 19 and threw an interception from the Vandy 43. The Gators also were stopped on downs at the Vandy 3-yard line.
Meanwhile, one-fourth of the Commodores' offensive productive came on one play — a 74-yard touchdown run by Ralph Webb.
Therein lies one of the main reasons the Aggies are nervous. The Commodores are pretty good in areas in which the Aggies are not.
Webb won’t be mistaken for Derrick Henry or Leonard Fournette — or even Alex Collins. However, he’s a solid running back who has rushed for at least 99 yards in each of the last four games. He also gained 90 yards on 25 carries in a loss to Ole Miss.
Guys like Auburn’s Jovon Robinson, South Carolina’s Brandon Wilds, Nevada’s James Butler and even Western Carolina’s Detrez Newsome have rushed for more than 100 yards against the struggling A&M run defense.
Why wouldn’t Webb be expected to do the same?
“They’re protecting the football and they have two running backs (Webb and Darrius Sims) that are good players and a good SEC offensive line,” Aggies defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “They want to run the football and let their defense play, and that puts a burden on us because we can’t give up the big plays. You can’t do that in the SEC and win.”
Conversely, Vanderbilt isn’t giving up many big plays.
The Commodores are 17th in the nation in total defense. They’re 10th in scoring defense. They’re fourth in stopping opponents on third down.
Those stats may be somewhat skewed because five of their FBS opponents are ranked between 78th and 124th in offense. Nevertheless, those numbers are impressive.
Conversely, A&M’s offense hasn’t been impressive lately against SEC competition.
In three of its last four SEC games, the A&M offense has been stagnant and turnover prone. A&M quarterbacks have thrown seven interceptions in losses to Alabama, Ole Miss and Auburn. They averaged just 270.3 yards in those games.
They make it hard to score, they're going to hold people to field goals, control the clock and the game and play good defense. That's been their formula.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"They make it hard to score, they\u0027re going to hold people to field goals, control the clock and the game and play good defense. That\u0027s been their formula.","Author":"Kevin Sumlin"}
The Aggies' offense looked good against South Carolina and Western Carolina, but that doesn’t inspire much confidence against Vanderbilt’s defense."They pride themselves on three-and-outs,” Sumlin said. “You combine that with a west coast-style offense and a running back creeping up on 1,000 yards, they're going to try to control the ball. They make it hard to score, they're going to hold people to field goals, control the clock and the game and play good defense. That's been their formula.”
Sumlin desperately needs to find a formula or win No. 8 may not come this week.
And indeed, if win No. 8 doesn’t come against a bad Vanderbilt team, it may not come at all.
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