Fisher, Elko pleased with A&M's rush defense, ranked 4th in the nation

Benny Snell, Kentucky’s talented and talkative running back, left Kyle Field on Saturday with yet another reason to brag. He can boast to rushing for more yards against Texas A&M’s defense than any other individual this season, but he’d probably want to leave out the fact that A&M’s defense limited him to 60 rushing yards, his lowest output. Hey, if he's feeling really bold he could also say he rushed for more yards than two teams did against the Aggies.

That’s how miserly Texas A&M’s defense has become. Halfway through the 2018 campaign, the Aggies are fourth in the country in run defense. Coach Jimbo Fisher has preached the need to bolster the run defense since he arrived in College Station, but even he admits he didn’t anticipate the Aggies becoming so stingy so fast under first-year Defensive Coordinator Mike Elko’s supervision.

"You don’t ever know that, but I thought we had very good people,” Fisher said at his weekly press conference on Monday. “Mike (Elko) has always done a great job with the run. I thought we had a good front seven and our safeties are fitting well. 

You’ve got to be physical in the trenches to be good. You can have all the skill and score points and that comes. But you’ve got to be in there. That’s what we work on. That’s how we practice. Those guys are buying into it and doing a heck of a job.”
 

Matt Sachs, TexAgs

The Aggies rank 4th in the country in total run defense, a fact that has  Fisher and  Elko proud of their players' efforts.

That’s an understatement. The Aggies are allowing an average of just 82.5 yards. They’ve not allowed more than 115 rushing yards in a game. That was to Clemson, which ranks fifth in the nation in rushing offense. Clemson has rushed for at least 248 yards against every other opponent. Alabama has rushed for at least 210 yards against every opponent except A&M. The Tide had 109 vs. the Aggies. Kentucky had rushed for 303 yards against Florida, 229 against Mississippi State and 195 against South Carolina before managing 70 against A&M.

“Us, as a defense, we expect that every week,” senior linebacker Otaro Alaka said. "We know what we’re capable of. We know if we put our best foot forward and are locked in we can have those types of Saturdays every Saturday.”

There is every reason to believe A&M’s run stuffing will continue. The Aggies have already faced three Top 30 rushing attacks. Only two remaining opponents — (18) Mississippi State and (19) Alabama-Birmingham — rank among the top 40 in rushing offense.

Auburn has been held to fewer than 100 rushing yards in each of its last three games. LSU’s traditionally-powerful running game has been mediocre. Mississippi State is inconsistent. Ole Miss would rather throw. South Carolina, which A&M faces on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., has rushed for 128 yards in each of its last two games with Kentucky and Missouri. Rico Dowdle, South Carolina’s leading rusher, has gained 332 yards. But 217 of those came in two games against Coastal Carolina and Vanderbilt. A&M will strive to keep him in check again and force South Carolina quarterbacks  — Jacob Bentley or John Scarnecchia — into obvious passing situations.

“When you shut down someone’s run game it makes them one-dimensional,” Alaka said. “Now you know more of what they’re going to do and what they like to do in those type situations. It helps our defense lock in to what they’re trying to do.”

Just having the chance to make a team one-dimensional shows how far A&M has come. Two seasons ago the Aggies allowed an average of 191.7 rushing yards to rank 80th in the nation. A&M allowed more than 200 rushing yards a game in the three seasons before that.

There are many reasons for the change. A&M’s offense runs the ball more, which keeps the defense off the field more often. That results in a fresher, faster defensive unit. Elko has a knack of devising effective schemes and Fisher has demanded the defense be more physical.

Kingsley Keke has made a successful shift from defensive tackle to defensive end.  Senior tackle Daylon Mack is finally playing up to his potential. Defensive tackle Justin Madubuike is emerging as a force.

Linebacker play has improved dramatically. Alaka said the biggest difference is just simply the defense has more experience.

“Most of our front seven came back from last year,” Alaka said. “It always helps when you have another year under your belt.  We have a really good scheme and when you buy into that scheme you see it pays dividends. I think we’re starting to see that.”

But Alaka suggested onlookers have yet to see A&M’s defense at its best. He maintained even the performance against Kentucky and Snell could’ve been better.

“In that game there were a lot of mistakes that I made and we made as a defense,” he said. “It just shows how much we can really improve still.”

Well, maybe not. There really isn’t that much room to improve. When you're already fourth in the nation, improvement is limited to just three spots.