Game Preview: Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma

Related Content: Preview Q&A with Bob Barry Sr ... Oklahoma Play-by-Play

AGS GET ANOTHER SHOT AT SIGNATURE WIN

Two years ago, the Oklahoma Sooners rode into College Station and handed the Aggies one of their worst home losses ever.  Bob Stoops’ squad set a Kyle Field record by an opponent with 66 points … and that total was reached with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.  The ’08 result was the exception and not the rule when it comes to the A&M-OU rivalry when the games are played in Aggieland.  Since Stoops’ second season – the Sooners’ 2000 national championship run – all but the teams’ last meeting has literally been decided in the game’s final minute, with OU winning four of the five contests.  In all likelihood, this year’s Big 12 South showdown should revert to form, with the Aggies and Sooners waging another epic Kyle Field battle.

No one would have predicted that the Sooners would be just three-point favorites two weeks ago, when the Ags were riding a three-game losing streak and Oklahoma sat atop the BCS rankings.  Since that time, the Sooners dropped a road game at Missouri, while A&M has outscored Kansas and Texas Tech by a combined score of 90-37.

Oklahoma comes to College Station carrying a 7-1 record and ranked 11th in the BCS standings.  Once again, Stoops has his powerhouse program positioned for another BCS bowl run.  The Missouri loss was OU’s only setback this year but the Sooners have been anything but dominant against the lesser teams on their schedule, winning close games against Utah State, Cincinnati, Air Force and struggling Texas.

While OU is a very good football team, the Sooners have also looked very vulnerable at times this season.  Several Sooners opponents have successfully moved the ball against an Oklahoma defense that ranks uncharacteristically low in most of the major categories.  Brent Venables’ defense hasn’t done a great job of shutting down the run or the pass, while the Sooners secondary has been susceptible to the better quarterbacks on the schedule.

Offensively, the Sooners rank fifth nationally in passing and 18th in total offense.  More importantly, Landry Jones, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Broyles all appear to be hitting their stride at the right time.  True freshman tailback Roy Finch has also given the OU ground game a boost.

While on the subject of improving offensive attacks, the Texas A&M offense has finally turned things around, thanks in large part to the play of junior quarterback Ryan Tannehill.  In last week’s 45-27 win over Tech, the 6-4, 215-pounder threw for 449 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first career start, providing the spark that Mike Sherman had hoped to see when he made the tough decision to replace Pre-Season Big 12 Player of the Year and record-setting passer Jerrod Johnson.

All season long, those close to the A&M program felt that the Aggies would have a chance to win the south division title if they could find a cure for A&M’s surprising offensive ills.  Between Tannehill’s stellar play, a renewed commitment to running the football and playing their trademark up-tempo style and Jeff Fuller’s emergence as one of college football’s best players, the Aggies suddenly look like the team that everyone expected to see when picking Sherman’s squad as a possible surprise 2010 contender … only with a better defense.

With confidence, momentum and what’s expected to be a sold-out Kyle Field crowd on their side, the “new-look” Aggies will get their first real chance to prove whether or not they are finally ready to contend.  Actually, Saturday’s date with Oklahoma represents Sherman and the Ags’ fourth chance to grab a statement win this fall.  The Aggies dropped their first two in demoralizing fashion, losing a nationally-televised game to OSU on the final play and falling to then-No. 11 Arkansas, 24-17.  After that, A&M fell flat to Missouri at home – a humbling 30-9 defeat – which directly led to several personnel and philosophical changes that appear to have made the Aggies a much better football team than the one that muddled through a disappointing first half of the season.

If the Ags can finally break through against the Sooners, Texas A&M will come from virtually out of nowhere to emerge as a legitimate threat to shake up the Big 12 South race.  Beating a top-10 Oklahoma team would definitely qualify as a major upset on the national scale, as the Sooners have earned their lofty ranking and the Aggies really haven’t accomplished anything of note so far this fall.  However, Sherman and Co. have done everything necessary to give themselves a puncher’s chance on Saturday night.  Because of that, an old-fashioned, 15-round heavyweight slugfest would come as no surprise.  It’s the Aggies and Sooners at Kyle Field … would you expect anything else?

TEXAS A&M PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB Ryan Tannehill:  After throwing for 449 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start, the onetime, part-time wide receiver is prepared to face a much stiffer test from Oklahoma.  This year’s Sooner defense isn’t nearly as stout as previous Bob Stoops outfits, but still features plenty of across-the-board speed and NFL talent.  Tannehill will undoubtedly face more pressure than he saw from Tech but has a lightning-quick release and makes very good decisions.  Against Tech, the first-time starter did a great job of feeling the pass rush, identifying the blitz and quickly getting rid of the ball.  In addition, don’t be surprised to see the 6-4, 215-pounder to use his legs more against Oklahoma – as a scrambler and when running the zone read.

RB Cyrus Gray:  In the Ags’ last two games, Gray has rushed for 219 yards on 29 carries.  It’s a good thing that the junior from DeSoto responded so well to the increased workload, because he’s now the man in the Aggie backfield.  Leading rusher Christine Michael was lost for the season during the third quarter of the Ags’ 45-27 win over Tech, leaving Cyrus as A&M’s only proven tailback.  It’s not in Mike Sherman’s makeup to abandon the run, so Gray (whose career average is 4.9 yards per carry) is expected to be the Ags’ new workhorse.  How he responds will go a long way toward determining whether or not A&M can win a couple of big games down the stretch.  Throughout his Aggie career, Cyrus has proven to be a more productive runner during the second half of games in which he’s getting plenty of touches.  That was the case last week against Tech, when Gray ran for nearly all of his 102 yards in the third and fourth quarters, including a 54-yard scoring sprint.

WR Jeff Fuller:  In A&M’s last four games, Fuller has caught 29 passes for 509 yards and six touchdowns while continuing his assault on the school record books.  Since last year’s Thanksgiving shootout against Texas, the 6-4, 225-pound junior has been at his best in big games, topping the 100-yard mark against the Longhorns, Georgia, Arkansas and, most recently, Texas Tech.  While Fuller probably won’t see near as much man-to-man coverage on Saturday as he did from the Razorbacks and Red Raiders, he’ll be facing an Oklahoma secondary that ranks just 83rd nationally, allowing 232 yards per game.  When the Aggies have the ball, the former McKinney Boyd star will be the best player on the field.  It’s been a long time since you could say that when the Aggie offense and Sooner defense squared off.

DE Tony Jerod-Eddie:  The junior’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but Tony Jerod-Eddie has been the Ags’ best and most consistent defensive lineman this season and has really come into his own as an end in Tim DeRuyter’s 3-4 scheme.  Standing 6-5 and checking in at an even 300 pounds, Jerod-Eddie is an extremely physical defender who simply won’t give up the edge and is rarely pushed off the ball.  The DeSoto product has been an integral part of an A&M defense that is the best in the Big 12 when it comes to stopping the run.  The success of Tony and right end Lucas Patterson will go a long way toward determining whether or not the Ags can slow down DeMarco Murray, emerging freshman Roy Finch and the OU ground game.

CB Terrence Frederick:  The third-year starter is coming off of a strong showing against Tech, during which he broke up three passes.  Frederick is quietly putting together an All-Big 12 caliber junior season and has emerged as the lynchpin of the A&M secondary.  On Saturday night, he and fellow corners Coryell Judie and Dustin Harris will be tasked with slowing down perhaps the best receiver in Oklahoma Sooners history – Ryan Broyles.  In addition, T-Fred must continue to excel in run support, as tailback DeMarco Murray is absolutely lethal when he’s allowed to get the corner.  So far this season, Frederick has 26 solo tackles, a team-leading 6.5 tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and four pass breakups.  Don’t be surprised to see the junior also put some pressure on OU quarterback Landry Jones, as he’s been very effective this season coming via the corner blitz.

OKLAHOMA PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB Landry Jones:  After an up-and-down freshman season, during which he was asked to step in for injured Heisman Trophy winner and eventual overall No. 1 NFL Draft pick Sam Bradford, Jones has emerged as one of the Big 12’s elite signal-callers.  Through eight games, the 6-4, 220-pounder has thrown for 2,547 yards on 227-of-338 accuracy (67.2 percent), and has already tossed 21 touchdowns.  Jones’ bugaboo as a freshman was his propensity for turning the ball over but, this fall, he’s thrown just five interceptions on 338 attempts and has thrown just three picks in OU’s last seven games.  The sophomore comes into the A&M game red-hot, having connected on multiple TD’s in eight of his nine contests and coming off of a career game against Colorado … one that saw him throw for 453 yards.  As a redshirt freshman last season, Landry completed 261-of-449 passes for an OU freshman record 3,198 yards, throwing 26 touchdowns versus 14 picks.  He capped off his first season as a starter with a 30-for-51, 418-yard effort in the Sooners’ bowl win over Stanford.

RB DeMarco Murray:  Where to begin?  Despite battling injuries throughout his Sooners career, DeMarco Murray is on the verge of going down as one of the all-time greats in Crimson and Cream.  Already the school’s all-time touchdown leader with 60, the senior needs just 32 all-purpose yards (he’s sitting at 5,849) to pass none other than Joe Washington for the OU record in that category.  He’s also seventh on Oklahoma’s all-time rushing chart with 3,223 yards.  In eight games this season, Murray has run for 752 yards on 173 carries, scoring 12 times.  In addition, the 6-1, 207-pounder has caught 40 balls for 291 yards and three TD’s.  DeMarco’s best statistical season came in ’08 when, as a sophomore, he ran for 1,002 yards and 14 TD’s while averaging 5.6 yards per tote.  Murray also caught 31 passes for 395 additional yards.  The Las Vegas native has also torched A&M in each of the past two seasons.  Last fall, he had a career-high 143 receiving yards against the Aggies.  In ’08, he ran for 123 yards on just 7 carries at Kyle Field.

WR Ryan Broyles:  Simply put, the record-setting junior has already established himself as the best receiver in the history of the storied OU program.  In the midst of an All-American 2010 campaign, Broyles has already caught 78 passes for 1,018 yards and 8 touchdowns.  With at least 17 games remaining in his Sooners career, Ryan is just nine receptions away from breaking Mark Clayton’s career record of 221.  Slowed by an ankle injury in recent weeks, Broyles appears to be back to full speed, as evidenced by last week’s 9-catch, 208-yard showing against Colorado.  The 5-11, 183-pounder scored three times against the Buffs and his 200-yard night set yet another OU record.  Two weeks earlier against Iowa State, Broyles broke his own mark by grabbing 15 passes in a 52-0 rout.  In 2009, the one-time Aggie recruiting target hauled in 89 passes for 1,120 yards and 15 scores.  He snagged 13 passes for 156 yards and 3 TD’s in the Sooners’ Sun Bowl victory over Stanford, setting a pair of records in the process.

DE Jeremy Beal:  If Von Miller isn’t the Big 12’s most feared pass-rusher, then it would have to be Jeremy Beal.  The 6-3, 267-pound senior has 26.5 career sacks to his credit as part of his 53 career tackles for loss.  Beal has also forced 10 fumbles, most of them coming by way of devastating hits on opposing QB’s.  So far this season, Beal has totaled 6 tackles, 13.5 TFL’s and has forced three fumbles.  He’s coming off of a sensational, All-Big 12 junior season during which he posted totals of 70 stops and 11 sacks, with 19 total tackles coming behind the line of scrimmage, for 97 yards.  Again, Beal and fellow D-FW product Von Miller are considered the league’s two most highly-regarded defenders by many NFL Draft gurus.

LB Travis Lewis:  The junior weakside linebacker is the anchor of the Sooner defense and is on track to lead Oklahoma in tackles for the third straight season, which would make him just the sixth player in OU history to accomplish that feat.  So far this fall, the San Antonio native has registered 74 stops to go along 4.5 tackles for loss.  With 327 career tackles, Lewis could crack OU’s all-time top-10 this week (he needs just eight stops to tie Lee Roy Selmon) and he’s poised to move into No. 2 on the tackle list during the Bob Stoops era.  Equally effective against the pass, the 6-2, 240-pounder recorded his sixth career interception in September against Florida State.  In 2009, Travis earned First-Team All-Big 12 honors after totaling 109 stops and 9.5 tackles for loss.  As a freshman, he broke Brian Bosworth’s school-record with 144 tackles.  Long story short, Lewis is probably the best stand-up ‘backer that the A&M offense will see this season.

KEY MATCHUPS

A&M Safeties vs. Oklahoma QB Landry Jones
The Ags are playing much better defense in 2010 and actually rank third in the Big 12 in Total D.  However, A&M’s pass defense has left plenty to be desired.  The Aggies currently rank 101st against the pass, allowing right at 250 yards per game through the air.  Meanwhile, Landry Jones and the Sooners rank second in the Big 12 and fifth nationally in passing yardage.  If Jones has time to throw, he has the ability to pick apart the Aggie secondary by working the intermediate to deep-middle of the field, much like Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert did three weeks ago.  The A&M corners have been very solid in coverage throughout the season but teams have been able to find and exploit holes in the Ags’ zone coverage by dropping the ball over A&M’s inside linebackers and in front of the safeties.  A concern for defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter heading into this South battle has to be Ryan Broyles racing up the seam and catching the ball between the linebacker and safety in stride.  Keep an eye on Aggie sophomore Steven Campbell.  He’s a future star for the A&M D and is the team’s hardest hitter, but is also making just his fourth career start after missing all of spring ball, fall camp and September due to a couple of injuries.  Once Campbell becomes comfortable in the DeRuyter system, he’ll emerge as one of A&M’s top defenders.  For now, he’s a work-in-progress who will be tested early and often by the Jones, Broyles and the explosive Oklahoma passing attack.

A&M RB Cyrus Gray vs. Oklahoma LB Tom Wort
Wort is one of OU’s emerging young stars and mans the middle for the Sooners.  Gray is coming off of back-to-back 100-yard games and is the Ags’ go-to guy now that Christine Michael is sidelined.    For whatever reason, Sherman and the Aggies didn’t show a true commitment to running the football during the first half of the season – even when the ground game was working in the first half of losses to OSU and Arkansas.  During the past two games, however, Sherman and his staff have leaned on the ground game in the second half, thanks in large part to the pass actually setting up the run during the first two quarters.  Year after year, Oklahoma ranks as one of the nation’s best when it comes to stopping the run, but that hasn’t been the case in 2010.  OU ranks just 50th nationally and seventh in the Big 12 against the run, allowing over 140 yards per game on the ground.  Expect A&M to test the ability of Wort and the Sooners front seven to stop Gray and perhaps even true freshman Ben Malena … especially if the game is close in the third and fourth quarters.

A&M RT Jake Matthews vs. Oklahoma DE Jeremy Beal
Making just his second career start, true freshman right tackle Jake Matthews did a tremendous job against Texas Tech senior DE Brian Duncan.  Matthews will face a much tougher test when lining up across from Sooners standout Jeremy Beal.  The 6-3, 267-pounder has 26.5 career sacks coming in and has spent his career camping out in opposing backfields.  Unlike Duncan (a three-year starter as a weakside linebacker prior to this season), the OU senior is a seasoned pass-rusher with a vast repertoire of moves designed to leave would-be blockers grasping at air.  The Ags’ 6-5, 300-pounder is going to be an All-Big 12 lineman in the very near future but, understandably, he’s not close to being there yet.  Making his ninth start, Matthews’ fellow true freshman bookend Luke Joeckel is further along but he’ll also have his work cut out when trying to manage both Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis.  Playing opposite Beal, the pair has 4.5 sacks and 8.5 TFL’s between them.  On Saturday, A&M o-line coach Jim Turner will ask both up-and-coming freshmen to somehow find a way to provide a glimpse of things to come, by holding their own against the Big 12’s best collection of edge rushers.  Ryan Tannehill’s ability to attack a suspect Sooners secondary depends on it.

A&M OLB Von Miller vs. Oklahoma RT Eric Mensik
Last season, Von Miller led the nation with 17 sacks.  So far this year, the senior from DeSoto has gotten to opposing quarterbacks just three times, due in large part to the fact that he is almost always double- and triple-teamed, and now drops into coverage with regularity.  Nevertheless, Miller is still the most feared and disruptive defender in the Big 12.  Against Oklahoma, Von will be lining up across from Eric Mensik – a former tight end who made the move to the offensive line prior to the season and now starts at right tackle.  In order for the Aggies to pull off the upset on Saturday, they’re probably going to have to create a couple of game-changing takeaways.  The Ags’ key to winning the turnover battle is for Miller – and fellow OLB’s Sean Porter and Damontre Moore – to put intense pressure on Landry Jones.  Von has been outstanding this fall, but he has yet to have the kind of breakout game that he envisioned when choosing to return to school for his senior season.  He could enjoy one of those nights against Mensik and the No. 10 Sooners at Kyle Field on Saturday night.  If OU decides to focus most of their blocking attention on #40, you’d still consider it “Advantage A&M” in this all-important matchup.

A&M ILB Garrick Williams vs. Oklahoma TE James Hanna
Considering OU’s star-power, a tight end who has caught just 7 passes in eight games might seem like a curious choice when discussing Saturday’s ‘key matchups.’  Oklahoma’s offense can be every bit as explosive as Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Missouri – three units that the Aggies got a front-row look at last month – so the Sooners are likely to move the sticks and put together some successful drives.  The Ags have played tremendous red zone defense this year, ranking second in the league in that category.  A&M has surrendered just 15 touchdowns on 27 opponent trips inside the 20-yard line and the Ags have forced three turnovers near the goal line, including two in last week’s win over Tech.  James Hanna may only have seven receptions this year, but he’s managed to turn five of those grabs into touchdowns.  In most of A&M’s big games this season, the Aggie inside linebackers have struggled in zone coverage, oftentimes losing track of tight ends over the middle and up the seams.  Junior starter Garrick Williams and senior Michael Hodges will have to pay close attention to the Sooners’ secret weapon, because keeping Hanna out of the end zone will go a long way toward the Ags getting key goal line stops and forcing OU to settle for a couple of short field goals.

TEXAS A&M QUOTABLES...ON OKLAHOMA

Head Coach Mike Sherman:
“[Landry Jones] is pretty good. He functions in the offense extremely well. he’s their point guard so to speak moving the ball down the field and keeping the tempo alive. He also has some good players around him and some pretty good weapons he’s taken advantage of. He hasn’t made many mistakes. He’s been pretty much mistake-free throughout the season.”

Defensive Coordinator Tim DeRuyter:
“It’s huge. It’s a Big 12 south game. You don’t have many chances to play a top-10 team at home in front of our crowd. In an offensive like that and a tempo like that, they have to communicate well. If we can get the 12th Man loud, like they always are, we can make it tough for them. If we can do our part defensively to slow them down and hopefully create some confusion, we have a chance to win this football game. This is the biggest game of the year on our schedule, and I think our guys will go in with tremendous confidence.”
“It will be a big-time challenge. They are a heck of a club. Coach Stoops has done a great job there. They’re a well-coached, extremely talented group. They’ve been signing top-10 recruiting classes and it shows. They’ve been running the same system. They have a veteran quarterback with excellent skill players. It’s a big, big time challenge for us this week.”

“Our guys will have an awareness of where [Ryan Broyles] is at. He’s their main target. We’ll have some things in the game plan that will account for him. He’s great at yards after the catch. He’s really explosive. He can make guys miss in space. You’d better get multiple guys to cover him because if you don’t he can embarrass you in a hurry.”

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill:
“They are a great defense with good athletes all over the field. They throw a lot of things at you, play a lot of different coverages and bring a lot of different blitzes. As an offense you have to be ready for that. We’re going to have to play really well this week.”

Running Back Cyrus Gray:
“We’ve won two games in a row, but that’s behind us now. Our main focus is Oklahoma. They are a great team and we will have to prepare great for them. I think we can have great success ... we just have to continue practicing hard and focusing on details.”

Inside Linebacker Garrick Williams:
“Be mistake-free. We have to play all four quarters, every play. We have to play with fanatical effort, mental toughness and physicality.”

Inside Linebacker Michael Hodges:
“It will definitely be a challenge. Our offense in the spring was just as fast as these guys will be Saturday. That was definitely a challenge for us to get the calls in and get adjusted really quickly. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of opportunity to practice that this week and will be prepared for Saturday.”

Safety Trent Hunter:
“We expect big things from Broyles. He’s got good hands, good speed and good size. He’s got moves. He’s pretty much everything you want in a receiver.”
“[We must] play sound defense. [We have to be] assignment sound, no technical errors and no mental errors. You’ve just got to go out there and play the best defense that you can. They are a balanced offense. You’ve got to be on your P’s and Q’s when they are running or passing the ball.”

TEXAS A&M DEPTH CHART

OKLAHOMA DEPTH CHART