Texas A&M Aggies
Overall Rank: #37
#11 SEC
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Coach Kevin Sumlin might have raised the bar a little too high during his first year with Texas A&M. In 2012 the Aggies went 11-2 and crushed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. In 2013 the team went 9-4 and then they slipped to 8-5 last season. Considering the level of competition in the SEC West, that is not all bad. However, the standard has been set and another year of falling win totals will certainly put the pressure on Coach Sumlin.
2014 Record: 8-5, 3-5
2014 Bowl: Liberty Bowl vs. West Virginia (W 45-37)
Coach: Kevin Sumlin (28-11 at Texas A&M, 63-28 overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Jake Spavital
Defensive Coordinator: John Chavis
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Tra Carson, RB, 581 yards
Passing: Kyle Allen, QB, 1,322 yards
Receiving: Josh Reynolds, WR, 842 yards
Tackles: Shaan Washington, LB, 64
Sacks: Myles Garrett, DE, 11.5
Interceptions: Armani Watts, S, 3
Other Key Returnees: RB Brandon Williams, WR Speedy Noll, WR Ricky Seals-Jones, WR Edward Pope, P Drew Kaser, DT Alonzo Williams
Key Losses: RB Trey Williams, QB Kenny Hill, WR Malcome Kennedy, OL Cedric Ogbuehi, S Howard Matthews, CB Deshazor Everett, LB Justin Bass, K Josh Lambo
Strengths:
Once again Texas A&M will have a potent offense. Following the transfer of Kenny Hill, Kyle Allen figures to step into the full-time starting spot. In limited action, Allen threw for 1,322 yards and 16 touchdowns. In late season games against Auburn and West Virginia, Allen threw four touchdown passes in each contest. He even ran for one against the Mountaineers in the Liberty Bowl. Josh Reynolds, Speedy Noil, Ricky Seals-Jones and Edward Pope will give Allen plenty of quality targets. Each of those four receivers caught at least 30 passes and had at least four touchdowns last season. Reynolds, a 6-4 junior, led the way, catching 52 passes for 842 yards and 13 touchdowns. It was basically that same group that led the SEC in passing offense and they will do it again. Tra Carson will likely be more of a feature back this year after rushing for 581 yards and five touchdowns in 2014. This team may not run as much as some of their SEC counterparts, but with Carson and Brandon Williams, they can run when they want to.
Weaknesses:
John Chavis heads to College Station as the savior of the Aggies defense. The former LSU defensive coordinator will implement some much needed changes to a unit that ranked dead last in the SEC in rush defense and total defense. Defensive end Myles Garrett will benefit from the new attacking defense. He recorded 11.5 sacks and totaled 37 quarterback hurries as a freshman. There are not a whole lot of proven playmakers behind Garrett though. Linebacker Shaan Washington recorded 64 tackles last season and Armani Watts made some nice plays as a freshman. Coach Sumlin had to hit the junior college market to fill in some of the gaps and attempt to get a few experienced players that are a nice fit for the new defensive outlook. It cannot get much worse though and with Chavis leading the unit, it will not be any worse.
The Bottom Line:
This will be an interesting season for Texas A&M. They have the talent to compete in the brutal SEC West. And the schedule shapes up relatively well too. They do not have any true road games until their seventh game of the season. And even their two neutral site games are in the state of Texas. If they can take that early home momentum and ride it through the rest of the year, this is a team that can win 11 games again. But counting on Texas A&M to be consistent may be a mistake. It will likely come down to just how much better the defense will be. As we saw last year, a potent offense still resulted in a 59-0 loss to Alabama.
Projected Bowl: Birmingham Bowl
2014 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 149.9 (82nd in nation, 12th in conference)
Passing Offense: 305.5 (12, 1)
Total Offense: 455.4 (30, 5)
Scoring Offense: 35.2 (26, 5)
Rushing Defense: 216.0 (109, 14)
Pass Defense: 234.8 (80, 13)
Total Defense: 450.8 (102, 14)
Scoring Defense: 28.1 (75, 11)
Turnover Margin: -0.54 (105, 13)
Sacks: 2.77 (22, 3)
Sacks Allowed: 2.08 (64, 10)
Madness 2016 NFL Draft Rankings:
#48 Germain Ifedi
Madness 2015 Recruit Rankings:
#14 Daylon Mack
#21 Christian Kirk
#33 Kyler Murray
#99 Connor Lanfear
#123 Justin Dunning
#137 James Lockhart
#148 Kendall Bussey
#171 Larry Pryor
#176 Roney Elam
#183 Richard Moore
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