AggieYell Mailbag

Here’s this week’s AggieYell Mailbag, sponsored by Tipton Auto Group:

Q: What are your thoughts on NDs coaches? Who has the coaching advantage A&M vs ND, why? (Big Smoothie)

A: Marcus Freeman went 14-2 last year and beat A&M at Kyle Field. I like coach Elko, but until he beats Freeman, how can you say they don’t have the advantage?

Q: A guess on your part on “one” play or strategy coaches may use vs ND that we did not see in the first 2 warmup games on,

-offense

-defense (geb)

A: I don’t know if you can say one play, but I do think we’ll see more motion from the offense and very different blitzes from the defense.

Q: If you were Coach Freeman what is the first Aggie weakness you would attack? Or to put it another way, where is A&M most vulnerable? (H273)

A: Very simple: Run it right at A&M until they stop you.

Q: You referenced the 10-day, one time portal window in Elkos presser. Can you explain that?

A: Yeah, it’s exactly like it sounds. For football, there would be one 10-day opening for the transfer portal, starting Jan. 2 and ending Jan. 12. It doesn’t matter if you’re an undergrad or a graduate, you have to go in then. (I would expect there would be an exception made for playoff teams still playing.)

There would be no spring portal. You either go in in January or you don’t go in at all.

If Reed has 10 more games just like these two, minus injury. Where do we end up? (Elicrow)

If he continues to complete passes at a 66% clip, runs the ball for 5.8 yards per carry and averages four touchdowns a game? They’re in the CFP and he’s in New York for the Heisman ceremony. 

Q: 6.5 points seems like a lot. What is Vegas seeing that I’m not to make that spread so large? (Shanehammett12)

A: Home game, night game, and continued questions about A&M’s run defense.

Q: Have we done much blitzing? Hard to tell live or on TV without some serious playback review.

A: Not really. They’ve been pretty vanilla. They’ve brought the linebackers a few times, but that’s really been about it. Wait, they did send Bryce Anderson once last weekend.

Do you think we dial up our blitz packages against a young QB? (Richard23)

Absolutely.

Q: Sounds like ND is going to stack the box and press heavily on Concepcion to take away A&Ms main weapon in the passing game while playing man to man from what I’ve read. I can’t tell if they think pouring gasoline on fire is a bright idea or they’re truly confident in what they do. Who knows if this is what they’ll actually do.

If you were their DC, what would you do to slow down A&Ms offense?

I personally would play a lot of Tampa 2 and try to keep everything in front of them while randomly blitzing a corner or linebacker to keep Marcel guessing. (MC9008)

A: Well, last things first, Notre Dame does not use Tampa 2. Ever. They play overwhelmingly man with some Cover 4 (corners and safeties play deep zones). The matchup of their two top corners against Craver and Concepcion will be the real spotlight battle of the game. But if I’m Notre Dame, I am going to take my chances with Reed throwing the ball and I’m looking to take away Moss and Owens. Get A&M in 2nd and 3rd and long and see if 10 can beat you. If he can, then shucky-darn.

Q: If ND plays man, how good are their 2nd, 3rd, & 4th DBs? I know they have 1 really good one. If they do play man, do you go 4 wide and do more QB runs?

A: Their No. 2 corner, got a lot of time in that role last year when Benjamin Morrison was hurt. He did quite well, picking off 3 passes and breaking up 9 more. So he’s real good. Former Alabama DB DeVonta Smith and Karson Hobbs split time at nickel, and neither did much. 

I’m doing a little speculating here, but it looks like the Domers are relying heavily on Leonard Moore and Gray, then splitting time between Hobbs and Smith at nickel. And if they can’t hold up, then they’ve got some issues.

2 games in seeing O’Neil, thoughts? Maybe not his best offense to show his strengths but seems capable. (Rooster77)

Yeah, he looks all right. But I’d rather not see him much right now. The big arm is fun, though.

Q: What does successful players development look like?

Is it simply putting players in the NFL?

Draft picks?

High draft picks?

What is your opinion?

How are Aggies doing in player development? (Spar2cus)

A: As far as I’m concerned, it’s putting players in the NFL and having them succeed once they’re there. That’s why we don’t hear as much about guys who were dominant in the collegiate game and were high draft picks but didn’t pan out (for example, Luke Joeckel’s career being ruined by an ankle injury). It’s not the first contract that programs boast about the most, it’s the second. That shows they were prepared well for the long haul.

As for A&M’s player development…let’s see how many guys go in next year’s draft. Elko thinks they could have double-digit picks, and that would be something to toot your horn about.

Q: I’ve heard for years about the need to run vanilla schemes on offense and defense in the weeks leading up to a big game so the opposing coaches won’t know what’s coming. Is that really a thing and, if so, does it work? Have we done it this year? It seems like the value of an approach like that would be seriously diminished by the abundance of information and analysis on coaches and players these days. What do you think about it? Thanks. (Kneuse)

A: It is definitely a thing and I think we just saw it in the first couple of games. A&M didn’t want to show much of anything on either side of the ball. They worked on a few things, but didn’t get exotic. But, like I said in the game preview, now the gloves come off.

I think.

Q: Reed will come into this game with a questionalable shoulder injury.

How much would you run him to prevent any additional injury? It is a long season and we need him. Tough call for our offensive coordinator who has many other running weapons to use. (RacerRod)

A: Ok, right off the top: Reed’s fine. He and Trey Zuhn are good to go. I don’t think they’re worried about an additional injury, because they weren’t worried about the initial one. Will they run Reed? Some. But I think they’d rather him get his yards if nobody’s open and leave most of the planned running to the backs.

Q: The defense has given up several chunk plays in the first two games. Is this because we are crowding the line of scrimmage and there is not a second line of defense, or is someone out of position. (Old Man 31)

A: In both of the biggest runs, someone screwed up and was way out of position. UTSA’s other touchdown run was a blown assignment too. It wasn’t a planned lack of someone on the second level, that’s just how it turned out. And they can’t afford to do that again.

Q: How much of the run defense issues can be fixed in one week and how much of it is going to stick the whole year? (dP47)

A: All of it can be fixed in a week. It’s almost entirely mental mistakes. The question is will it be fixed and will it stick? 

Q: Can you explain to me what you wrote on our matchup with ND? What is the boundary side? And what did you mean by, (Leonard Moore) he normally doesn’t shadow a certain receiver, meaning Concepcion and Craver can move away from him.

A: Ok, look at it this way. If the ball’s on a hashmark, say the left hash, the boundary corner is on the short side of the field, playing closest to the sideline. The field corner will have the far side, the longer side of the field. So if you’re a boundary corner, you stay on the short side of the field, no matter who’s across from you. So Moore could see Concepcion one play and Ashton Bethel-Roman the next.

So if ND has two elite CB’s, doesn’t that possibly create an opportunity for Bussey from the slot? As he may line up against a Safety who can’t stay with him? Separation? How about the TE’s getting a bit more targets?

It could open up more of an opportunity for Craver, who lines up in the slot more than Bussey. But that’s where the nickel is, so it’s not going to be a safety necessarily on him. As for the tight ends, maybe. I’d like to see Amari Niblack get some more work.

Is Arie getting any better? (Tsip despiser)

Not really. We did get her out of the house a little bit today, and that was good for her. 

Q: If you had to pick one, does running the ball for over 200 yards or stopping the run for under 100 yards equal a win on Sat? (Jeffmc)

A: If A&M holds Notre Dame to under 100 yards rushing, they win. 

Q: Do we have a fullback package for this year? I think one of the Crownover brothers were used a year or two ago. (Mjfrog93)

A: Earnest Crownover was a legit fullback. A&M doesn’t have one this year. They’ll use an H-Back, which was a Joe Gibbs creation back in the day. That’s a tight end who plays off the line of scrimmage, either as a lead blocker in the backfield or just a little back of the line. I’ve noticed Niblack in that role several times.

Q: True or false. The team that rushes for 200 yards in the game wins?

A: If someone rushes for 200 yards, yeah, they win.

Who wins the special teams battle in this game?

A&M should, but I’m not real thrilled with the placekicking right now. But in the return game, the advantage is pretty lopsided.

Is it fair to compare last years game? Our offense was putrid that day. (brAg)

No, because this offense is completely different. 

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