Game preview: Texas A&M's offense vs. Miami's defense

AggieYell.com begins its look at the matchup between No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1) and Miami (10-2) with a breakdown of the Aggie offense against the Hurricanes defense.

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

When: 11 a.m. central time Saturday, Dec. 20

Weather: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the low- to mid-70s. Winds 15-20 mph expected

TV: ABC/ESPN (Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Greg McElroy, analyst; Molly McGrath and Taylor McGregor, sideline reporters)

How they got here

Texas A&M:
Beat UTSA 42-24

Beat Utah State 44-22

Beat Notre Dame 41-40

Beat Auburn 16-10

Beat Mississippi State 31-9

Beat Florida 34-17

Beat Arkansas 45-42

Beat LSU 49-25

Beat Missouri 38-17

Beat South Carolina 31-30

Beat Samford 48-0

Lost to Texas, 27-17

Miami:

Beat Notre Dame 27-24

Beat Bethune-Cookman 45-3

Beat USF 49-12

Beat Florida 26-7

Beat Florida State 28-22

Lost to Louisville 24-21

Beat Stanford 42-7

Lost to SMU 26-20 (OT)

Beat Syracuse 38-10

Beat NC State 41-7

Beat Virginia Tech 34-7

Beat Pitt 38-7

Texas A&M offensive depth chart

QB: #10, Marcel Reed (6-1, 185, R-So.)

#16, Miles O’Neill (6-5, 220, R-Fr.)

#13, Brady Hart (6-4, 195, Fr.) OR #9, Jacob Zeno (6-2, 215, Gr.)

RB: #8, Le’Veon Moss (5-11, 210, Sr.)

#4, Rueben Owens II (5-11, 215, R-So.)

#5, Amari Daniels (5-8, 197, R-Sr.) OR #23, Jamarion Morrow (5-9, 205, Fr.) OR #22, EJ Smith (5-11, 211, Gr.)

WR: #7, KC Concepcion (5-11, 190, Jr.)

#18, TK Norman (6-0, 182, Fr.)

WR: #1, Mario Craver (5-9, 165, So.) OR #2, Terry Bussey (5-10, 195, So.)

#0, Izaiah Williams (5-11, 185, R-Fr.)

WR: #3, Ashton Bethel-Roman (6-0, 185, R-Fr.) OR #2, Terry Bussey (5-10, 195, So.)

#11, Kelshaun Johnson (5-11, 168, Fr.)

TE: #17, Theo Melin Öhrström (6-6, 257, R-Jr.) OR #87, Nate Boerkircher (6-4, 250, Gr.) OR #84, Amari Niblack (6-3, 235, Sr.)

#88, Micah Riley (6-5, 257, R-Jr.)

#21, Kiotti Armstrong (6-5, 275, Fr.)

LT: #60, Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 319, Gr.) OR #76, Reuben Fatheree (6-7, 333, Gr.)

#79, Lamont Rogers (6-6, 337, Fr.)

LG: #71, Chase Bisontis (6-5, 315, Jr.)

#73, Ashton Funk (6-6, 322, R-Fr.) OR #77, Tyler Thomas (6-4, 329, Fr.)

C: #54, Mark Nabou (6-3, 322, R-So.) OR #60, Trey Zuhn III (6-6, 319, Gr.)

#61, Koli Faaiu (6-3, 333, Sr.)

RG: #55, Ar’maj Reed-Adams (6-5, 325, Gr.)

#52, Blake Ivy (6-3, 336, R-Fr.)

RT: #78, Dametrious Crownover (6-7, 336, Gr.)

#70, Robert Bourdon (6-6, 318, R-Fr.)

Texas A&M offensive statistical leaders

Passing: Reed, 209-338 (61.8%), 2,932 yards, 25 TD, 10 INT

O’Neill, 7-14, 120 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Rushing: Owens, 112 carries, 618 yards (5.5 YPC), 5 TD

Reed, 89 carries, 466 yards (5.2 YPC), 6 TD

Moss, 70 carries, 389 yards (5.6 YPC), 6 TD

Receiving: Concepcion, 57 catches, 886 yards (15.5 YPC), 9 TD

Craver, 52 catches, 825 yards (15.9 YPC), 4 TD

Bethel-Roman, 20 catches, 459 yards (23 YPC), 5 TD

Miami defensive depth chart

LDE: #4, Rueben Bain Jr. (6-3, 270; Jr.)

#12, Marquise Lightfoot (6-5, 230; So.)

NT: #11, David Blay Jr. (6-4, 305; RS-Sr.-TR.)

#5, Justin Scott (6-4, 303; So.)

DT: Ahmad Moten Sr. (6-3, 300; RS-Jr.)

#18, Armondo Blount (6-4, 265; So.)

RDE: #3, Akheem Mesidor (6-3, 265; RS-Sr.-TR.)

#9, Malik Bryant (6-2, 240; Jr.)

WILL: #1, Mohamed Toure (6-2, 235; RS-Sr.-TR.)

#32, Kamal Bonner (6-2, 215; RS-So.-TR.)

MIKE: #31, Wesley Bissainthe (6-1, 230; Sr.)

#10, Raul Aguirre Jr. (6-2, 240; Jr.)

LCB: #29, OJ Frederique Jr. (6, 185; So.)

#24, Ethan O’Connor (6-1, 180; RS-So.-TR.)

SS: #8, Jakobe Thomas (6-2, 200; RS-Sr.-TR.)

#22, Cam Pruitt (6-2, 210; So.)

FS: #7, Zechariah Poyser (6-2, 200; RS-So.-TR.)

#13, Bryce Fitzgerald (6-1, 185; Fr.)

RCB: #2, Damari Brown (6-2, 195; RS-So.)

#6, Xavier Lucas (6-2, 198; So.-TR.)

NICKEL: #0, Keionte Scott (6, 195; Sr.-TR.)

#28, Isaiah Taylor (5-11, 200; RS-Sr.-TR.)

Miami defensive statistical leaders

Tackles: Toure, 54

Thomas, 49

Poyser, 47

Tackles for loss: Moten and Bain, 7.5

Scott, 6.5

Sacks: Mesidor, 7

Bain and Moten, 4.5

Interceptions: Thomas and Fitzgerald, 4

Four players with 1

Forced fumbles: Meisdor, 4

Thomas, 2

Fumble recoveries: Four players with 2

Injury update

Texas A&M: RB Le’Veon Moss (ankle) is questionable.

Miami: LB Malik Bryant is out.

CB Damari Brown is questionable.

Nickel Kionte Scott is probable.

Head to head: Texas A&M’s offense vs. Miami’s defense

Category	Texas A&M	National/SEC rank	Category	Miami	National/ACC rank
Scoring offense	36.3 PPG	14th/4th	Scoring defense	13.8 PPG	6th/1st
Total offense	454.4 YPG	20th/5th	Total defense	277.9 YPG	11th/1st
Rushing offense	192.7 YPG	25th/2nd	Rushing defense	86.8 YPG	7th/1st
Passing offense	261.8 YPG	32nd/6th	Passing defense	190.9 YPG	30th/3rd
First downs	272	35th/8th	First down defense	192	11th/1st
3rd down conversion percentage	40.9%	58th/9th	3rd down percentage defense	29.9%	10th/3rd
Red zone offense	83.6%	75th/14th	Red zone defense	84%	69th/10th
Sacks allowed per game	1	11th/1st	Sacks per game	2.83	16th/1st
Tackles for loss allowed per game	2.83	1st nationally	Tackles for loss per game	6.6	19th/4th
Turnovers	16	76th/11th	Turnovers forced	20	24th/3rd
Turnover +/-	-7	111th/14th	Turnover +/-	9	12th/2nd
Time of possession	32:24	16th/3rd	Time of possession	33:43	5th/1st

What A&M wants to do

Control the clock, win the line of scrimmage and keep the offense balanced while keeping Miami wondering what’s coming next.

Texas A&M has been able to run the ball against just about everyone — even their 157 yards against Texas was the second-most anyone gained against them, and 4.6 YPC ain’t shabby. But Miami has been extremely stout against the run and they will be a challenge for the Aggie offensive line. That group needs to come in all kinds of fired up and ready to push around a tough Miami front.

One thing that has given Miami’s defense problems is when opposing receivers get the ball in space. We saw the Aggies excel at quick passes earlier in the season, and SMU drove the Hurricanes nuts with quick hitters in their 26-20 overtime win. Their receivers are good, but they’re not at the level of Craver and Concepcion. I think the quick outs, as well as jet sweeps, will be important parts of the offense Saturday.

That doesn’t mean everything will be short; Miami has had more than a few busts in the secondary that have led to big plays. Craver, Concepcion and Bethel-Roman have the speed to get deep on anyone, so the Aggies will probably take a few shots, especially off of play action if the Aggies can establish the running game early. If Moss returns, then A&M will have a much better shot at grinding out the tough yards right up the middle.

Reed will have to be involved in all parts of the game — in other words, he’s going to have to run some. If he has time to throw, then he needs to work his progressions better than he did against Texas, especially later in that game. Basically, go out and be the Marcel Reed we saw the first nine weeks of the season.

But really, this all hinges on the performance of the offensive line. If they control things, the running game gets started and Reed consistently has time to throw, the Aggies are in a great position to win the game. If they don’t, the offseason likely starts early.

How Miami may try to counter

Take a play out of Texas’ playbook (oddly, from the defensive coordinator fired Thursday) and try to win with four. Not a lot of blitzing, nothing overly exotic — just bring your four big boys and try to wreak havoc.

The combination of Bain and Mesidor is unquestionably the best pair of defensive ends A&M has faced this year. The Hurricanes have plenty of bulk on the interior with Blay and Moten, and Moten especially has been very disruptive against the interior linemen of Miami’s opponents.

Miami has blitzed a lot this season, bringing the heat on 35.5% of opponent dropbacks. But they may not want to do that against the Aggies, because Reed has eaten blitzing opponents alive, either by taking off and running for finding one of his big name receivers in single coverage. After seeing how frustrated Texas made him in the second half, the Hurricanes may find discretion the better part of valor and back off and play more zone.

While Miami may not blitz as much as they normally do, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Thomas, the strong safety, down in the box frequently. He’s one of their leading tacklers and blitzes a fair amount. In this case, though, his job may be more along the lines of tracking Moss or Owens.

If the Hurricanes do go away from the blitz, it could also change how they play on the back end. They play a lot of man, and their corners are tall and physical. Miami has forced 20 turnovers, including 12 interceptions, this season, so they’ve thrived on takeaways. They will certainly look to be optimistic and jump routes that they recognize. Reed will have to avoid those mistakes.

The big battle, as already mentioned, is the A&M offensive line against the Miami defensive line. Whoever wins that probably wins the game.