Game preview: Texas A&M's Offense vs. Utah State's Defense

AggieYell.com begins its look at the matchup between No. 19 Texas A&M (1-0) and Utah State (1-0) with a breakdown of the A&M offense versus the Utah State defense.

Where, when, weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

When: 11:45 a.m. central time, Saturday, Sept. 6

Weather: Partly sunny with temperatures in the 80s

TV: SEC Network (Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), and Alyssa Lang (sideline reporter))

Texas A&M offensive depth chart

QB: #10, Marcel Reed; RS-So.; 6-1, 185

#16, Miles O’Neill; RS-Fr.; 6-5, 220

RB: #8, Le’Veon Moss; Sr.; 5’11, 210

#4, Rueben Owens; RS-So.; 5-11, 215 OR

#5, Amari Daniels; Sr.; 5-8, 197

TE: #17, Theo Melin Ohrstrom; RS-Jr.; 6-6, 257

#87, Nate Boerkircher; Gr.-TR.; 6-4, 250

WR (X): #3, Ashton Bethel-Roman; RS-Fr.; 6, 185

#2, Terry Bussey; So.; 5-10, 195

WR (SLOT): #1, Mario Craver; So.; 5-9, 165

#0, Izaiah Williams; RS-Fr.; 5-11, 185

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

#18, TK Norman; Fr.; 6, 182

LT: #60, Trey Zuhn; Sr.; 6-6, 319

#79, Lamont Rogers; Fr.; 6-6, 337

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

#52, Blake Ivy; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 336

C: #54, Mark Nabou; RS-So.; 6-4, 330

#61, Koli Faaiu; RS-Sr.-TR.; 6-3, 333

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

#77, Tyler Thomas; Fr.; 6-4, 329

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

#70, Robert Bourdon; RS-Fr.; 6-6, 315

Utah State defensive depth chart

DE: #9, Tyree Morris; Jr.-TR.; 6-5, 285

#28, Carson Tujague; RS-Fr.-TR.; 6-3, 280

NOSE: #10, Gabriel Iniguez Jr.; Gr.; 6-1, 290

#47, Naki Fahina; GR-Tr.; 5-11, 295

#99, Kone Aumua-Uiagalelei; Jr.-TR.; 6-2, 310

DE: #44, Bo Maile; Sr.; 6-3, 270

#0, Enoka Migao; Sr.; 6-4, 265

#55, Tevita Tuha; Jr.-TR.; 6-1, 265

WILL: #24, William Holmes; So.; 6-4, 245

#40, Zion Andreasen; So.; 6-4, 230

SAM: #25, Chris Joe; Fr.; 6-3, 215

#41, Carl Nesmith; Sr.; 6-4, 230

MIKE: #14, Bronson Olevao Jr.; Jr.; 6-1, 215

#31, Dakota Howell; Fr.; 5-11, 220 OR #36, Tymere Burton; So.-TR.; 6-1, 225

BUCK: #20, John Miller; Gr.; 6-1, 225

#17, Mataira Brown; So.-TR.; 6-2, 230

FS: #12, Bobby Arnold; RS-Jr.-TR.; 5-9, 180

#11, Bryson Taylor; Sr.-TR.; 6-1, 190

#27, Chika Ebunoha; Jr.-TR.; 5-11, 185

BS: #4, Brevin Hamblin; Jr.-TR.; 6-5, 200

#23, Titan Saxton; So.-TR.; 6, 190

FC: #22, Courage Ugo; RS-Jr.-TR.; 6, 195

#21, Noah Flores; So.; 5-9, 175

BC: #1, Noah Avinger; Sr.-TR.; 6, 190

#34, Dylan Tucker; Sr.-TR.; 5-11, 200

Injury update

Texas A&M: OL Deuce Fatheree (lower body injury) is out.

Utah State: S Ike Larson (suspension) is out.

Texas A&M offensive statistical leaders

Passing: Reed, 22-34, 289 yards, 4 TD

Rushing: Reed, 8 carries, 39 yards

Owens, 5 carries, 37 yards

Moss, 3 carries, 19 yards

Receiving: Craver, 8 catches, 122 yards (15.25 YPC), 2 TD

Concepcion, 3 catches, 72 yards (24 YPC), 1 TD

Ohrstrom, 3 catches, 23 yards, 1 TD

Utah State defensive statistical leaders

Tackles: Avinger, 11

Miller, 10

Hamblin, 8

Tackles for loss: Miller, 1.5

Five players with 1

Sacks: Miller and Olevao, 1

Interceptions: Flores, 1

What A&M wants to do on offense

Probably move towards a more balanced offense with Notre Dame looming. Utah State only gave up 282 yards of total offense last weekend, but they were playing UTEP and…well, UTEP’s pretty bad. UTEP had 103 yards of rushing at less than 3 yards a clip, so it’s obvious what A&M’s is going to do — run the ball.

Right?

Maybe.

Reed was impressive last weekend and they may want to continue to build on that success. Concepcion and Craver will almost certainly be more than a problem for the Utah State defense, which is missing its best player in Larson, who is suspended for six games to start the year.

It is, however, more than likely that the Aggies run the ball — as in, use the running backs — more than the 15 times they did against UTSA. They’re going to look for balance throughout the season and the Utah State line, while not small, isn’t athletic enough to deal with A&M’s offensive line if they come out looking to push them around.

So look for A&M to start to utilize the run more, but continue to be aggressive in the passing game. If one thing ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s just time to get the other thing going.

What Utah State may do to counter

Try to stuff the run again and see if they can’t make life difficult for Reed with 2nd and 3rd and long situations. USU ran a lot of 3-man fronts against UTEP, so they’ll likely need to blitz with their linebackers in running downs. It worked well against the Miners, as they held UTEP to 2.9 yards per carry. They only had six tackles for loss and two sacks, but they still did a good job minimizing the damage done on the ground. Utah State’s pass defense was pretty decent against Malachi Nelson, UTEP’s quarterback. He completed 22 of 34 passes for just 178 yards, so they kept things in front of them and didn’t get beat deep often. But UTEP’s top receiver, Kenny Odom, had 9 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. If Odom can do that, what can Concepcion, Craver or Ashton Bethel-Roman do? Against A&M, Utah State is probably going to have to be aggressive and hope for some home team mistakes and turnovers. Holding UTEP to 16 points is a massive step forward for a team that was 127th in scoring defense last year, but they’re taking a big step up in competition this weekend.