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Published Oct 29, 2024
10 Things for Tuesday, sponsored by Brent Campbell
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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Sponsored by Brent Campbell, Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 1998. Brent is a Commercial Real Estate Broker, serving all of Central Texas and specializing in sales, leasing & development. He leads a retail acquisition and sales team and was recognized by the Austin Business Journal as a Commercial Real Estate Heavy Hitter in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 & 2023.

In the last 22 years, he has closed deals with a total transactional value of over $375 million and has leased more than 4.5 million square feet. Brent currently serves as the president of the board of directors for Habitat Homes, Inc. and Pathways Youth and Family Services. He is a former president of the Heart of Round Rock Neighborhood Association and a former member of the Round Rock Zoning Advisory Committee, the Round Rock Business and Retention Committee, and the City of Round Rock Ethics Commission, which has led him to begin developing in Williamson and Travis County.

An Austin native, Brent lives in Round Rock where he and his wife have raised four boys. Brent works for Don Quick and Associates, Inc. in Round Rock, TX and can be reached at brent@donquick.com.

Here's the South Carolina week edition of 10 Things for Tuesday:

1. Maybe we'll get some movement in the class of 2025 after all

Texas A&M has been on a hot streak with 2026 recruits since Saturday, with three 4-star commits pushing the class up to #1 nationally. They’ve got a good chance to add to it fairly soon. But they’re also starting to make some moves in the 2025 class. Four-star wideout CJ Wiley visited A&M for the LSU game and immediately de-committed from Florida State. He seems to be down to A&M and Georgia. Even though he’s from Alpharetta, Ga., the momentum seems to be with A&M.

Another former FSU commit, 5-star DE Javion Hilson, also was in town and was apparently completely blown away by the atmosphere at Kyle Field as A&M rallied to take out LSU. Texas had the lead for him, but now it looks like it could be even — and again, A&M has Big Mo.

And we’re still waiting to see what 4-star OL Lamont Rogers does.

Add those three guys and A&M’s class, which is already very good, enters elite status.


2. Momentum killers

How much did Saturday night’s game change after halftime? LSU had 283 yards of total offense and 17 points at the half. They had 149 yards, 6 points and three turnovers after halftime. They had 0 yards — zero — on the ground in the final 30 minutes of the game, and only 2 in the final three quarters.

3. Momentum takers

A&M had 147 yards of offense in the first half, which gives you an idea of how badly LSU was shut down after halftime, with 7 points. After the half, and largely after Marcel Reed came in, the offense blew up for 229 yards in just 33 plays — nearly 7 yards per play.


4. Reading it well

One thing that looked different Saturday night when Reed came in compared to his first three games was how crisp the read zone looked. It was done far more quickly and efficiently than it was just a month ago. I don’t know if that’s part of Reed maturing, more time in practice or what, but it seemed a lot more sharp.

5. Gamecocks won't be surprised, so Aggies will have to adapt 

This will be the first time the Aggies have made a quarterback change and it hasn’t caught the opponent off guard — I am assuming Reed will get the nod Saturday night, even though coach Elko has not said so. That could be dangerous against a team like South Carolina, who has an excellent pair of defensive ends in Kyle Kennard (8.5 sacks) and Dylan Stewart (4.5). Reed will have to read them well on zone read plays, but A&M’s also going to have to get the quick passing game going. If Reed runs Collin Klein’s offense better, than this has to be a game where Jabre Barber and Cyrus Allen are running quick ins off the line of scrimmage to get open fast. We have yet to consistently see this.



6. TEs making key contributions, receptions or not

While the absence of the tight end in the passing game remains notable, Theo Ohrstrom and Tre Watson have been nothing short of fantastic run blocking. Each guy had a key block on touchdown runs Saturday night and have quietly been a major part of the success of the running game.

7. Believe it or not

There’s been a lot of griping about A&M’s offense this season and how it’s operated in fits and starts. But here’s a stat for you: the Aggies lead the SEC in scoring in conference games at 33.4 points a game. Texas is not second; they’re sixth. LSU is not second; they’re fourth. Florida, of all teams, is in second.

A&M also has a full game on other top teams, which could have knocked their average down.




8. Defense has consistently limited points

The Aggies are fourth in points allowed in conference games at 18.8. That’s 2.3 points behind Ole Miss, who has played one less game in conference. Including non-conference, A&M is giving up 18.4 points per game, so they've stayed pretty steady. They haven't given up more than 24 points to anyone.

9. Run this back

A&M is number one in conference games in rushing (211.6 YPG) and number one in rush defense (73.6 YPG). Tennessee is second in fewest yards allowed, and they’re 23 yards a game behind the Aggies.

10. What's stopping the Gamecocks from crowing?

South Carolina’s defense, overall, is pretty awesome. They’re 13th nationally in total defense, have 21 sacks in 5 conference games (9 against OU) and are giving up just 2.9 yards a carry in conference games. So why are they only 4-3?

Their offense is terrible. The Gamecocks are a run-heavy team, and they’re picking up just 3.4 YPC in conference games — 3.7 for the season (A&M leads the conference at 4.9 YPC). They are dead last nationally in tackles for loss allowed and next to last in sacks allowed. They’re 115th in 3rd down conversions, converting exactly 1/3 of them (it goes up by 1 full percent in conference play). And now they get an Aggie defense that just pushed around what was considered the nation’s best pass protecting offensive line.

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