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.

Texas A&M’s offense needs some help. They’re in the middle of the pack in total offense and more to the upper middle in scoring offense, but that was with Le’Veon Moss spearheading an offense that is 14th nationally in rushing.

You don’t have that anymore. So they’ve got to get creative. I’m no football guru, but I do have a few ideas.

Get the quick passing game going. If you’re going to stick with Marcel Reed — and why not? — then you’ve got to give him some stuff to work with. In particular, I’m thinking drag routes and quick slants. Opponents are going to crowd the box until the Aggies show they can do something in the passing game, so just go right behind them. Quick reads, get the ball out and let the receivers do the work.

This goes hand-in-hand with number one. Get your burners in the slot working those middle routes. Barber has been A&M’s top receiver since he returned from injury and Allen has the ability to make plays when he gets the ball in his hands. I think both could do real damage in the open field.

Playaction doesn’t work as well out of the shotgun than it does under center, but the pistol could be a decent compromise. Clearly, A&M has had trouble with the receivers either getting open or not being seen when they are open, but if you can establish the run some and then work in some play action, you may be able to get that extra step or two for your receivers to get really open.

This is one we’ve been waiting for all year, and now it’s almost imperative. If you’re going to change things up, then the tight end has to be a part of it. Tre Watson has proven that he can get open and make plays, and they should really emphasize getting him the ball more (in my opinion). Theo Ohrstrom made some big plays early In the season. Again, these are guys who can utilize the middle of the field and make things easier for Reed.

Amari Daniels likes to run north and south. He has a lot of wiggle once he gets in the open field, but when he’s around the line of scrimmage, his plan is to get upfield as fast as possible. We saw that on his long touchdown run against South Carolina. That was all power blocking, down to Trey Zuhn pulling to seal the left side. That’s his forte, the linemen like it and it has been effective.

Coach Elko said during his press conference this week that the Aggies need to get the ball in Terry Bussey’s hands in a way that the whole world doesn’t know what’s coming (in other words, not on jet sweeps). So use him out of the backfield, and not just as a running back. One thing A&M’s quarterbacks have done really well this year is utilize the backs in the passing game. If Moss and Daniels can do damage in space coming out of the backfield, what do you think Bussey could do? He that truly would be the Ainias Smith role, where he gets some carries and gets the ball in the passing game.

Nic Scourton has been named a semifinalist for both the Lombardi and Badnarik awards. He’s on his way to an All-SEC, if not All-American, season. None of the three remaining opponents have been exactly good in protecting the quarterback (NMSU is 76th nationally in sacks allowed, Auburn’s 103rd and Texas is 70th), so the opportunity for him to put up some numbers down the stretch certainly exists.

I said this in Monday Thoughts last night, but it bears repeating. A&M must throw the ball better and that needs to start this weekend. New Mexico State is 123rd in total defense, 104th in passing yards allowed, 119th in yards per catch against, 123rd in sacks and 130th in turnovers forced. This should, and needs to be, a get better game for the passing attack.

The more I look at the last two games for the Aggie basketball team, the more I’m thinking Zhuric Phelps could be a true difference-maker. His offensive game is controlled aggression, but he also sets up teammates for easy baskets. There’s no messing around with Phelps; if he gets the ball and sees an opening, he’s attacking. He doesn’t dribble around and wait like some other players might. The offense operates at a different level when he’s on the court, and they don’t lose to UCF if he plays.

Andersson Garcia? The rebounding machine was a force on offense last night, scoring 15 points including both of his three-point attempts. That’s a career high for him. He actually shot the three well last year, and if he starts to become a consistent scoring threat along with his rebounding, that will be something tough for opponents to deal with.