AggieYell.com continues its look at the matchup between No. 16 Texas A&M (1-1) and Lamar (2-0) with a look at the Aggie offense against the Cardinals defense. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. central time Sept. 14 and will be televised on ESPNU.
Texas A&M offensive depth chart
QB: #11, Kellen Mond (Jr.; 6-2, 217; ProFootballFocus season score of 71.9)
#8 Connor Blumrick (RS-So.; 6-5, 210; n/a) OR #4 James Foster (RS-Fr.; 6-3, 217; n/a) OR #10 Zach Calzada (Fr.; 6-3, 209; 65.9)
RB: #28 Isaiah Spiller (Fr.; 6-1, 220; 69.2) OR #23 Jacob Kibodi (RS-So.; 6-2, 218; 60.3) OR #25 Cordarrian Richardson (RS-So.; 6, 240; 76.4); OR #21 Deneric Prince (RS-Fr; 6-1, 209; n/a)
FB: #43 Cagan Baldree (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 260; 59.0)
TE: #86 Glenn Beal (So.; 6-5, 260; 47.8) OR #85 Jalen Wydermyer (Fr.; 6-5, 260; 55.1)
WR: #1, Quartney Davis (RS-Jr.; 6-2, 200; 63.6)
#14 Camron Buckley (Jr.; 6-2, 190; 51.7)
WR: #2, Jhamon Ausbon (Jr.; 6-2, 218; 65.9)
#5 Jalen Preston (RS-Fr.; 6-2, 214; 76.6)
WR: #13, Kendrick Rogers (RS-Jr.; 6-4, 204; 59.3)
#81, Caleb Chapman (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 214; 53.5)
LT: #65, Dan Moore (Jr.; 6-5, 325; 62.2)
#74, Kellen Diesch (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 298; 68.9)
LG: #73, Jared Hocker (Jr.; 6-5, 323; 74.5)
#60, Bart Clement (RS-Fr.; 6-2, 319; 57.9)
C: #76, Colton Prater (Sr.; 6-4, 298; 65.7)
#77, Ryan McCollum (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 305; 65.8)
RG: #55, Kenyon Green (Fr.; 6-4, 330; 71.4)
#75, Luke Matthews (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 315; 59)
RT: #54, Carson Green (Jr.; 6-6, 315; 67.1)
#51, Riley Anderson (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 304; 68.1)
Lamar defensive depth chart (No PFF scores available)
DE: #94, Cameron Houston (Jr.; 5-11, 234)
#34, Abel Daily (So.; 6, 215)
DT: #43, James Jeffery (Sr.; 6-3, 279)
#99, Brandon Arnold (Jr.; 6-2, 280)
DT: #2, Darien Wilson (Sr.; 6, 289)
#42, Reggie Boseman (Jr.; 6-2, 248)
DE: #34, Abel Daily (So.; 6, 215)
#90, Daniel Crosley (Sr.; 6-1, 245)
SAM: #16, Isaiah Spencer (Sr.; 6-2, 227)
#48, Kevin O’Neill (Sr.; 6-2, 222)
MIKE: #15, Mark Meynisse (Sr; 6-2, 220)
#10, Dallas Martin (Jr.; 6-2, 223)
FC: #4, Steven Jones (So.; 5-8, 165)
#11, Cameron Hayes (Jr.; 5-11, 180)
FS: #41, Michael Lawson (Jr.; 5-10, 179)
#17, Anthony Ruffin (Fr.; 6-1, 200)
WS: #9, Kyron Norwood (Jr.; 5-11, 183)
#8, Keshawn Young (Jr.; 6-2, 200)
BC: #1, Stanley Norman (Jr.; 6-1, 188)
#3, Tariq Anthony (Jr.; 6-2, 182)
NICKEL: #22, Andre Mulinax (Jr.; 5-10, 188)
#5 Jerod Alton (Jr.; 5-11, 186)
A&M statistical leaders
Rushing: Jashaun Corbin, 35 carries for 137 yards and 1 TD
Spiller, 14 carries for 130 yards
Mond, 10 carries for 26 yards and 1 TD
Passing: Mond, 43-69 (62.3%), 430 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Calzada, 4-9 (44.4%), 38 yards
Receiving: Ausbon, 13 catches for 144 yards and 1 TD
Davis, 11 catches for 144 yards and 1 TD
Rogers, 7 catches for 72 yards
Lamar statistical leaders
Tackles: Martin, 21
Wilson, 15
Spencer and Lawson, 14
Tackles for loss: Crosley, 5
Wilson, 4
Five players with 2 each
Sacks: Crosley, 2
Mulinax, Daily, Norwood, 1 each
Interceptions: Lawson, 2
Forced fumbles: Crossley, Hunter Adams and Davion May, 1
Fumble recoveries: Martin, Arnold, Hayes, 1
Passes broken up: Norman, 2
Four players with 1 each
A&M by the numbers
Scoring offense: 25.5 PPG (78th nationally, 10th SEC)
Rushing offense: 149.5 YPG (79th, 10th)
Passing offense: 234 YPG (64th, 5th)
Total offense: 383.5 YPG (82nd, 10th)
First downs: 40 (80th, 10th)
3rd down conversions: 44.4% (50th, 4th)
4th down conversions: 100% (1st)
Red zone conversions: 72.7% (99th, 10th)
Turnovers lost: 4 (84th, 10th)
Sacks allowed: 2 (26th, 4th)
Turnover margin: +1 (39th, 4th)
Time of possession: 34:11 (15th, 1st)
Lamar by the numbers
Scoring defense: 18 PPG (21st FBS, 2nd Southland)
Rushing yards allowed: 169.5 YPG (56th, 7)
Passing yards allowed: 79.5 YPG (3rd, 1st)
Total defense: 249 YPG, (10th, 1st)
3rd down conversion defense: 26.5% (13th, 4th)
4th down conversion defense: 50% (51st, 7th)
Red zone defense: 85.7% (60th, 5th)
Tackles for loss: 28 (1st)
Sacks: 5 (16th, 4th)
Turnovers forced: 5 (12th, 3rd)
Turnover margin: -2 (83rd, 9th)
What A&M wants to do
This should be a bounce-back game for the Aggie offense after having struggles against No. 1 Clemson. Lamar’s defensive stats look imposing, but they’ve played Bethel University and Mississippi Valley State. Clearly, they are not on the same level as Texas A&M.
The Aggies have one major objective here: get back to feeling good about themselves offensively. That means getting Isaiah Spiller set as the top running back; getting Kellen Mond feeling confident again; getting the wideouts to play up to their potential and having the offensive line dominate. The band-aid has been ripped off, so there’s no reason to play vanilla. It’s time to go after each opponent.
In this case, A&M needs to go out and execute their offense. Run the football efficiently, spread the ball out through the air in the short and medium game and then take the top off if possible. Have the offensive line give Mond time to go through his progression. Do those things and the Aggies should move the ball quite effectively.
How Lamar may try to counter
Lamar’s defense is built on speed. They’ll sometimes use a four-man front and stand both (very undersized) ends up and use a 4-2-5 scheme; sometimes they’ll use a three man front with three big guys in a 3-3-5. They blitz. A lot. When they think you’re passing, they’re blitzing. They like to send both linebackers AND the nickel when they blitz, trying to either overwhelming a gap in the middle or just use their speed on the edge. Their linebackers, Meynisse and Spencer, look pretty solid. They cover a lot of ground and have good speed. They play a lot of man defense with only one safety back, meaning if they don’t get into the backfield, the potential for big plays is there. So far, their speed has done the trick and they have dominated. They may find A&M’s offense to be a very different animal, however.
