Published Dec 26, 2019
Aggies prepare to face stout Cowboys running game
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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AggieYell.com's  look at the Texas Bowl matchup between Texas A&M and Oklahoma State begins with a breakdown of the Cowboys offense against the Aggie defense.

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Oklahoma State depth chart

QB: #3, Spencer Sanders (RS-Fr.; 6-2, 196; ProfootballFocus season score of 64.2) OR #6, Dru Brown (RS-Sr.; 5-11, 206; 71.3)

RB: #30, Chuba Hubbard (RS-So.; 6-1, 207; 86.2)

#7, LD Brown (RS-Jr; 5-9, 191; 76.1)

WR: #17, Dillon Stoner (RS-Jr.; 6, 197; 68.6)

#80, LC Greenwood (RS-So.; 6-3, 212; 56.1)

WR: #1, Landon Wolf (RS-Jr.; 5-11, 174; 55)

#8, Braydon Johnson (RS-So.; 6-1, 195; 65.3)

WR: #12, Jordan McCray (RS-Sr.; 6-6, 187; 62.1)

#35, CJ Moore (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 175; 64.1)


LT: #76, Dylan Galloway (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 297; 73.5)

#78, Bryce Bray (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 305; 68)

LG: #75, Marcus Keyes (RS-Sr.; 6-5, 297; 71.5)

#70, Hunter Woodward (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 295; 80.4)

C: #72, Johnny Wilson (RS-Sr.; 6-3, 304; 62.2)

#50, Ry Schneider (RS-Jr.; 6-3, 320; 67.1)

RG: #78, Bryce Bray (RS-Fr.; 6-5, 305; 68)

#50, Ry Schneider (RS-Jr.; 6-3, 320; 67.1)

RT: #73, Teven Jenkins (RS-Jr.; 6-6, 310; 83.3)

#52, Jacob Farrell (RS-Fr.; 6-6, 308; 68)


Texas A&M depth chart

DE: #8 DeMarvin Leal (Fr.; 6-4, 290; ProFootballFocus season score of 67.6)

#91, Micheal Clemons (Jr.; 6-5, 272; 67.2)

#15 Jeremiah Martin (So.; 6-5, 244; 50.8)

DT: #92, Jayden Peevy (Jr.; 6-6, 298; 65.3)

#99, Josh Rogers (RS-So.; 6-5, 290; 60)

DT: #5, Bobby Brown (So.; 6-4, 325; 81.7)

#99, Josh Rogers (RS-So.; 6-5, 290; 60)

DE: #3, Tyree Johnson (RS-So.; 6-4, 250; 64.7)

#40 Tyree Wilson (RS-Fr.; 6-6, 260; 68.8)


BUCK: #19, Anthony Hines (RS-So.; 6-3, 226; 54.8)

#32, Andre White (Fr.; 6-3, 225; 59.9)

MIKE: #1, Buddy Johnson (Jr.; 6-2, 228; 55.5)

#12, Braden White (Jr.; 5-11, 224; 69.2) OR #33 Aaron Hansford (RS-Jr.; 6-3, 240; 65.3)

ROVER: #20, Ikenna Okeke (RS-So.; 6-3, 225; 64.7)

#24, Chris Russell (Fr.; 6-2, 220; n/a)


NICKEL: #21, Charles Oliver (Sr.; 6-2, 196; 74.5)

#7, Devin Morris (RS-So.; 6-1, 192; 73.3)

CB: #10, Myles Jones (Jr.; 6-4, 185; 62.5)

#21, Charles Oliver (Sr.; 6-2, 196; 74.5)

S: #9, Leon O’Neal (So.; 6-1, 206; 42.1) OR #14 Keldrick Carper (Jr.; 6-2, 200; 62.8)

S: #26, Demani Richardson (Fr.; 6-1, 210; 59.3)

#25 Brian Williams (Fr.; 6-1, 218; 56.4)

CB: #2 Elijah Blades (Jr.-TR; 6-2, 185; 69.5)

#29, Debione Renfro (Jr.; 6-2, 198; 57.3)


Injury update

Oklahoma State: QB Spencer Sanders is recovering from thumb surgery and will split snaps. WR Tylan Wallace is out for the season.

Texas A&M: CB Elijah Blades (shoulder) is questionable.


Oklahoma State statistical leaders

Rushing: Hubbard, 309 carrries for 1,936 yards (6.3 YPC), 21 TD

Sanders, 137 carries for 625 yards (4.6 YPC), 2 TD

Brown, 39 carries for 223 yards (5.7 YPC), 2 TD


Passing: Sanders, 155-247 (62.8%), 2,065 yards, 16 TD, 11 INT

Brown, 57-79 (72.2%), 626 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT


Receiving: Wallace, 53 catches for 903 yards (17 YPC), 8 TD

Stoner, 49 catches for 598 yards (12.2 YPC), 5 TD

Johnson, 18 catches for 367 yards (20.4 YPC), 2 TD


Texas A&M statistical leaders

Tackles: Buddy Johnson, 71

Hines, 70

Richardson, 63

Tackles for loss: Hines, 10.6

Buddy Johnson, 9

Leal, 5

Sacks: Six players with 2

Interceptions: Jones, Roney Elam 2

Six players with 1

Forced fumbles: Six players with 1

Fumble recoveries: Four players with 1

Passes broken up: Oliver, 14

Three players with 4


Oklahoma State by the numbers

Scoring offense: 33.4 PPG (33rd nationally, 5th Big 12)

Rushing offense: 236.3 YPC (16th, 2nd)

Passing offense: 227.7 YPC (71st, 8th)

Total offense: 463.9 YPC (16th, 4th)


First downs: 268 (53rd, 6th)

3rd down conversions: 39.3% (71st, 6th)

4th down conversions: 55% (58th, 3rd)


Sacks allowed: 23 (54th, 5th)

Red zone offense: 90.7% (19th, 6th)

Turnovers lost: 20 (90th, 7th)

Turnover margin: -3 (87th, 7th)

Time of possession: 29:07 (87th, 6th)


Texas A&M by the numbers

Scoring defense: 22.7 PPG (35th nationally, 9th SEC)

Rushing yards allowed: 129.1 YPG (30th, 5th)

Passing yards allowed: 211.7 YPG (44th, 8th)

Total defense: 340.8 YPG (31st, 8th)

3rd down conversion defense: 31.5% (16th, 4th)

Red zone defense: 82.9% (61st 11th)

Tackles for loss: 83 (30st, 3rd)

Sacks: 25 (69th, 9h)

Turnovers forced: 14 (102nd, 12th)

Turnover margin: -4 (90th, 13th)

What Oklahoma State wants to do

With the loss of Wallace to an ACL injury and Sanders nursing a bad thumb, the Cowboys have become even more run heavy than they were earlier in the year. Hubbard is the man, and everyone knows it..

Oklahoma State runs the same set A&M fans will remember, out of the shotgun with three or four wideouts. They’ll go up-tempo. But now they run instead of throwing it around the lot. Hubbard gets the lion’s share of the carries, but they run a lot of RPO, so Sanders is also a threat to keep it and run. They’ll zone block up front to get players shielded off and go north/south as quickly as they can.

When they do throw, they like to go deep. Wallace was great in that area, but Johnson and McCray are extremely tall targets who can go up and get the ball. They’ll try to do a lot of deep throws off of play action, which is something the Aggies will have to look for.


How A&M may try to counter

Without stud DT Justin Madubuike, the Aggies come in licking their wounds after the LSU debacle and missing their best player. Fortunately, they remain one of the best run defenses around. They’ll need to be against the Cowboys. A lot will ride on Bobby Brown and Jayden Peevy holding up in the middle. If they can win their battles, then that throws a huge wrench in OSU’s plans. A&M will likely start the big end duo of DeMarvin Leal and Micheal Clemons, but the Cowboys tackles are very good. They will need to be able to hold up to allow Hines and Buddy Johnson to get up to the line and make plays.

O’Neal, Richardson and Carper will be tested in multiple ways. First, they’ll need to make tackles on Hubbard when they’re up in the box, but they can’t let the OSU receivers get deep on them. They have to watch the ball and stick to their assignments, not get baited.

For A&M, the job is simple: slow the run first. Get Sanders and Brown in a position where they have to throw. If they’re behind the sticks, they will have more trouble than most.


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