Time: 2:30 p.m. central time, Saturday, Sept. 11

Location: Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver

Weather forecast: Partly cloudy skies, high of 92 degrees

TV: Fox (national broadcast)

Colorado: QB JT Shrout (knee) and WR Maurice Bell (Achilles) are out for the year; RT Frank Filip (shoulder) is out for the game.

Texas A&M: DT McKinnley Jackson is suspended. DE Braedon Mowry is out. CB Myles Jones (leg) and DE Donell Harris (leg) are questionable. Nickel Erick Young’s status is uncertain, but he did not play last weekend with an undisclosed injury.

QB: #12, Brendon Lewis; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 210

#9, Drew Carter; Fr.; 6-3, 195

#16, Jordan Woolverton; Fr.; 6-2, 195

RB: #23, Jarek Broussard; So.; 5-9, 185

#8, Alex Fontenot; Jr.; 6, 205 OR

#0, Ashaad Clayton; 6, 200

WR: #6, Daniel Arias; Jr.; 6-4, 210, OR

#5, La’Vontae Shenault, Fr.; 6-2, 190;

#80, Ty Robinson, Fr.; 6-3, 185

WR: #2, Brenden Rice; Fr.; 6-3, 205

#15, Montana Lemonious-Craig; Fr.; 6-2, 185

#3, Chase Penry; Fr.; 6-1, 185

WR: #14, Dimitri Stanley; So.; 6, 195

#10, Jaylon Jackson; Jr.; 5-10, 170

#3, Chase Penry; Fr.; 6-1, 185

TE: #38, Brady Russell; Jr.; 6-3, 250

#21, Alec Pell; Fr.; 6-3, 235

#84, Matt Lynch; Gr.; 6-5, 240

LT: #60, Jake Wiley; Fr.; 6-6, 310

#72, Max Wray; So.; 6-7, 285

LG: #58, Kary Kutsch; Sr.; 6-5, 310

#52, Joshua Jynes; So.; 6-3, 310

C: #65, Colby Pursell; Jr.; 6-4, 300

#75, Carson Lee; Fr.; 6-3, 325

#64, Austin Johnson; Fr.; 6-4, 300

RG: #54, Kanan Ray; So.; 6-4, 295

#70, Casey Roddick; So.; 6-4, 325

RT: #74, Chance Lytle; Jr.; 6-7, 340

#69, Gerad Christian-Lcihtenhan; RS-Fr.; 6-10, 335

DE: #3, Tyree Johnson; RS-Sr.; 6-4, 240

#18, Donnell Harris; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 220

#37, Jahzion Harris; Fr.; 6-3, 220

DT: #8, DeMarvin Leal; Jr; 6-4, 290

#6, Adarious Jones; RS-So.; 6-4, 315 OR

#93, Dallas Walker; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 325

DT: #92, Jayden Peevy; Sr.; 6-6, 310

#34, Isaiah Raikes; So.; 6-1, 330

#5, Shemar Turner; Fr.; 6-4, 285

DE: #2, Micheal Clemons; RS-Sr.; 6-5, 270

#10, Fadil Diggs; RS-Fr.; 6-5, 260

WLB: #1, Aaron Hansford; RS-Sr.; 6-3, 240

#45, Edgerrin Cooper; RS-Fr.; 6-2, 215 OR

#24, Chris Russell, Jr.; 6-2, 240

MLB: #32, Andre White; Jr.; 6-3, 225

#45, Edgerrin Cooper; RS-Fr. OR

#23, Tarian Lee; RS-So.; 6-2, 245 OR

#22, Antonio Doyle; So.; 6-3, 250

CB: #0, Myles Jones; Gr.; 6-4, 185

#16 Brian George; Sr; 6-2, 190

#11, Deuce Harmon; Fr.; 5-10, 200

CB: #17, Jaylon Jones; So.; 6-2, 205;

#7, Tyreek Chappell; Fr.; 5-11, 185 OR

#31, Dreyden Norwood; Fr.; 6, 180

S: #9, Leon O’Neal; Sr.; 6-1, 210

#13, Brian Williams; Jr.; 6-1, 215

S: #26 Demani Richardson, Jr.; 6-1. 215

#14, Keldrick Carper; Gr.; 6-2, 200,

#20, Jardin Gilbert; Fr.; 6-1, 185

Nickel: #27, Antonio Johnson; So.; 6-3, 200

#4 Erick Young, Jr.; 6-1, 205

#11, Deuce Harmon; Fr.; 5-10, 200

Passing: Lewis, 10-15 (66.7%), 102 yards, 1 TD

Rushing: Broussard, 15 carries, 94 yards (6.3 YPC), 1 TD

Clayton, 8 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD

Receiving: Lemonious-Craig, 2 catches, 23 yards, 1 TD

Shenault, 2 catches, 23 yards

Tackles: Hansford, 8

Carper, 7

Antonio Johnson, 6

Tackles for loss: Turner, 1.5

Three players with 1

Sacks: Turner, 1.5

Leal, Diggs, Harris, 1

Interceptions: O’Neal, 2

Total offense: 383 YPG (67th nationally, 6th Pac-12)

Scoring offense: 35 PPG (45th, 4th)

Rushing offense: 281 YPG (17th, 1st)

Passing offense: 102 YPG (120th, 11th)

Third down conversion percentage: 60% (16th, 1st)

Red zone offense: 100% (2nd, 1st)

Sacks allowed: 2 (52nd, 6th)

Tackles for loss allowed: 3 (15th, 1st)

Time of possession: 30:44 (57th, 5th)

Turnovers: 0 (1st)

Turnover +/-: +1 (29th, 3rd)

Total defense: 336 YPG (57th nationally, 9th SEC)

Scoring defense: 10 PPG (21st, 4th)

Rushing defense: 226 YPG (106th, 14th)

Passing defense: 110 YPG (16th, 3rd)

Team sacks: 5 (8th, 6th)

Team tackles for loss: 9 (13th, 5th)

Third down conversion defense: 38.9% (73rd, 8th)

Red zone defense: 50% (17th, 2nd)

Turnovers forced: 2 (33rd, 3rd)

Turnover +/-: -2 (117th, 13th)

You think the Aggies want to run the ball? Colorado ran the ball 49 times against Northern Colorado and only threw it 15 times. The Buffs want to minimize the pressure put on Lewis, who is making his second career start and first against an FBS team.

Colorado ran the ball well against their FCS foe last weekend, and will try to do the same against the Aggies. They averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored four touchdowns. They relied heavily on Broussard, a smaller back but one who isn't afraid to run between the tackles. Lewis is also a capable runner and could be used heavily in that role this weekend.

When the Buffs did throw the ball, they tried to get rid of the ball quickly. The routes are pretty basic and they didn't try to push the ball down the field. Again, they wanted to keep things as simple as possible.

Colorado wants to control the clock, run the ball as much as humanly possible and avoid making Lewis press in the passing game. They want to play keep away from the Aggie offense and wear the defense down in the heat and higher altitude.

This is about as simple as it gets: slow down the running game, get Colorado behind the sticks and make Lewis throw. Colorado has a lot of similarities in the running game to Kent State in that they have a smaller but tough lead back and a mobile quarterback who can make plays on his own. As a result, the Aggie defense needs to make sure they stay home and play assignment football.

Nothern Colorado ran a 3-4 defense and, while they were big up front, were slow. The Aggies are bigger and significantly faster. All the same, A&M can't do what it did last weekend, where players repeatedly ran themselves out of position and allowed big plays. The Aggies have to be patient and make tackles in the open field.

If the Aggies can slow down the run, then Colorado may have some problems. Lewis was sacked twice in his limited dropbacks against Northern Colorado, while A&M got to Kent State's quarterbacks five times. The Aggies will likely be able to play man coverage on the outside against Colorado's receivers, which could increase the pressure put on Lewis.

A&M's objective has to be to shut down the running game. It's always a goal to make a team one-dimensional, but for Colorado, that is an even more difficult situation to deal with. If the Aggies play the run like they did in 2020, Colorado is likely in trouble.