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Published Oct 1, 2023
Morning after observations
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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@mbpRivals

Here's some things on my very tired mind the day after Texas A&M's 34-22 manhandling of Arkansas:

1. After the first quarter, Arkansas had no hope

Arkansas scored on its first two drives. They had 107 yards of offense on those two drives.

They had 67 the rest of the game, with 48 coming on a single play (and he was short of the end zone). They had 18 carries for 19 yards. Arkansas did not get a first down on 9 of their 11 possessions after the first quarter. They scored 10 points, all off of turnovers, and gave up 7.

To quote Vigo in John Wick (the first one), "You will do nothing because you can do nothing."

Last year, KJ Jefferson had 276 yards of total offense against A&M. That's 100 more than the whole team had yesterday. Jefferson had 129 yards of total offense yesterday, including 18 carries for -3 yards. He did have the Hogs' longest run of the day...for 10 yards.

For the second straight week, a quarterback was genuinely, and visibly, scared of the Aggie pass rush.

2. Costly defeat for Arkansas

For one thing, the book on the Hogs is written now, if it wasn't already. Come right after them, and they can't hold up. Their offensive line is terrible. I don't think many teams will have the success A&M did, but it should be enough to limit their offense.

To make matters worse, freshman TE Luke Hasz broke his clavicle on his first catch and that's his season. Top corner Dwight McGlothern also didn't finish yesterday's game.

3. A&M achieving balance

Even though Bobby Petrino clearly doesn't care about balance, it's turned out that A&M has found it to be to their liking the last two weeks. The Aggies ran 33 times for 209 yards against Auburn and 39 times for 204 yards against Arkansas. They threw for 193 yards against the Tigers and 210 against the Hogs. The passing offense, that was as high as 11th in the nation in yards per game, is now 30th; the rushing attack, which was as low as 95th, is now 60th. A little smashmouth has been a good thing for them.

4. As for Alabama...

They have become a run-heavy offense that takes deep shots in the passing game. But their offensive line hasn't been good. They've already given up 20 sacks, including 4 last night to a very battered Mississippi State front. The scheme A&M has used the past two weeks could be used again against Jalen Milroe and the Tide.

5. Moss is RB1

Le'Veon Moss is the guy. He has to be, and he deserves to be. In the past two weeks he's run for 204 yards on just 32 carries, which comes out to around 6.4 yards a carry. He's been the guy to kick start the running game in each of the last three contests and has ripped off 30-plus yard runs in the last two. He's also bene extremely tough to bring down.

In terms of production, it's not close right now. Moss is averaging 6 yards a carry, Amari Daniels 5.5 and Rueben Owens 3.8. The other two deserve to get their carries, but Moss should get them first and most.

6. Cooper's role has clearly changed

I think something we may be missing is the change in roles for the linebacker in the defense, especially over the past couple of weeks. I looked up Edgerrin Cooper's stats from last year and he had 8 tackles for loss and no sacks. He was a second level, read and react linebacker. This year, he leads the team with 10 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. He's become a more aggressive player and is being used in the role of an attacker. I don't know if this is the influence of DJ Durkin as the position coach, whether it's having Taurean York beside him or what, but the results are very different and favorable for A&M.

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