Published Nov 11, 2021
Texas A&M's offense vs. Ole Miss's defense
Mark Passwaters  •  AggieYell
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@mbpRivals

AggieYell.com's look at the matchup between No. 11 Texas A&M (7-2, 4-2 SEC) and No. 15 Ole Miss (7-2, 3-2 SEC) begins with a breakdown of the Aggie offense against the Rebel defense. 

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The scene

Location: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Mississippi

Time: 6 p.m. central, Saturday, Nov. 13

TV: ESPN

Weather: Clear and cold, with temperatures in the 30s

Texas A&M depth chart

QB: #10, Zach Calzada; RS-So.; 6-4, 200

#14, Blake Bost; Fr.; 6-2, 195

RB: #28, Isaiah Spiller; Jr.; 6-1, 225

#6, Devon Achane; So.; 5-9, 185

TE: #85, Jalen Wydermyer; Jr; 6-5, 255;

#88, Baylor Cupp; RS-So.; 6-7, 240; OR

#42, Max Wright; RS-Jr.; 6-4, 260

WR: #5 Jalen Preston; RS-Jr.; 6-2, 210

#2 Chase Lane; RS-So.; 6, 190 OR

#8 Yulkeith Brown; Fr.; 5-10, 175

WR: #0, Ainias Smith; Jr.; 5-10, 190

#7, Moose Muhammad; RS-Fr.; 6-1, 195;

WR: #1, Demond Demas; RS-Fr.; 6-3, 180

#81, Caleb Chapman; RS-Jr.; 6-5, 200


LT #58 Jahmir Johnson; Gr-TR; 6-5, 300

#60, Trey Zuhn; Fr.; 6-6, 315

LG: #55, Kenyon Green; Jr.; 6-4, 325

#74, Aki Ogunbiyi; RS-Fr.; 6-4, 315

#70, Josh Bankhead, RS-Fr.; 6-5, 325

C: #61 Bryce Foster; Fr.; 6-5, 325

#77 Matthew Wykoff, Fr.; 6-6, 330

RG: #64, Layden Robinson; RS-So.; 6-4, 325

#52, Smart Chibuzo; RS-Fr.; 6-4, 320 OR

#66, Jordan Spasojevic-Moko; So.; 6-5, 340

RT: #76, Rueben Fatheree; Fr.; 6-8, 320

#53, Blake Trainor; So..; 6-7, 330

Ole Miss depth chart

DE: #3, Cedric Johnson; So.; 6-3, 255

#96, Isaiah Iton; SO-TR.; 6-2, 295

DT: #97, Jamond Gordon; SO-TR.; 6-2, 290

#95, Tavius Robinson; RS-Sr.; 6-7, 265

NT: #55, KD Hill; Jr.; 6-1, 310

#94, Quentin Bivens; Jr.; 6-3, 305

DE: #7 Sam Williams; Sr.; 6-4, 265

#95, Tavius Robinson; RS-Sr.; 6-7, 265


OLB: #35, Mark Robinson; Sr.; 5-11, 235

#0, Lakia Henry; Sr.; 5-11, 230 OR

#36, Ashati Cistrunk; Jr.; 6-1, 230

MLB: #44, Chance Campbell; Sr-TR.; 6-2, 240

#46, Momo Sanogo; Sr.; 6-1, 230

NICKEL: #3, Otis Reese; Sr.; 6-3, 215

#27, Tysheem Johnson; Fr.; 5-9, 205

#4, Tylan Knight; Sr.; 5-7, 175

CB: #5, Deantre Prince; Jr.-TR.; 6, 180

#31, Jaylon Jones; RS-Sr.; 5-11, 200 OR

SS: #1, Jake Springer; Sr.; 6-1, 205

#25, Trey Washington; Fr.; 5-10, 205

FS: #21, AJ Finley; Jr.; 6-2, 210

#20, Keidron Smith; RS-Sr.; 6-2, 210

CB: #24, Deane Leonards; Sr.; 6, 195

#6, Miles Battle; Jr.; 6-4, 205

#28, Markevious Brown; Fr.; 5-10, 180


Injury update

Texas A&M: QB Haynes King, OL Luke Matthews and WR Hezekiah Jones are out. The status of WR Chase Lane is uncertain, but he seems unlikely to play.

Ole Miss: No reported injuries.

Texas A&M statistical leaders

Rushing: Spiller, 144 carries, 873 yards (6.1 YPC), 5 TD

Achane, 96 carries, 731 yards (7.4 YPC), 5 TD

Passing: Calzada, 130-237 (54.9%), 1,556 yards, 12 TD, 7 INT

King, 22-35 (62.3%), 300 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT

Receiving: Wydermyer, 30 catches, 406 yards (13.5 YPC), 4 TD

Smith, 35 catches, 391 yards (11.2 YPC), 6 TD

Demas, 10 catches, 192 yards (19.2 YPC), 1 TD


Ole Miss statistical leaders

Tackles: Campbell, 74

Robinson, 68

Reese, 67

Tackles for loss: Williams, 12

Campbell, 10.5

Johnson, 6.5

Sacks: Williams, 10.5

Campbell, 6

Johnson, 5.5

Interceptions: Finley and Smith, 2

Three players with 1

Forced fumbles: Williams, 4

Campbell, 3

Smith, 2

Fumble recoveries: Campbell, 3

Knight, 2


Head to head

Texas A&M's offense vs. Ole Miss's defense (national ranking in parentheses)
CategoryTexas A&MOle Miss

Total offense/defense

397.6 (67th)

433 YPG (104th)

Scoring offense/defense

28.6 PPG (65th)

27 PPG (71st)

Rushing offense/defense

191.3 YPG (37th)

195.7 YPG (109th)

Passing offense/defense

206.2 YPG (94th)

237.3 YPG (79th)

Third down conversions/conversion defense

39% (78th)

39% (70th)

Red zone offense/defense

87.1% (48th)

84.2% (75th)

Tackles for loss allowed/tackles for loss

4.33 per game (39th)

5 per game (71st)

Sacks allowed/sacks

14 (29th)

31 (9th)

Time of possession

29:28 (74th)

27:09 (121st)

Turnovers/turnovers forced

12 (63rd)

16 (22nd)

Turnover +/-

+2 (49th)

+10 (3rd)

What the Aggies want to do

This is as simple as it gets: go right at Ole Miss with the running game. In their last three games, A&M has rushed for 283, 290 and 217 yards; on the other hand, Ole Miss has given up 77, 207 and 284 yards to LSU, Auburn and Liberty (and gave up 350 to Arkansas and 222 to Tennessee in the two games before that). The Aggies are by far the best running attack Ole Miss has faced this far. A&M has been able to out-muscle their last several opponents and the Rebels have been battered repeatedly.

The Ole Miss secondary hasn't been very good either and could be pressed early as the Aggies try to loosen up the front seven, similar to what A&M did early against Auburn. The Rebels like to play their linebackers up and play zone behind it, which leaves a lot of open space in the middle of the field. That could mean a lot of passes heading to Wydermyer and Smith (sound familiar)?

But the primary objective for A&M will be to get Spiller and Achane involved early and often. The Aggies want to do what they've done what they have repeatedly in the second half of the season: lean on their opponents and run it down their throats. That way, they can consume time of possession and keep the potent Ole Miss offense off the field.


How the Rebels may counter

By being extremely aggressive. The Rebels rack up a lot of sacks, but those totals are skewed by the 9 they picked up last weekend against a terrible Liberty offensive line. All the same, they like to apply pressure and their defensive ends, Williams and Johnson, have been excellent so far this year.

The Rebels use both 3- and 4-man fronts, and blitz a lot with their linebackers. They tend to go right the middle in the guard-center gaps, but may alter that with Kenyon Green and Layden Robinson across from them. So look for pressure off the edges.

Ole Miss forces a lot of turnovers. They're +10 in the turnover margin, and their forte is forcing fumbles. That's something A&M's running backs will have to be aware of, and they'll certainly be looking to do that Saturday.

The Rebels have suffered a lot of busts in the defensive secondary and Bo Nix, who A&M made look bad, ate them alive pretty handily two weeks ago. They were better against Liberty, but a lot of that came from the front dominating Liberty's offensive line.

The goal for the Rebels is to slow down A&M's offense as much as possible, force a couple of turnovers and limit touchdowns. Then they can turn to their offense and hope they'll be able to outscore the Aggies.

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