When, where, weather and TV
When: Friday, Dec. 27, 9 p.m. central time
Where: SDS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas
Weather: Domed stadium
TV: ESPN (Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler, and Stormy Buonantony)
Texas A&M depth chartÂ
USC depth chart
Texas A&M statistical leaders
Rushing: Le'Veon Moss, 121 carries, 765 yards (6.3 YPC), 10 TD
Daniels, 139 carries, 661 yards (4.8 YPC), 8 TD
Reed, 107 carries, 501 yards, 6 TD
Passing: Reed, 121-198 (61.1%), 12 TD, 4 INT
O'Neill, 5-6, 51 yards, 1 TD
Receiving: Thomas, 34 catches, 545 yards (16 YPC), 6 TD
Barber, 31 catches, 374 yards (10.7 YPC), 1 TD
Walker, 26 catches, 299 yards (11.5 YPC), 2 TD
USC statistical leaders
Tackles: Mascarenas-Arnold, 89
Cobb, 71
Arnold, 54
Tackles for loss: Gentry, 6.5
Ramsey, 5.5
Mascarenas-Arnold, 5
Sacks: Mascarenas-Arnold, 3
Four players with 2
Interceptions: Mascarenas-Arnold and Cobb, 2
Three players with 1
Forced fumbles: Ramsey, 2
Three players with 1
Fumble recoveries: Five players with 1
Players missing the bowl
Texas A&M: QB Conner Weigman (transferred to Houston)
OL TJ Shanahan (in the portal)
OL Aki Ogunbiyi (transferred to Colorado)
RB Le'Veon Moss (injury)
WR Moose Muhammad (opted out)
TE Jaden Platt (transferred to Arkansas)
OL Kam Dewberry (transferred to Alabama)
WR Cyrus Allen (injured/transferred to Cincinnati)
C Mark Nabou (injury)
USC: CB Jaylin Smith (opted out)
DE Sam Greene (transferred to Kentucky)
DT Elijah Hughes (in the portal)
S Zion Branch (in the portal)
DE Anthony Lucas (injured)
Head-to-head
What A&M wants to do
Mix it up a little more than they did during the regular season. First, A&M is banged up at running back. Rueben Owens is playing tonight, but we don't know how far he can go. Same for Amari Daniels. USC's secondary was bad and their pass rush was very weak, and that was before they lost standout corner Jaylin Smith to the draft.
That means Marcel Reed needs to step up and get the passing game going. The Aggies will have all three of their starting receivers and we've seen that they can move the ball in the passing game when they focus on it. They protected Reed with conservative game plans, but now it's time to open it up. A&M should (and will) grind it out with the running game, but there should be an advantage for the Aggies throwing the ball if they get more aggressive.
If the Aggie offensive line protects well and Reed has time, he can hurt USC through the air or with his legs. A lot of the game depends on hiim.
How USC may try to counter
Attacking with their linebackers. Getting Eric Gentry back is huge for the Trojans; he led the team in tackles for loss in just four games -- which shows that 1) he's really good and 2) everyone else was bad. But teaming Gentry with Mascarenas-Arnold gives USC two outstanding linebackers who can do a lot of things.
USC's defensive line isn't very good, but their job is going to be to just hold the line of scrimmage and let the linebackers come after Reed and the backs. They know their secondary is depleted, so they may be even more aggressive than usual when it comes to blitzing.
One area where the Trojans have been elite is on third downs. They're the best in the Big Ten when it comes to getting off the field on third down and they're going to look to put A&M in second- and third-and long situations. A&M wants Reed to take control of this game, but USC wants to make it very difficult to do that.
