With the Aggies of Texas A&M heading in to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama this weekend, the question will be the same one that has been there for the past few seasons: Will the Alabama defense be able to slow down the Texas A&M offense?
The good news for Tide fans is that it doesn’t seem as potent as in the past few seasons. Losing quarterback Johnny Manziel as well as issues on the offensive line have taken their toll this year. But make no mistake about it. The Aggies’ offense can still put up points in a hurry.
Even though some of the Texas A&M beat writers seem to think the quarterback Kenny Hill has regressed some since the first game, he is still putting up great numbers in the offense and is spreading the ball around to hit multiple wide receivers that are having big years. Five wide receivers have accounted for over 300 yards a piece this season with Kenny Hill completing 66-percent of his passes to them. The Alabama secondary will have their hands full with the receiving corp this Saturday.
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While the Aggies rank near the top in most all offensive categories for the conference, their defense ranks from the middle of the pack and on down toward the bottom, giving up an average of 222 yards through the air in the passing game and an average of 174 yards on the ground.
If the Blake Sims and the Tide can get their offense back on track this weekend, this game has the making of another shootout like last year. If not, this one could get ugly and in a hurry. The Aggies certainly have had their own issues on defense. Last weekend, they allowed the Rebels of Ole Miss to rush for 150 yards and quarterback Bo Wallace was under hardly any pressure the whole night
From the above linked article on BamaHammer, the only way their defense could get any stops against the Rebels was to put the cornerbacks closer to the wide receivers and to move the safeties in for run support. Only problem with that is the back seven struggled defending the pass, being physical, maintaining gaps and getting people on the ground.
Getting center Ryan Kelly back for this game would make me feel somewhat better with the experience in the trenches but Saban said his status is doubtful for the game. It all comes down to which offense shows up this weekend for the Tide: The one from the first few games or the one from the Ole Miss game on.
The Aggies will score and score often more than likely. Can Blake Sims and the Tide offense take advantage of the Aggies’ weaknesses on defense? I sure hope so.