2010 NCAA Football Preview: Texas A&M
For years, the Aggies of Texas A&M have been known for two things: running the ball down opponent’s throats and playing tough hard-nosed defence. However, for the last couple of seasons they have become known for passing the ball pretty well, too.
In 2009, the Aggie offence was ranked 5th in the nation overall; the rushing offence ranked 30th and the passing offence 15th. With many of the pieces to that offence coming back in 2010, fans all over the state of Texas are hoping to see that production take the team right to the top of the Big XII.
It has been sometime since Texas A&M has been a competitor in the Big XII. Since the inception of the conference in 1996, the Aggies have won the Big XII twice, with the second of the two coming in 1998. Since then, the team has seen moderate success, typically finishing the season with a winning record.
Going into the 2010 season, there is hope in College Station like there has not been in years. The team has seen small improvements in two seasons under coach Mike Sherman, but could really be ready to break out this season.
Offence
It has been over 50 years since the Aggies have had a Heisman winner (John David Crow, 1957), but they may have their best contender in years in quarterback Jerrod Johnson. Last season, he was third in the nation in total offence production, passing for over 3500 yards and rushing for 500+. In two years as the leader of the Aggies, he has thrown 53 touchdowns (30 last season) and 18 interceptions.
Johnson’s production becomes even more impressive when you take into consideration that he really has not had a very good line blocking for him. As quick as he is, Johnson was still sacked 29 times in 2009 after going down 39 times in 2008. For him to lead the team as a possible contender in the Big XII in 2010, the line will have to improve. There are a number of young players looking to get time on the line, including freshman Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews; while that may not mean much to Johnson it does bode well for the future.
The wide receiver group should have the experience it needs to contribute more and help Johnson out. His backup, Ryan Tannehill, had 436 catches for 609 yards; three other receivers also had 40 or more receptions as well. Combine that talent with having three backs (including Johnson) that ran for more than 500 yards and you have one multi-faceted offence.
Defence
If Johnson is going to be a Heisman contender, the Aggies will have to win. If that is going to happen then the defence is going to have to be a lot better than they were in 2009. The overall defence for the Aggies ranked 105th in the nation and 12th in the Big XII last season. Neither the rushing defence nor the passing defence were very good (90th and 106th respectively). To improve on this poor performance, head coach Sherman brought in Tim DeRuyter from the Air Force Academy.
The one thing the Aggies were pretty good at defensively in 2009 was sacking opposing quarterbacks. That success was largely due to Von Miller. Miller led the nation in sacks with 17 from his ‘Jack’ position; he will be more of a traditional outside linebacker in the 3-4 system that DeRuyter will be implementing.
Miller will have a lot of help from his fellow linebackers. Garrick Williams and Kyle Mangan both contributed 70+ tackles last season. Michael Hodges, a former walk-on, chimed in another 67.
However, if the Aggies are going to win games, let alone win the Big XII, it will need to see some significant improvement in the secondary. The one consolation that the team has over the poor performance from last season is that the team was using a lot of young players. If those young players can build off the experience they got last season then the Aggies will be a force to be reckoned with in 2010.
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