Following a week to regroup after a 44-20 loss against South Carolina, No. 15 Texas A&M football is back home at Kyle Field to face New Mexico State for Senior Day at 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
A year after winning 10 games for the first time since 1960, the New Mexico State Aggies are facing a down season with a 2-7 record coming into the game. A&M is currently a 40.5-point favorite, which means plenty of opportunities for an offensive bounce back.
For the first time this season, the Maroon and White will be without the heartbeat of their offense and leading rusher, junior running back Le’Veon Moss, after he suffered a season-ending leg injury against South Carolina. Junior RB Amari Daniels is expected to pick up the bulk of the workload, with graduate EJ Smith stepping in as the backup running back.
While Moss has been A&M’s most consistent player, Daniels is right up there with him and should find plenty of running room against New Mexico State’s porous defensive front. A bigger back with plenty of speed, expect to see him break free for a couple of chunk plays this Saturday.
While New Mexico State is ranked in the bottom 10 in the FBS in both total yardage and points given up, it plays a tricky brand of defense that could lead to some confusion.
“They get in and out of three down, four down,” coach Mike Elko said. “They play a lot of different coverages. And so they’re going to challenge us to identify fronts, identify pictures and make sure that we’re operating at the level we need to operate.”
Junior left tackle Trey Zuhn III will be responsible for picking up the edge rushers in New Mexico State’s blitz packages, and his primary opponent will also be New Mexico State’s best defender, senior defensive end Kale Edwards. Edwards leads the team with four sacks and uses his speed rush moves to quickly get pressure on the quarterback.
Redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed got the nod over redshirt sophomore QB Conner Weigman ahead of the game against South Carolina, and it’s his job for the foreseeable future. The Gamecocks got the memo after Reed gashed the LSU offense on the ground and made sure to keep a spy on him at all times. Reed should expect the same look from New Mexico State, which means he’ll need to make them respect his throws by beating them through the air.
In a season where the Aggies haven’t had a true No. 1 option at wide receiver, senior Troy transfer WR Jabre Barber appears to be Reed’s favorite target. A shifty slot receiver, Barber led A&M with 80 receiving yards and a touchdown in its loss against South Carolina. He should see plenty of open targets in the quick game this week against the weak New Mexico State secondary.
