The stakes are high for the Texas A&M Aggies as they host the Texas Longhorns. This game will determine who faces Georgia for the SEC Championship and a College Football Playoff berth. With Texas leaving the Big 12 Conference for the SEC, the two teams meet for the first time since 2011. In that game, Texas won on a Justin Tucker walk-off field goal. Texas leads the series 76–37–5. In this game, you get a breakdown of the top players, the keys to the game, and the top matchups to watch.

New Conference No Problem

Texas has replicated last year’s success in their first year in one of the most competitive college football conferences. Just look at their offensive-oriented head coach, Steve Sarkisian paired with star quarterback Quinn Ewers. But it goes beyond that. The Longhorns have modeled their success on dominant SEC teams of the past.

Building a Dominant Defense

With Sarkisian’s experience working under former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, he saw firsthand the advantages of fielding a dominant defense. Texas leads the SEC in both fewest points and yards allowed.

Meanwhile, the top secondary players are:

• Jahdae Barron
• Malik Muhammad
• Andrew Mukuba

Questions on Offense

On offense, Texas has some questions heading into this week’s game. The first is the status of Ewers, who suffered an ankle sprain in the second quarter against Kentucky. Ewers’ mobility and accuracy struggled in the second half. According to Gerald Goodridge of Burnt Orange Nation, Ewers completed only three of five passes for 14 yards in the second half.

Injury Concerns for Texas

Ewers isn’t the only one with injury concerns. Both receivers Isaiah Bond and Deandre Moore were nursing injuries. Together, they combined for just two catches in their last game. Expect a run-heavy game with Quintrevion Wisner coming off rushing a career-high 158 yards. When Ewers does pass, look for him to target Mathew Golden and tight end Gunnar Helm.

Texas A&M: A Season of Ups and Downs

Texas A&M comes off a four-overtime loss to Auburn. Despite the upset loss and being outscored 21-0 to open the game, the Aggies enjoyed a strong season in their first year under Mike Elko. If they win their next two games, it would mark their first 10-win season since 2012. This achievement would harken back to the Johnny Manziel era. A conference championship win would be their first since 1998. Coming off a crazy weekend in the SEC, anything is possible in this conference.

Marcel Reed’s Key Role

If the Aggies want to pull off an upset, it starts with quarterback Marcel Reed. Since taking over for former starter Conner Weigman, Reed has emerged as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the conference. Despite his mobility, last week, he threw for a career-high 297 yards and three touchdowns.

When Reed throws, look for him to target:

• Noah Thomas
• Jabre Barber
• Jahdae Walker
• Tre Watson

With the injuries in the backfield, Amari Daniels and Reed are expected to shoulder the load.

Defensive Struggles

The Aggies must improve on defense after allowing Auburn to score 43 points in their last matchup. The secondary gave up 301 passing yards. They struggled with deep balls, contested catches, and penalties.
Look for the following players to rush the passer to help the secondary:

• Taurean York
• Dalton Brooks
• Nic Scourton
• Shemar Turner

Coaching Excellence

Both coaches consistently beat our spreads last year in our coaching above performance expectations or CAPE.

• Mike Elko finished 35th with his teams outdoing our spread by 3 points per game.
• Steve Sarkisian finished 27th with his teams, outdueling our spread by 4 points per game on average.

Final Questions

Will Texas A&M keep their playoff hopes alive? Will Texas continue their dominant season? Find out with University Football.