Texas A&M vs. Kansas State football preview

Aggies host Wildcats as they look for a conference victory

Saturday will be elimination day for one Big 12 school.

The Texas A&M Aggies (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) meets the Kansas State Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station. Both teams are coming off of blowout losses. The Aggies are favored by 2.5 to 3 points in Las Vegas. Local newspapers have picked the Wildcats.

The Aggies will win if the offense:

Can eliminate turnovers. The Aggies turned it over five times in the first quarter last week against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were up 21 points before A&M got on the scoreboard.
Stops the miscues. Twice the offense was flagged for having 12 men on the field. That suggest a flaw in head Coach Mike Sherman’s preparation.
Fixes the special teams play. Punter Justin Brantly averaged 54 yards per punt. That was negated by 24-yard-per-return averaged by OSU. Cowboy Dez Bryant ripped off a 78-yard run back of a punt.
Can tune up the running game. Tailback Michael Goodson broke an 80-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. But that was all he did all night. Goodson barely finished the night with 100-plus yards.
Get the quarterbacks back in the game. Senior Stephen McGee re-injured his shoulder. Backup Jerrod Johnson was injured and his passes were ineffective. Sherman has run out of healthy QB’s . Aggies quarterbacks have been sacked 13 times, the highest total in the Big 12. They are 107 th in that pitiful category. On one play, Sherman said, Johnson hurried his pass even through there was no rush.
Gets better play from the offensive line. Sherman said the O-line played better, but they failed to push the Cowboys off the line of scrimmage. During the week, Sherman was seen coaching the line.

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The Aggies will win if the defense:

Stops the passing of Wildcat quarterback Josh Freeman, who needs one touchdown pass to be the all-time leader. He already is the leader in career passing yardage. In any ordinary year, Freeman would be a premier quarterback in any league. The Big 12 has three Heisman candidates at quarterback.
Ends the confusion in the secondary. Both Miami and OSU got cheap TD on defensive miscues.
Gets the linebackers back in the game. Sherman is still trying to find reliable linebackers.
Gets everyone healthy. Defensive End Michael Bennett has been injured. He must get up to full speed.
Fixes the punt coverage. The coverage was burned last week with a 78-yard return. But this has been an ongoing problem all year. The coverage was flagged once for violating the protection halo around the punt receiver.

By Jay Goode
Big 12 Fans Texas A&M Correspondent

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