Scouting Texas A&M - A Look At The Aggie Offense

Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson was tabbed as the Big 12's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year but after six and a half games he's proven that not only is he not the best offensive player in the Big 12, he isn't even the best quarterback. Be it an injury, failure to produce under or any other reason the truth is, Johnson just hasn't fit the bill this year and has now been replaced by junior Ryan Tannehill. Now as the Sooners prepare to take on the Aggies at Kyle Field we're faced with the question, does this make their offense better or worse?

The knock against Johnson was that he wasn't patient in the pocket, rushed his throws and turned the ball over. I don't know, perhaps getting sacked 25 times in six and a half games will do that to you. Tannehill has been exceptional since replacing Johnson but it has to be pointed out that his first start last week was against Texas Tech who ranks 12th in the conference in pass defense.

Even with Johnson's struggles the Aggies still have the Big 12's fourth best passing attack. A&M averages 322 yards per game through the air by completing 59.7% of their passes. Tannehill brings a lot to the table, he has the same body frame type that Johnson does, has a great field awareness and makes good decisions with the ball, but he also brings inexperience to the table as well.

Making things a bit more difficult for the Aggie offense was Christine Michael suffering a season ending injury last week. Michael was the team's leading rusher with 631 yards and now the team's second leading rusher, Cyrus Gray, steps up as the workhorse and take the bulk of the carries. Michael is 5-11/206 compared to Gray who stands at 5/10/196. While there isn't much difference in the two physically Gray has also carried the ball 50 times less than Michael did. 

All of this to say that we don't really know what to expect for the Aggie offense tonight. They're going to spread the field and run their typical formations but the personnel has changed. Knowing that they're going to attempt to run their schemes the Sooner defense is going to have to once again play their assignments to perfection. Even with Michael out the play-action will still be there and Oklahoma's defensive secondary can't get caught looking into the backfield. Brent Venables is going to have to dial up blitzes at key times and the defensive line is going to have to get penetration and make plays in the backfield. Oh yeah, they should probably account for the whereabouts of Jeff Fuller on every play.