Texas A&M Aggies
Overall Rank # 28
#8 SEC 
Texas A&M Team Page
Texas A&M had a roller coaster 2011 season competing in the Big 12 conference for the last time. They struggled to shut the door late in games, despite jumping to early leads, and it cost them in a major way. They scraped together a winning record after knocking off Northwestern in their season finale, pulling off their seventh victory of the season. This year the Aggies look to be a strong team but are competing in the toughest division in all of college football, so it will be another rough season for the Aggies.
2011 Record: (7-6 4-5)
2011 Bowl: Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas VS Northwestern (W 33-22)
Coach: Kevin Sumlin (0-0 at Texas A&M, 35-17 Overall)
Offensive Coordinator: Kliff Kingsbury
Defensive Coordinator: Mark Snyder
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Christine Michael, RB, 920 yards
Passing: Jameill Showers, QB, 40 yards
Receiving: Ryan Swope, WR, 1,207 yards
Tackles: Jonathan Stewart, LB, 98
Sacks: Sean Porter, LB, 9.5
Interceptions: Steven Terrell, DB, 2
Other Key Returnees: WR Uzoma Nwachukwu, RB Ben Malena, DL Damontre Moore, DE Damontre Moore
Key Losses: QB Ryan Tannehill, DB Hunter Trent, RB Cyrus Gray
Strengths:
Texas A&M had one of the premier offenses in the nation a season ago. Their offense fired on all cylinders and was nearly unstoppable. They had a strong running game, led by the departed Cyrus Gray and returning speeder, Christine Michael, who is poised to have a huge season. Their passing game is going to suffer a major hit because star signal caller Ryan Tannehill graduated. However they are returning many of their star wide outs and the new signal caller should have no troubles picking up where Tannehill left off because of the strong supporting cast and the spread scheme that A&M employs. This offense will continue to be the reason that the Aggies are one of the better teams in the nation. On the defensive side of the ball they were great at generating pressure. That will be the key to any defensive success that they have in the SEC as quarterback play is relatively weak, comparatively speaking, in the SEC.
Weaknesses:
This team’s defense really let them down last year in a season where they had a legit chance to be Big 12 champions. The unit surrendered an astounding 28 points per game, 70th in the nation. Moving to the SEC may make the defense give up fewer points, as the offenses in the SEC tend to be more ground and pound and pro style offenses, but the athletes in the SEC are going to have a field day with this defense. Although this run defense was one of the top in the nation last year, much of that has to do with the fact that their pass defense was so terrible that teams didn’t try to run, as well as the fact that teams were playing catch up for much of the 60 minutes. Once again this unit will lag behind and hurt the potential of this team.
The Bottom Line:
Texas A&M surprised people when they announced their move to the already crowded and star studded SEC. They make the conference even more deep, which is a scary thought. However they are not up to the standard that the premier teams in the SEC play. They will be one of the better teams in the nation, but get hammered in conference play by the heavyweights such as LSU, Alabama, and Georgia, just to name a few. It should be an exciting season but the Aggies will find themselves buried in their new home.
Projected Bowl: Music City Bowl
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 199.15 (24 in nation, 4 in conference)
Passing Offense: 291.08 (18, 5)
Total Offense: 490.23 (7, 4)
Scoring Offense: 39.08 (11, 4)
Rushing Defense: 101.85 (12,2)
Pass Defense: 276.311 (109, 8)
Total Defense: 378.15 (59, 3)
Scoring Defense: 28.15 (70, 6)
Turnover Margin: -.69 (106, 9)
Sacks: 3.92 (1, 1)
Sacks Allowed: .69 (4, 1)
Madness 2013 NFL Draft Rankings:
#17 Jake Matthews
#30 Sean Porter
#54 Uzoma Nwachukwu
#58 Ryan Swope
#73 DaMontre Moore
Madness 2012 Football Recruit Rankings:
#20 Trey Williams
#30 Thomas Johnson
#110 DeVante Harris
#130 Matt Davis
#173 Mike Matthews
#225 Edward Pope
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