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Quick-strike Texas A&M needs fast start to shed beatdown vs. Bama in 2014
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The way the Tide rolled was rare, even for them.
Last Oct. 18, No. 21 Texas A&M was trampled in Tuscaloosa by No. 7 Alabama, which won 59-0. Alabama fell four points shy of the largest margin of victory over a Top 25 team, and it was the 2nd-worst loss in Aggies history.
Quarterback Kyle Allen replaced Kenny Hill as the starting QB for good that day in the fourth quarter.
For Aggieland, this Saturday will mark 364 days since all that happened. And while a matchup against the Tide always seems to take the pulse of a program, it’s especially true for the Aggies.
Texas A&M faces back-to-back games vs. No. 10 Alabama and at No. 13 Ole Miss, and there won’t be any excuses for a team coming off a bye and given an extra week to prepare for the Tide.
It’s gut-check time for Allen and DE Myles Garrett, two of the best prospects in the Class of 2014. The same goes for the Aggies program as a whole, which can shed the dark horse label and stamp themselves as a front-runner in the SEC West race with a huge win in front of the 12th Man and everyone else on Saturday.
The folks in College Station have been here before. The last time two AP top 10 teams squared off at Kyle Field, No. 1 Alabama defeated No. 6 Texas A&M, 49-42. This matchup marks the latest that a ranked opponent has faced an undefeated Aggies squad at Kyle Field since 1975.
If this year’s Aggies are going to make it happen, they won’t waste any time lighting up the scoreboard as starting fast has become Texas A&M’s trademark under coach Kevin Sumlin.
One of the opening periods of head coach Kevin Sumlin’s practices is called “fast start.” Occurring just after warmups, “fast start” features several live-action 11-on-11 series just like a game situation. He started implementing the period when his teams at the University of Houston were getting off to slow starts.
The results clearly show under his accelerated watch in College Station.
Texas A&M has outscored its opponents this season by an average of +16.8 points per game in the first half. There are only three Power 5 teams that have done better than that, and two of those three are in the AP top 5 — No. 2 Baylor and No. 5 Clemson.
Under Sumlin, the Aggies have scored first in an astonishing 37 of 44 games, including four of five games this season. Meanwhile, Texas A&M has scored 27 of 44 times on its first drives. The impressive part of that is that 26 of those 27 scores were touchdowns.
The Aggies will need to hit the Tide early and often with big plays through the air, and Ole Miss showed it could be done. Alabama has surrendered five passes that have gone for 30-plus yards, and three of them came against the Rebels. Meanwhile, the Tide has allowed 17 passes of 20-plus yards. Only Arkansas and Tennessee (20) have allowed more.
The Aggies certainly have the weapons to exploit that. Freshman receiver Christian Kirk is 2nd in the SEC in all-purpose yardage per game with 191.6, which also ranks 4th in the FBS.
He’s flanked by junior Josh Reynolds, who has 18 catches, 383 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kirk (103.8) and Reynolds (76.6) represent the SEC’s only pass-catching tandem that ranks in the top 10 in receiving yards per game, as Kirk ranks 1st while Reynolds is slotted at 4th.
Speaking of fast starts, Texas A&M is looking to start 7-0 for the first time since 1994, when the Aggies posted an unbeaten 10-0-1 campaign, the school’s only such season in almost 60 years.
Needless to say, the 12th Man will be filled with electricity this Saturday. They can only hope it isn’t washed away by the Tide like it was at this same time a year ago.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
