Texas A&M Football: 5 Things we need to see against Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, AL - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A
TUSCALOOSA, AL - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A
1 of 5

Win or lose, there are a lot of games still to play after Texas A&M football takes on Alabama. Here are five things we need to see from the Aggies against the Tide.

More: What’s the recipe to prevent another second half swoon?

Most could probably guess the outcome of the Aggie game this Saturday against top-ranked Alabama. Most will probably be right. However, if the Aggies do get beat rather easily this weekend, there are still some key things that the team needs to display in order to give the 12th Man some hope for the rest of this season and for next year.

We haven’t written off the chance of an any Aggie victory. Albeit slim, there’s still a chance that Texas A&M is able to channel some more magic and pull off a stunning upset. Win or lose, here are five things we need to see from this team to have confidence going forward.

1. Smart play calling

Noel Mazzone will have to be on his A game Saturday if the Aggies want to stay in this one. In the past, the play calling hasn’t been exactly what it should be and some may even credit the play calling to the Week 1 loss. Zone reads, zone runs, and quick passes have been the majority of the plays for A&M this year.

Running the ball has been our strength this season so it may make sense for us to keep it on the ground. However, we still want Mond to get some good reps in so we may try and push the ball down the field.

Either way, Mazzone will have to have some diversity in his playbook. The Alabama staff has been studying us and they know how the Aggies like operate. Sure, we need to see growth in the players, but we need to see growth in our coaches as well. The growth of the coach will correlate to the growth of the player. Folks have been critical of the A&M play calling in the past. It has sometimes been very repetitive and predictable. Diversity in the play calling is paramount.