Texas A&M Football: Evaluating Aggies’ first 3 opponents in 2022

9/3 Sam Houston State @ Kyle Field

Though I may get some scrutiny from this,  Sam Houston could give A&M trouble in the first half.

Over the last two years, they are 21-1 and won the FCS Championship in 2020-21. Sam Houston State knows how to win and though they come from FCS, we have seen it happen before like Washington losing to Montana, Jacksonville State beating FSU, North Dakota State beating Iowa, and so on. It happens. The difference is A&M has Jimbo and the number one recruiting class of 2022. So it cannot happen this time.

Players to Watch:

Eric Schmid QB #3 2021 Stats (256 Passing YPG, 36 total TDs, 3161 All Purpose Yard)

Noah Smith RB/WR #6 2021 Stats (567 RPG, 6.4 Yards per Rush, 10 total TDs, 222 Receiving Yards)

Trevor Williams LB #1 2021 Stats (78 Total Tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 INT)

Analysis: One thing that jumps off the page for this team is it has a very good mixture of veterans and young players. Their rushing defense is very stout though the two games in the playoffs did not do them any justice. During the 2021 regular season, they only gave up 85.2 rushing yards per game. The passing defense left a little to be desired, giving up about 260 yards per game. The offense looks to be clicking on all cylinders come September, as the return of their two playmakers means a lot for this team.

You will notice Sam Houston State runs a lot of motion and RPO offense to catch the defense off guard. They do an excellent job of mix-matching and finding favorable matchups for receivers. Texas A&M will need to be sure to keep eyes on Eric Schmid, as he doesn’t run very often but has proven to have feet that can burn you if you are not careful. Schmid doesn’t run a true hurry-up offense but they like to get to the line quickly and get set then decide what call they are going to choose from there.  Another interesting stat is that this team loves to score in the first half, as they outscored their opponents 289 to 128.

This game, more than anything, should be an easy one to help ramp up the team going into next week. Expect Jimbo to have the QB that wins out play through the first half then mix in the other two QBs in the 3rd and 4th quarter. I would not take this game lightly, as Sam Houston State is no stranger to lighting up the scoreboard early but the running game should pound on come the second half and Jimbo should make the necessary adjustments to start putting that game out of reach.

Prediction: 56-21 (Texas A&M 1-0)