Texas A&M Football: Breaking down ESPN’s SP+ rating for the Aggies

4. Texas A&M’s ceiling is dictated by their offense

This may be a bit of a “well, duh” moment for anyone who watched the team last year, but with the defense being projected where it is, A&M will go as the offense goes.

There were times – the Colorado and Arkansas games in particular – where it felt impossible to get even a first down, let alone put up a high number in the scoring column. The Aggie offense has to play better if they hope to compete for a conference, and therefore a national, championship this year.

The top four teams in the preseason projections make up 4 of the top 5 offenses in the rankings – Alabama (with a 45.1 rating), UGA (with a 41.7 rating), Ohio State (with a 47.9 rating), and Oklahoma (with a 41.9 rating).  This is the standard for championship-level teams on the offensive side of the ball (as concerns Oklahoma, I guess I should say it’s the standard for “playoff-participant” level teams), and the Ags currently fall far short with their 32.2 rating.  It’s possible to flip that script this year, but that’s the deficit they’re currently facing.