Three Turning Points: Texas A&M Football vs. Tennessee

Josh DeBerry steps up for Texas A&M football

After the injury to Bryce Anderson, who was unable to play in this game, the Aggies were looking for a someone to take his place at the nickel spot. Luckily, Josh DeBerry had plenty of experience at that position during his previous stop at Boston College, so he stepped right in. Third-year man Deuce Harmon slid in at corner opposite Tyreek Chappell, and the pair did a decent job against the Vol passing game (though Joe Milton didn’t exactly challenge them in that dimension consistently).

DeBerry looked like a natural. His talent for sure tackling came through at many points—I saw more than one instance where a run got to the outside of the Aggie defense and DeBerry was able to get off a block to either tackle or slow the runner down enough for the rest of the defense to swarm.

Once again, late in the game, the Vols were driving while up 1 point. They made their way down into the red zone (again, mostly on the ground), but the defense for Texas A&M football began to tighten up. With how poorly the Aggie offense had been playing, it was vital that they limited how many points Tennessee got on this trip. As it happens, they kept them from scoring at all, as a pass from Joe Milton sailed right into the awaiting arms of DeBerry. He made a mistake by running the ball out from the end zone, but generating the turnover at all was a huge play in that moment. It kept Texas A&M football alive at that point and swung momentum briefly their way (until, of course, they were unable to move the ball at all!). As good as DeBerry’s play was, it ultimately ended up not mattering. Though the defense stepped up time and time again, a lack of offensive execution doomed the Ags in this game.