Texas A&M is coming into a game against the Citadel today where they should be favored to win even if they only had their third string available. With the injury report being what it is today, though, the Aggies are not all that far off from that scenario, apparently.
According to Robert Behrens on X, the Aggies are down seven players from last week's game— in other words, seven players on top of the previously-out Terry Bussey and Blake Ivy. Of those seven players, six are starters— meaning the youth movement that so many have wanted to see from the Aggies will be in full effect today.
Here is a list of the players that the Aggies will be missing today:
WR Mario Craver
WR Ashton Bethel-Roman
WR Kelshaun Johnson
OL Trovon Baugh
DE Anto Saka
DT DJ Hicks
LB Daymion Sanford
All of these are guys hwo have gotten some bangs and bruises through the course of the season, so with the quality of opponent that the Ags are looking at, this may simply be a scenario where they want to get these guys some rest ahead of a brutal final five games. However, there could be more at play here.
Texas A&M set to miss seven more players against The Citadel due to injury
With the way the season has gone so far, it's hard to look at this and not think that there is a level of worry that players are beginning to give up on the season. Elko has maintained that this is a group that has remained very together and ready to play even through these difficulties, which is definitely a positive, but you have to wonder just how together they can stay.
Again, this is a set of players that have all been working through some minor injuries up until this point in the season, so there's no red alert sounding yet. But it does mean that there will be some new faces for the Aggies getting a lot of snaps in this one.
Sam Roseborough made his debut at guard against Missouri last week, and he struggled, but getting reps in this one will help prepare him further. We should see a good amount from Jayden Warren and Aaron Gregory at receiver, as well as TK Norman.
Hicks's absence opens up some more snaps for a guy like DJ Sanders. Daymion Sanford's absence will be a gateway for Jordan Lockhart to get onto the field alongside Noah Mikhail and Ray Coney.
Tristian Givens and Bryce Perry-Wright will see more snaps at defensive end with no Saka out there today. In other words, this could be a valuable time for some of these very young players to get in-game experience— hopefully, it will be a positive one.
Add us as a preferred source on Google