Texas A&M will be taking on Kentucky this weekend in their SEC opener, and the Wildcats will be rolling into College Station intent upon a major upset behind their new coach in Will Stein. The former Oregon OC has come home to Lexington with designs on creating a new football renaissance for the Wildcats, and a top-10 upset in College Station would be just what he needs to kick things off.
That's not likely to happen, though— at least if you follow the numbers. Texas A&M is a heavy favorite in this matchup against the Wildcats, and for good reason: they have a talent edge and have one of the brightest defensive minds in the nation at the helm of the program.
Stein is elite at finding and exploiting defensive mismatches, so Mike Elko is going to have to come into this one with plenty of answers from a schematic perspective. However, for all of Stein's acumen, the Aggies have one edge that can carry them to a huge victory if they properly capitalize on it.
Texas A&M's linebackers can frustrate Will Stein's Wildcats this weekend
Linebacker was a point of concern for Texas A&M in the offseason, especially after Daymion Sanford got hurt at the end of the Aggies' spring game. That seemed like a huge blow, but the way that Ray Coney, Noah Mikhail, Jordan Lockhart, and even true freshman Tamarion Watkins have played in his stead has been much more than just a pleasant surprise.
The linebackers have actually looked like one of the best units on the whole team thus far in the season— but they'll need to bring their best game yet this Saturday. Hopefully, Sanford will be out there with them— he suited up but did not play in game one, and he only played special teams in game two.
Stein will be looking to confuse the linebackers quite a bit with his RPO attack, as well as take advantage of them in the passing game from the tight end position. Three of Kentucky's top four receivers by yardage are tight ends, and they have caught the lions' share of the passes thus far in the season.
Alabama was a good test for Kentucky on that front, but the Aggies may well be the best test yet for UK in this respect. Not only will they have to deal with Coney, Mikhail, and hopefully Sanford for four quarters, but they'll have to do so in front of a raucous Texas A&M crowd that won't make any offensive operation easy.
If Stein looks to run the ball against this A&M front, the Aggies will have to hold up well on the defensive line to allow the linebackers to shoot the gaps and bring down Cedric Baxter and Kenny Minchey— luckily, that's where this unit has excelled so far this year. Texas A&M is 18th in the country so far in rushing success rate allowed and 24th in the country in explosive run rate allowed.
If he looks to draw them in with the RPO game and then go over their heads to the tight ends, he'll have a tough time as well— Mikhail is one of the most athletic players in the conference at the linebacker spot, as is Sanford, so they are able to recover quite quickly in those situations.
This will be a key matchup for the Aggies on Saturday— if the linebackers are executing at a high level, it will be extremely difficult for the Wildcats to move the ball. If not, it could be a long afternoon in Kyle Field.
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