Two days stand between us and the Aggies' season-opening kickoff with the UTSA Roadrunners — a program led by head coach Jeff Traylor for his sixth season in San Antonio, and a team fresh off a seven-win season.
This appears to be a lopsided affair, with A&M projected to win by over three touchdowns, but college football is a constant reminder that anything can happen on any given Saturday— but Mike Elko isn't looking past Traylor's squad. That being said, here are the three biggest positional battles to keep your eye on if the Roadrunners are to keep things close.
Texas A&M's defensive line versus UTSA's offensive line
One of the Roadrunners' greatest strengths is along their offensive line — a group that enters 2025 with a combined 120 starts and seven players who have started nine games or more. They're led by Venly Tatafu and Corey Godinet at the guard positions and made two big transfer additions in the offseason at tackle in Kamari Missouri from Rutgers and Jaylen Garth from Texas.
While I still believe the talent edge resides with Texas A&M in this matchup, UTSA does have a ton of continuity along the interior parts of their line while the Aggies' defensive front is a new crop of players. Three new starters will join the defensive front this season and, if they appear slow out of the gate or take some time to get their feet wet, it may not be surprising to see the Roadrunners create lanes for their running backs or buy some extra time for their quarterback in the pocket.
Texas A&M's running backs versus UTSA's linebackers
While UTSA lost a hefty chunk of its front seven this offseason, they're expected to be strong at the linebacker position yet again — a group that has produced two straight AAC Defensive Players of the Year in Jimmori Robinson and Trey Moore.
Shad Banks is a name that should sound familiar spent a few months with the Aggies before transferring out. However, the name to most likely familiarize yourself with is Vic Shaw, who steps into the starting role as their weakside linebacker after appearing in four games for the Roadrunners last season. If he follows the same trajectory as his predecessors, this will be a very talented secend level of the defense.
The group will certainly have its hands full on Saturday — tasked with bringing the duo of Le'Veon Moss and Rueben Owens to the ground. The A&M backfield is projected to be one of the best in college football, and the tandem comes in at 210-plus pounds each — more than capable of running both past and through defenders.
This is the tone-setting positional battle to keep your eyes on: If the Aggie rushers are pushing past the second level of the defense then things should be smooth sailing, but if Banks and Shaw are getting them down behind the line of scrimmage then it could be a long day for Mike Elko's team.
Texas A&M's secondary versus UTSA's quarterback
Owen McCown, son of former NFL starting quarterback Josh McCown, returns as UTSA's starting quarterback after a redshirt sophomore season in which he threw for nearly 3,500 yards and 25 touchdowns to go with 535 yards gained on the ground. The Colorado transfer made steady improvements as the year went on — including 10 straight games with a passing touchdown — and leads what's expected to be one of the best offenses in the American conference this season.
Texas A&M's secondary will get plenty of action in this game as UTSA will bring one of the more pass-happy offenses in the country to Kyle Field. McCown finished last year with 467 passing attempts, which ranked eighth in the entire country. With that approach it also means that the Aggies will have plenty of opportunities to swing the game with a key turnover or two, as McCown threw 10 interceptions last season; one of the worst marks all year.
This one is important to watch because of what plagued the Aggies' secondary throughout the 2024 season; miscommunication and missed tackles. If blown coverages and missed assignments show up again on Saturday, this is a passing game more than capable of capitalizing on those mistakes and putting points on the board quickly.