Aggies have plenty to prove, and improve, to be contender
COLLEGE STATION — His pleased players peeling away sweaty jerseys in an adjoining locker room and preparing for a plane ride back home, Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin didn’t bother with any upbeat perspectives like, for instance, the object was to score one more point than the opposition.
Instead, beneath the stands of Auburn’s Jordan-Hare
Stadium late last Saturday night, a resolute Sumlin said the Aggies needed to learn to take care of business. Fourth-quar-
ter business.
“I wasn’t happy with the way we finished the game,” Sumlin said following A&M’s 29-16 win at Auburn. “To really kind of let down on defense and give up a (late) score, and not close things out the way we needed to in the final minutes. … We’ve got to improve there.”
The Aggies (3-0, 1-0 SEC) this week eased up seven spots in the Associated Press poll to No. 10, and will face No. 17 Arkansas (3-0, 0-0) at 8 p.m. Saturday in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
A&M started the season unranked and has victories over UCLA, Prairie View A&M and Auburn, and suddenly resembles a contender in the SEC West. Save for three areas that Sumlin said need addressing: third-down conversions on offense, red-zone offense and protecting leads late on defense.
Woes in red zone
The first two appear to be driving first-year offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone nuts, considering his side of the ball has otherwise been productive against the Bruins (31-24), Panthers (67-0) and Tigers.
A&M is 14th nationally in total offense with 531 yards per game, and 24th in scoring with 42 points per game. Against Auburn the Aggies were 2-of-15 on third-down conversions, and 1-of-5 on scoring TDs in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line).
“For us to go down there into the red zone and come away with one touchdown after that many trips is ridiculous,” Mazzone said. “Part of that is on the coaches, and part of that is on the execution. We need to work on some stuff. Between the 20s (20yard lines) anyone can call plays. We have to be more effective in the red zone and on third down.
“If the field is compressed, you have to make hard catches and tight throws.”
The Aggies also hurt themselves with a couple of penalties inside the 20, and Sumlin said while it sounds simple and straightforward, the answer for all of A&M’s miscues to date is “more practice.”
As for the defense, second-year coordinator John Chavis continues pointing his unit in the right direction — except for about midway through the fourth quarters against the Aggies’ two toughest opponents to date. A&M blew a 15-point late fourth-quarter lead against UCLA at Kyle Field before prevailing in overtime, and also let Auburn march downfield behind backup quarterback John Franklin late in the fourth quarter, with the Tigers tacking on their first touchdown since their second possession.
Based on their last two games against Arkansas, the Aggies know they likely can’t have another fourth-quarter letdown on defense against the Razorbacks. A&M wiped out
fourth-quarter deficits to win in overtime in each of the last two games.
“We’ve lost it, but they’ve earned it,” fourthyear Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. “One thing I’ve always said is, ‘You earn everything.’ And we just haven’t been at the point to close that baby out.”
Toughest test yet
The Razorbacks try to control the ball with a power run game, and Chavis said his defense can’t let up over the four quarters in what’s considered the Aggies’ toughest test yet.
“We just got sluggish at the end, we thought the game was over,” he said. “We backed down a little bit, which we shouldn’t have done. We’ll be ready for that this weekend.”
“Arkansas will try and maul you,” Chavis said. “The (Razorbacks) take pride in being physical. But we’re equipped to be more physical this year, as well.”
Chavis primarily used a nickel defense against Auburn (two linebackers and three safeties) but said the Aggies likely will mostly rely on three linebackers against Arkansas. As for that comedown late against the Tigers? Cornerback Nick Harvey said the Aggies have learned.