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[CJ Vogel]

That meeting on November 30 in College Station is going to be very difficult for the Longhorns.

The world watched last night as Texas A&M disappeared in the second half and fell short in Columbia by the score of 44–20. Remember, that was a tied game at halftime, then the Gamecocks flipped a switch and dominated the final two quarters.

But as I was watching that game, I couldn't help but find ways to compare what I was seeing with Texas A&M on the field to what that will look like against Texas later on this season.

There were a few key points that I saw that lead me to believe that matchup for the Longhorns is pretty unfavorable at the moment.

First, Texas A&M's pass rush is legit. Quinn Ewers has his strengths. But that does not include sack evasion and pocket mobility. We have been critical this season in wanting to see him do more when under duress in the pocket. Texas A&M did not sack LaNorris Sellers on Saturday, but they accumulated 21 pressures and made life extremely difficult in straight drop back sets.

Sellers a really talented quarterback. At 6-feet-3-inches and 240 pounds, he is a handful to bring down and that played into his advantage all evening.

The Gamecock quarterback took off 15 times with the ball on Saturday. Of those 15 rush attempts, eight were scrambles and seven were designed QB runs. Sellers accounted for 106 yards on the ground as well, 50 of which coming after contact. That won't be a p art of the Texas offense.

Now, Texas has a better offensive line. Well, at least they should. But the point remains, Texas won't have the luxury that Sellers brought to the Gamecock offense on Saturday.

Next, I think it is great that the Longhorns get to play Arkansas prior to the Aggies. For a few reasons, one going on the road for a little taste of the hostility will be good for the Longhorns. But more importantly, the play at quarterback will almost mirror that of Marcel Reed exactly.

Texas has done great at containing mobile quarterbacks under Pete Kwiatkowski. Whether Texas faces Taylen Green or Malachi Singleton, the threat of the running quarterback remains. This is a great appetizer for Marcel Reed in my eyes. Containment will be key and keeping 22 eyes on the quarterback will be essential.

Really important the Longhorns play well in Fayetteville in that regard.

But on a real positive note. The Texas A&M offense is not special. It's truly not. 

Texas A&M does not have a game-changing quarterback and their weapons are average at best. Their wide receivers don't create separation, the Aggies don't have an impact tight end and now Le'Veon Moss, unfortunately, might be done for the year. 

South Carolina has a tremendous edge rushing tandem and were able to create 21 pressures of their own – nine of those came from true freshman EDGE Dylan Stewart. But the point is the offense struggles. How will Texas A&M find explosive plays outside of the off script QB run game against Texas? I don't know.

[CJ Vogel]

TLDR; Aggies' defense does not match up well for Texas. Ewers doesn't evade like Sellers and the A&M DL is legit. 

On the flip side, Aggies' offense is nothing to write home about.

[CJ Vogel]

 

Dylan Stewart and Colin Simmons going to be battling it out for first EDGE off the board in 2027 NFL Draft.

[CJ Vogel]

Texas A&M also missed 25 tackles on defense last night. 

For those wondering, the most Texas has missed in a game this season is 13 (vs. UTSA).

DL Shemar Stewart missed five tackles.

[Texasborn91]

We go as Quinn goes. He has to navigate the pocket and we have to put pressure on their secondary that is really weak. Our receivers vs them is a huge advantage. Rb room needs to show up bc I think they are weak at linebacker too. We match up VERY well with them on defense.

we will break it down every which way until that game but if Quinn is humming we win. He’s got it somewhere in there. Hope the bye week was beneficial. 

[BMY]

100% spot on CJ about their pass rush. While I giggled every time Sellers escaped and turned the play positive I also thought to myself that Quinn goes down in that situation when we play them. Sellers escapability changed the whole outcome of that game. 

[UT_Ro]

To be honest I'm not worried about lil brother in Sark we trust

[Realist Horn]

Did S.Car roll the pocket a lot? I don’t see Texas rolling Ewers often. 

[TexasDeathStar]

Agree 100%. Their DL gets upfield fast and in a hurry, BUT, don’t seem to always play disciplined and hold the point of attack while they find the ball and play in their gaps. Unfortunately for Texas though, Quinn isn’t the same threat to expose that like Sellers was. Time and time again last night, Scourton would be 3 yards in the backfield right after the snap and SC would run right inside of that with Sanders or Sellers and make them pay. 

[HenryJames]

Last night is what A&M looks like without elite dline play.

[McCoy2Shipley]

Nov 30 will come down to Texas OL vs aggy DL imo

[CJ Vogel]

Just now, McCoy2Shipley said:

Nov 30 will come down to Texas OL vs aggy DL imo

I'm with you on that.

[Joe Naural]

Next 3 games… Ewers will be getting defensives that will either make of break him…..

25 days of none stop … bombs … siucide bombs flying at ewers , rb protection and OL.

if coaches n players arent steeeeled and ready then we will lose at a&m

Im bettin Sark n company will have our team prepared for whatever a& m cooks up

[CJ Vogel]

10 minutes ago, Realist Horn said:

Did S.Car roll the pocket a lot? I don’t see Texas rolling Ewers often. 

Not too much. They had designed rush attempts with the QB, scored on it in the 1Q. Basically the Sam Ehlinger special with a QB power.

[pinkman_90]

Honestly thought that was just a terrible gameplan from Elko.  You have to force Sellers to beat you through the air.  Seemed like Elko was trying to hide his average secondary by heating up Sellers. 

[Wrong Link Gerry]

Need to watch out for shemar turner purposely hurting someone. Dirty player, it shows up every game 

[Orngblud05]

If Texas does not fix its issues with rush/blitz pick up, more than just A&M will be a problem. 
 

Sack evasion can be more than escapability.  Plenty of examples of immobile QB’s that had hall of fame careers.  

[pack.swear]

Ewers is not Sellers, but I don't think we need that. Just a week ago, Nuss threw for 400 yards on them. We can have a lot of success with a pocket passer. If we can establish the run and keep Quinn mostly clean, we will be fine. Their secondary is nothing special, and I have a lot of confidence in that matchup. A&M will certainly get pressure on Ewers, but you don't need a mobile passer to beat them. I don't think that game would have been competitive if Nuss hadn't thrown the first terrible interception. 

[rgvhorn80]

Real indictment on Quinn. Texas Achilles heal is their Senior QB.

[Raistlin]

Each big game for Texas has a critical stat that will determine the outcome of the game.  Against Michigan, it was pass protection ( QB pressures).  Against Georgia, it was QBR.  Against Vanderbilt, it was time of possession. Against aTm, it will be turnovers.  If we win the turnover battle, we win the game.  Without Moss, the aTm offense is simply OU with a better OL.  

[Alex Butler]

Good stuff CJ, I agree!! The only solace is that we’ve seen UGA at their best and us at our worst. We also have a great screen game and talented receivers to counter their aggressiveness. I would really like to see us focus on establishing a strong running game against every one of our next three opponents. I think that is actually going to be our approach to ge the o line back into their groove. We have big guys with loads of talent up front. We need the RBs, specifically Blue to practice a little more patience and attack where the hole is going to be in the play design. One thing that I noticed for SC last night was how their oline was releasing atm d line instead of trying too hard and holding. There were some negative plays mixed in but it definitely helped SC stay consistent and on schedule with the run game. I really think the adjustment from big 12 to SEC officiating is that the big 12 doesn’t actually have offensive holding in their rule book and the SEC does and enforces it. We’ve seen enough now to adjust and cut down the holding calls significantly. 

[Joe D Villasenor]

A&M was getting torched on runs outside, could this be something Texas can exploit. These were traditional run plays not read option.

[taxsaver]

A lot can happen in the next 4 weeks.

Not sure Reed survives all the way to the TEXAS game.  He's one dangerous man, but his style of QB play puts him at risk.

Same with us, really.  Quinn COULD get dinged by the aTm game.  Or DURING the aTm game.  If the SEC knows what's good for them, they will NOT injure Quinn.  The consequence is Arch...and he's dangerous.

The finish to the season will be a barn-burner, no doubt.  The best team AT THIS POINT may not be the best team at the end.  

For my money, TEXAS is right there with UGA and OR.  I think we can contain Dylan this next time around if we play OR.  We SHOULD have learned some things from the way Floriduh played UGA.  tOSU is always dangerous, but they can be beaten.

I'd like to see TEXAS vs UGA for all the marbles at the end.  That's not a prediction, just a WISH!

We'll see.

[Allison Mann]

A&Ms defense looked undisciplined.  I think it will be a tough but winnable game.  Corners and LBs aren’t great.

[horns96]

1 hour ago, CJ Vogel said:

I'm with you on that.

Ehhh.  I kept waiting for Carolina to run a screen. There are ways to scheme a pass rush.