Ad Disclosure
After a flying start to the season and a close call against Arkansas, Texas A&M finally fell at the hands of Mississippi State last weekend. They get no reprieve facing the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday. Here’s a look at some of the relevant statistics for the game.
THE GOOD
- 396. If you look at the score of the Alabama-Ole Miss game from a week ago, you’d think the Rebels kept the Crimson Tide pinned on their own side of the field all day. You’d be wrong. Alabama rolled up 396 yards of total offense and had plenty of chances to score, despite only putting up one offensive touchdown. With the tempo Texas A&M plays with, they’ll be able to rack up yards as well; finishing drives will be the key.
- 35.6. The Rebels are a pass-happy team, good news for Myles Garrett and the Aggies pass rush. Garrett is approaching a freshman record with 6.5 sacks already, and he’s leading a group that already has 19 sacks on the season. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to pin their ears back and get after Rebels quarterback Bo Wallace.
- 15.9. The high-scoring Aggies could easily win the field position game in this one; that is, if kicker Taylor Bertolet can stop kicking it out of the back of the end zone on kickoffs. Ole Miss is running back kicks for just 15.9 yards per attempt, even lower than the solid 18.2 yard average Texas A&M allows. For once, a few short kickoffs might not be a bad thing.
THE BAD
- 18. In the last four games, the Rebels have been bothering quarterbacks. They’ve registered 18 QB hurries over that span, after none in their opener, and that’s bad news for Kenny Hill and company. The sophomore quarterback hasn’t looked like the same player when pressure has gotten to him, as we saw last week against Mississippi State. The Aggies offensive line will have their hands full trying to keep Ole Miss out of the backfield.
- 4.6. It’s not news that Kevin Sumlin’s team like to throw the ball, but they’ll meet their stiffest opposition yet against Ole Miss. The Rebels allow just 4.6 yards per pass attempt, just over half of the Aggies’ 8.6 yard average. Texas A&M average just 5.9 yards per pass attempt against Mississippi State and 5.6 yards per play. The sledding might be even rougher against Ole Miss.
- 4. In his last two SEC games, Hill hasn’t been the same guy that lit up South Carolina in the opener or torched lesser competition in the early going. He’s thrown 4 interceptions in the Aggies’ last two games, both versus SEC opponents. Facing an Ole Miss defense that made super-accurate Alabama quarterback Blake Sims look average, Hill could be in for the toughest day of his career.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
