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There weren’t a lot of strong suits on Texas A&M’s defense this year, but one of them was getting after passers. Matched up against West Virginia’s pass-heavy offense in the Liberty Bowl, one would think Myles Garrett and co. will get that opportunity. The Mountaineers play a similar style to the Aggies, though, meaning the pass rush won’t have much time to get home if they want to have an effect on the game.
The Mountaineers, like Texas A&M, like to play fast. WVU is even faster than that Aggies, running 85 plays per game in 2014. They like to get the ball out quickly, get to the line and do it again. Senior Clint Trickett has been efficient throwing the ball all year, completing 67.1 percent of his passes and averaging 7.8 yards per attempt.
WVU can move it downfield in a hurry, with nearly 16 percent of the team’s completions on the year going for more than 20 yards. Intermediate passing is where they really shine, though. Out of 320 completions on the season, 146 of them went for 10 yards or more, equaling 45.6 percent.
That kind of quick-strike ability could give Garrett, Alonzo Williams, Daeshon Hall and the rest of the pass rushers problems. The Aggies haven’t faced anything like the Mountaineers Air Raid approach this season. Most of the team’s success rushing the passer has come thanks to the offense grabbing a big lead, forcing opponents to drop back and throw it. While West Virginia hasn’t been fantastic at protecting their passers, giving up 28 sacks this year, their style could cause problems for the Aggies.
Garrett in particular has looked visibly frustrated when he hasn’t been able to get near the quarterback, and the Mountaineers offense, much like Texas A&M’s, is designed to make sure the quarterback never has the ball in his hand too long.
With the way the Texas A&M secondary has played all year, Trickett should be able to find receiving threats Kevin White and Mario Alford with ease. The Aggies are going to have to hope interim defensive coordinator Mark Hagen can scheme up some ways to disrupt Trickett’s rhythm.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
