Texas A&M vs Kent State Preview
Photo: Erich Schlegel, The Dallas Morning News
MACtion makes its way to College Station, TX this weekend. The Haynes King era starts with a visit from the Kent State Golden Flashes. As is common practice in week one college football, this game is a mismatch on paper. Kent State should not be able to compete with the Aggies.
Kent State was a solid team in 2020, though. The Golden Flashes finished 3-1 and had an electric offense, scoring an average of 49 points per game. But, that was against an all MAC conference schedule. This ain’t the MAC, brother. Dustin Crumm is a good quarterback, and Kent State might be able to put up big numbers against the MAC, but it won’t happen on Saturday.
The Aggies are too talented, especially on the defensive front, to let Kent State do much of anything. I expect Leal and company to be in the backfield all night, pressuring Crumm and forcing several turnovers.
While the defense should be fun to watch, and this will be a solid test for them, I’m more excited to see the A&M offense in action. That’s where the unknowns are. How will Haynes King look both on the ground and through the air? Will Jimbo take some chances and push the ball down field? Will we see some 12 personnel with both Wydermyer and Cupp on the field at the same time? How do the receivers look? So many questions.
Again, we are talking Kent State here so no matter how all these guys look, take it with a grain of salt. Jimbo will also likely hold back a lot and keep the offense pretty basic, leaving some surprises for Colorado and Arkansas in the coming weeks. Regardless of how much Jimbo opens the playbook, Buffalo running back Jaret Patterson ran for 409 yards and 8 touchdowns against Kent State last year, so if A&M wants to hand the ball off to Spiller and Achane all day, we’ll be just fine. I’m more concerned with execution than how many points we can put up. I think the points will be there but I’m hoping to see some accurate throws, open receivers, and crisp execution.
Photo: Ryan Michalesko, The Dallas Morning News
I will also be keeping a close eye on the new offensive line. If they are going to be good this year, they need to be able to bully Kent State. I don’t want to see any push from the Golden Flashes’ defensive line. If they can get any sort of consistent pressure or penetration, that would be a bad omen. There could be some assignment lapses given lack of experience, but if anyone is getting beat one on one, we could be in trouble later in the year.
And of course I’ll be watching Haynes King and the wide receivers intently. It’s King’s team now and I’m excited to see how he performs, even with a lesser opponent. We’ve hit on this point ad nauseam but the Aggies really need a big play guy to emerge on the outside. I mean, just look at what Ohio State did against Minnsota last night. Minnesota matched up really well in the trenches with Ohio State, and was right in that game until late. But Ohio State broke off several huge plays for back breaking touchdowns and the Golden Gophers couldn't keep pace. If you want to win at the highest level in modern college football, big time playmakers getting chunk plays are a huge part of that. It makes everything else so much easier. While I love the 10+ play, clock eating drives, there is also a time for taking chances and trying to make big plays.
I think we have the talent on the roster to have explosive plays, but breaking off a few big runs and passes against Kent State will go a long way for this team’s confidence. I know Jimbo will keep things close to the vest, but I just want to see a couple of bombs down the field, even if it's just a simple go route. Give King and these receivers a chance to make a big time play and see how they do.
At the end of the day, this is a tune up game. Kent State might put up some points, but it won’t be enough. The Aggies should physically dominate the Golden Flashes and have this one well in hand by the third quarter, allowing for some backups to see playing time. The Red, White and Blue theme should be awesome, and I’m so excited Kyle Field will be full again. It’s a great weekend to be an Aggie.
Texas A&M - 48
Kent State - 21
#BTHOKENTSTATE
