FAYETTEVILLE - Texas A&M’s defensive numbers make it appear the Aggies have had to play against Johnny Manziel all season.
Fortunately for the 10thranked Aggies, they still have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner as their starting quarterback, but Texas A&M’s defense has struggled going into Saturday night’s game against Arkansas at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Aggies (3-1) rank 112th nationally in total defense (475.2 yards per game), 106th in rushing defense (218.2 yards), 90th in scoring defense (30.2 points) and 89th in passing defense (257.0).
Texas A&M’s defense took a major hit in a 49-42 loss to No. 1 Alabama in which the Aggies outgained the Crimson Tide 628-568 in total yards. But Texas A&M also has allowed 509 yards to Rice, 390 to Sam Houston State and 434 to SMU.
The defense played its best game of the season in last Saturday’s 42-13 victory over SMU, as the Aggies built a 34-6 lead going into halftime.
Much of the Aggies’ problems defensively resulted from three starters - senior linebacker Steven Jenkins,junior defensive end Gavin Stansbury and sophomore cornerback De’Vante Harris - missing two games because of disciplinary suspensions. Another starter, senior nose guard Kirby Ennis, served a one-game suspension against Rice.
Texas A&M junior defensive back Deshazor Everett also was ejected from the Rice game for targeting and missed the first half of the Sam Houston State game.
The suspensions - as well as losing six starters from last season’s defense - forced the Aggies to play a lot of inexperienced players early. Their two-deep on defense going into the Arkansas game lists 10 true freshmen, including middle linebacker Darian Claiborne.
“The fear is gone,” Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder said Monday. “It’s behind us now in my eyes. Hopefully, we gained some experience from that fear of the early weeks.
“We got through it. We’re 3-1. We’ve got everybody back now, and we gained some valuable experience.”
Only two players on defense have started every game at the same position for the Aggies: sophomore defensive tackle Alonzo Williams and junior strong safety Howard Matthews.
Snyder shuffled the lineup against SMU, moving Everett from cornerback to free safety, giving Claiborne his first start at middle linebacker and inserting senior Tramain Jacobs at cornerback.
“I think we’ve got the right guys on the field now,” Snyder told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after the game. “Darian made the adjustment from weakside to middle linebacker in a week. He brings a lot of energy out there, and Deshazor is an eraser out there, regardless of whether he’s playing safety or cornerback.”
Snyder said Monday he could see the defense gain confidence.
“It didn’t matter the opponent,” Aggies sophomore defensive end Julien Obioha told The Dallas Morning News. “We just came out and executed better than we had in any game.
“As a defense we just need to put a whole bunch of good games together, and we needed one game to start it off right.”
Snyder said he the defensive backs did a good job of making adjustments while they were on the field.
“I saw some communication - not when they got to the sideline, but within a series,” Snyder said. “Those guys were fixing themselves. That’s good stuff now.”
SMU plays a Spread offense and completed 41 of 67 passes - two fewer pass attempts than Arkansas has in four games - for 341 yards against Texas A&M.
“We’re going from big boy football to the Spread back to big boy football this week,” Snyder said of playing SMU between Alabama and Arkansas. “So it will be another challenge for our guys, especially our young guys.”Where’s the defense?
Texas A&M has struggled on defense through the first four games, but the Aggies are showing improvement after getting back several players from suspensions, and beat SMU 42-13 last Saturday. Here’s where the Aggies rank in the SEC and nationally going into the Arkansas game:
CATEGORY STATS SEC RANK NCAA RANK
total defense 475.2 yds 14th 112th
scoring defense 30.2 pts 14th 90th
rush defense 218.2 yds 14th 106th
pass defense 257.0 yds 12th 89th
Texas A&M (3-1, 0-1 SEC)
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Aug. 31 Rice W 52-31
Sept. 7 Sam Houston State W 65-28
Sept. 14 Alabama L 49-42
Sept. 21 SMU W 42-13
Sept. 28 at Arkansas *
Oct. 12 at Ole Miss *
Oct. 19 Auburn *
Oct. 26 Vanderbilt *
Nov. 2 Texas-El Paso
Nov. 9 Mississippi State *
Nov. 23 at LSU *
Nov. 30 at Missouri * * SEC game
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/25/2013