Texas A&M Football: Aggies Struggling With Absent Running Game

Less than two weeks ago, Texas A&M traveled to Alabama to try to engender the same magic they did the last time they stepped foot on Bryant-Denny Stadium. That time was two years ago, when a Johnny Manziel-led Aggies squad upset the then-#1 ranked Crimson Tide on their home turf in a 29-24 thriller.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, they came up short this time around. They suffered what was by far the most lopsided loss of the Kevin Sumlin era, a 59-0 blowout that was also the first time a Sumlin-coached team has been shut out in his career.

This rough patch comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering that after the Aggies crushed South Carolina in the season opener and Kenny Hill’s first career start, it looked like Hill was going to pick up right where Manziel left off. In that game against the Gamecocks, Hill shattered several of Manziel’s career bests, and the Aggies had the looks of a team that weren’t going to miss Johnny Football.

Next, the Aggies pummeled Lamar, Rice, and SMU in consecutive weeks by a combined score of 169-19. Kenny Hill was among the nation’s leading passers, and the Aggies were primed and ready for the brunt of the brutal conference slate.

However, they might have underestimated their SEC West competition as well as overstated their offensive prowess.    

After edging out Arkansas in overtime to push their record to 5-0 and jump to as high as sixth in the AP Poll, the Aggies have lost three straight games to Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and most recently Alabama.

Why has the offense stopped clicking lately?

There is more than one reason, but the most glaring weakness has been the lack of a consistent running game. Johnny Manziel accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Aggies’ rushing yards over his two years as quarterback, and throw in Ben Malena, who graduated after last season, and the Aggies lost more than half of their rushing yards from last year’s squad.

Check out the Aggies rushing leaders in the three losses:

They actually ran the ball decently against Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs’ defense is ranked near the bottom of the SEC in defensive statistics. However, against Ole Miss and Alabama, the Aggies basically threw out the running game from the get-go. That is a bit understandable because they were trailing early in those games, but lack of an unbalanced offense nonetheless has been a factor in the team’s offensive struggles.

Strictly looking at the stats, the Aggies are not that different from last year’s team. But the difference between then and now is simple: Johnny Manziel. He was A&M’s leading rusher in both of his seasons on campus, but it was more the threat of his legs than his actual rushing production.

Defenses were focused primarily on containing the polarizing and dynamic Aggie quarterback, and the other weapons were able to thrive because of that. Now, Kevin Sumlin has arguably more athletic pieces on the offensive side of the ball, particularly at running back with three former highly touted running backs, but Kenny Hill simply doesn’t pose the same running threat that Manziel did. Hill is a fine quarterback with a solid throwing arm, but when asked to drop back to pass nearly every play against supremely talented defensive players who can pin their ears back without any worry about a running play, it is an uphill climb even for the likes of Peyton Manning.

Following a bye week, the Aggies will have another week to regroup as they play Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. This would be a good time to attempt to revive the running game that has been stagnant recently, and it might even be with a new signal-caller.

Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has said recently that the quarterback battle is wide open, giving true freshman Kyle Allen, Rivals.com’s top-ranked pro-style quarterback in 2014, a chance to take over the position that he narrowly missed out on during preseason practice. 

This is the ideal time to make such changes, as the quarterback, whoever it ends up being, will be able to find his groove against a less-talented Louisiana-Monroe squad. 

This writer doesn’t think quarterback is necessarily the problem; it is just a different offensive attack in College Station without Johnny Football leading the charge, as well as the fact that the three teams they lost to are ranked in the top six of the inaugural College Football Playoff Committee rankings. Some changes needed to be made, specifically regarding the running game, and Aggie fans should trust that the duo of Sumlin and Spavital will make the necessary changes to get the offensive back to firing on all cylinders.