AggieHuddle.com’s preview of the matchup between No. 8 Texas A&M and Missouri State continues with a breakdown of the Bears offense versus the Aggie Defense.

Where, When, Weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5

Weather: Partly cloudy, high of 94; likely in the low 90s at kickoff

TV: ESPN (Lowell Galindo (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst), and Dawn Davenport (sideline))

Missouri State offensive depth chart

QB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
9	Skylar Locklear	5-11, 195	5th
2	Henry Belin IV	6-3, 225	5th

RB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
1	Breeze Dubar	6, 205	Sr.
OR 22	Ramone Green Jr.	5-9, 190	Sr.

FB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
40	Connor Lair	6-1, 225	5th
46	Cash Pomeroy	6-2, 265	Fr.

WR

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
6	Mekhi Miller	6-1, 194	5th
17	Brendon McQueen	6-3, 190	Jr.

WR

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
0	Jmariyae Robinson	6-1, 165	5th
8	Isaiah McMorris	5-11, 175	Jr.

WR

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
11	Makai Cope	6-3, 210	6th
3	Isaiah Myers	6-4, 173	5th

LT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
71	King Large	6-4, 316	Jr.
70	William Dixon III	6-3, 280	5th

LG

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
54	Matthew Greene	6-5, 285	Sr.
51	Chase Mideau	6-3, 305	Fr.

C

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
72	Isaiah Villanueva	6-3, 302	5th
75	Logan Scrivner	6-4, 305	Jr.

RG

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
55	Ryan Mitchell	6-3, 285	Jr.
66	Makhete Gueye	6-6, 310	5th

RT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
77	Sebastian Espinoza	6-6, 300	Sr.
78	Brayden Thompson	6-8, 320	So.

Texas A&M defensive depth chart

DE

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
18	T.J. Searcy	6-5, 260	Sr.
14	Anto Saka	6-4, 255	Gr.
16	Bryce Perry-Wright	6-2, 269	Fr.

DT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
5	DJ Hicks	6-3, 293	Sr.
99	Landon Rink	6-2, 295	So.
11	Brandon Davis-Swain	6-4, 307	Jr.

DT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
92	CJ Mims	6-2, 312	5th
OR 94	Angelo McCullom	6-2, 317	Jr.
88	DJ Sanders	6-3, 316	So.

DE

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
10	Marco Jones	6-5, 261	So.
15	Sam M’Pemba	6-3, 257	Sr.
17	Ryan Henderson	6-3, 255	Gr.
22	Tristan Givens	6-3, 232	Fr.

LB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
27	Daymion Sanford	6-2, 228	Sr.
OR 0	Noah Mikhail	6-2, 230	So.
25	Tamarion Watkins	6-3, 228	Fr.

LB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
0	Noah Mikhail	6-2, 230	So.
OR 21	Ray Coney	6-2, 240	Sr.
54	Jordan Lockhart	6-1, 233	Jr.

CB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
6	Julio Humphrey	6-1, 197	5th
20	Adonyss Currie	6, 181	So.
OR 23	Brandon Arrington	6-2, 201	Freshman

CB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
2	Dezz Ricks	6-1, 193	Sr.
OR 9	Rickey Gibson III	6, 181	Sr.
21	Vic Singleton	5-11, 175	Fr.

NI

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
8	Jordan Shaw	5-11, 180	Sr.
19	Bravion Rogers	5-11, 186	Sr.
13	Deyjhon Pettaway	5-11, 182	So.
24	Camren Hamiel	5-11, 180	Fr.

S

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
3	Marcus Ratcliffe	6-3, 211	Sr.
13	Myles Davis	6-1, 203	Jr.
22	Tom Tom Johnson	6-1, 201	So.
15	Tylan Wilson	6-1, 204	Fr.

S

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
7	Dalton Brooks	6, 202	Sr.
4	Tawfiq Byard	6-1, 198	Sr.
28	Chance Collins	6-1, 201	Fr.

Missouri State returning statistical leaders

Rushing: Green, 52 carries, 278 yards (5.3 YPC), 1 TD

Receiving: Robinson, 44 catches, 632 yards (14.4 YPC), 7 TD

Green, 29 catches, 446 yards (15.4 YPC), 3 TD

Cope, 20 catches, 269 yards (13.4 YPC)

Askren, 19 catches, 224 yards (11.8 YPC), 5 TD

Texas A&M returning statistical leaders

Tackles: Ratcliffe, 67

Brooks, 65

Sanford, 59

Tackles for loss: Sanford, 9.5

Hicks, Brooks and Searcy, 6.5

Sacks: Brooks, 4

Sanford, 3.5

Hicks, 3

Interceptions: Sanford and Brooks, 1

Forced fumbles: Sanford, 2

Four players with 1

Fumble recoveries: Brooks, 2

M’Pemba, Sanford, Davis, 1

What Missouri State wants to do

Go fast and throw the ball a lot. Coach Casey Woods was the offensive coordinator at SMU for the last four years, and they threw the ball all over the joint. They were 11th in the nation in passing yardage last year, and Woods didn’t come to take over and change his offensive scheme.

With Locklear, who threw for 3,000 yards and rushed for another 633 at UTEP last year, they have a quarterback capable of running the RPO at a high level. And you know that when the pull comes on the RPO, there’s going to be a lot of quick passes off of that. Robinson and Askren are the two receivers coach Mike Elko mentioned specifically in his Monday press conference, and they can bring very different abilities to the offense. Askren can be the grinder who gets the quick hits in the seam, while Robinson is a guy who can catch the quick slants or try to get deep. Even though he was in a different offense last year, Green caught 29 balls, so he could be a real weapon in the passing game too.

Woods likes the deep ball. He likes the big plays. But he may not have time to take those shots against the Aggies. A&M will have the best pass rush the Bears will see this year, and their offensive line…well, it sucked last year. Missouri State gave up 52 sacks last season, the second most in the nation, so there’s been a major revamp up front. They’re crossing their fingers that an SMU transfer (Large) and a JUCO transfer (Espinosa) can handle the tackle jobs.

If they can pull it, the Bears would like to operate some play action off the RPO and go after some deep shots. They may be pushing it, but they’ll certainly try at some point. But look for a lot of RPO looks, a lot of quick passes and some zone read running game to try to keep the heat off Locklear.

What the Aggies want to do

Come after Locklear. This is a Mike Elko defense and they’re definitely not going to back off if they think they have the personnel to exploit a weakness — which they do.

With the Bears likely going quickly and throwing just as fast, the it’s pretty likely that one of the safeties — Brooks or Byard, probably — will be in the box a fair amount of the time. Brooks excelled in that role last season and will likely get a chance to do it again this season.

The Aggies will want to press the pocket to keep Locklear, who is listed at 5-foot-11, from scrambling and getting outside. If they can press up the field, they can also shut down the running game.

A&M will also show a bunch of different looks, shift formations and attack from different angles. They’ll probably have Saka and Jones on the field at the same time and bring blitzers off the edge or overload a gap to come after Locklear. They’ll have enough faith in Ricks, Gibson and Humphrey to play man coverage on the Bears’ receivers.

The Aggies will want their typical sacks and tackles for loss, but they’ll also be looking for turnovers. As good as they were last year, they were anemic when it came to forcing turnovers. That is one thing they’ve concentrated on all offseason, and they need to hit the ground running when the plays start to matter.

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