AggieHuddle.com’s look at the matchup between No. 9 Texas A&M (2-0) and Kentucky (1-1) begins with a breakdown of the Aggie offense against the Wildcats defense.

Where, WHen, Weather and TV

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

When: 2:30 p.m. central time

Weather: Extremely hot, high of 97

TV: ESPN (Joe Tessitore, play-by-play; Jesse Palmer, analyst; Kris Budden, sideline reporter)

Texas A&M offensive depth chart

QB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
10	Marcel Reed	6-1, 185	Sr.
13	Brady Hart	6-4, 200	So.
16	Helaman Casuga	6, 213	Fr.

RB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
4	Rueben Owens	5-11, 215	Sr.
OR 2	Jamarion Morrow	5-9, 200	So.
22	Carsyn Baker	6, 210	Fr.
OR 0	KJ Edwards	5-10, 197	Fr.

WR 

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
1	Mario Craver	5-9, 180	Jr.
11	Kelshaun Johnson	5-11, 173	So.

WR

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
7	Isaiah Horton	6-4, 215	Gr.
3	Aaron Gregory	6-2, 191	Fr.
OR 81	Jayden Warren	6-1, 214	Fr.

WR

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
8	Ashton Bethel-Roman	6, 193	Jr.
OR 6	Terry Bussey	5-10, 205	Jr.
18	TK Norman	6, 186	So.

TE

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
88	Micah Riley	6-5, 263	5th
OR 84	Richie Anderson	6-4, 265	Sr.
OR 87	Houston Thomas	6-5, 252	Gr.
OR 9	Kiotti Armstrong	6-5, 285	So.

LT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
71	Tyree Adams	6-7, 305	Sr.
79	Lamont Rogers	6-6, 340	So.

LG

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
52	Blake Ivy	6-3, 324	Jr.
OR 77	Tyler Thomas	6-4, 350	So.

C

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
54	Mark Nabou Jr.	6-4, 307	Gr.
78	Coen Echols	6-4, 305	Jr.
54	Sam Roseborough	6-3, 303	Fr..

RG

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
76	Trovon Baugh	6-4, 335	Gr.
OR 78	Coen Echols	6-4, 305	Jr.

RT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
75	Wilkin Formby	6-7, 320	Gr.
70	Robert Bourdon	6-6, 312	Jr.
74	Zaden Krempin	6-4, 298	Fr.

Texas A&M injury report

RB Tiger Riden and WR Madden Williams are out for the season. No other injuries reported.

Texas A&M statistical leaders

Passing: Reed, 36-55 (65.5%), 376 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT

Hart, 4-8, 36 yards, 1 INT

Rushing: Owens, 27 carries, 112 yards (4.1 YPC), 1 TD

Edwards, 8 carries, 66 yards (8.3 YPC)

Baker, 9 carries, 58 yards (6.4 YPC), 1 TD

Receiving: Horton, 7 catches, 109 yards (15.6 YPC), 3 TD

Bussey, 7 catches, 92 yards (13.1 YPC)

Craver, 8 catches, 75 yards (9.4 YPC), 2 TD

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Kentucky Depth Chart

DE

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
90	Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace	6-4/271	Gr.
23	Brian Robinson	6-5/257	Jr.

NT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
7	Jamarrion Harkless	6-3/346	Sr.
93	Kalen Edwards	6-4/335	So.

DT

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
94	Tavion Gadson	6-5/303	Sr.
6	Ahmad Breaux	6-4/278	Jr.

JACK

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
2	Sam Greene	6-2/251	Sr.
8	Lorenzo Cowan	6-3/250	Jr.

WILL 

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
0	Elijah Barnes	6-1/244	So.
4	Antwan Smith	6-3/226	Jr.

MIKE

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
22	Grant Godfrey	6-3/240	Sr.
25	Tavion Wallace	6-1/241	So.

NICKEL

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
3	Aaron Gates	6/199	Sr.
24	Jaden Smith	6-3/205	Jr.

CB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
12	Hasaan Sykes	6/192	Jr.
30	Grant Grayton	6-3/194	So.

SS

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
14	Ty Bryant	6/196	Sr.
13	Cyrus Reyes	6-1/192	Jr.

FS

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
5	Jordan Castell	6-2, 211	Sr.
16	Jesse Anderson III	6, 185	Sr.

CB

Number	Name	Height/Weight	Class
20	Terhyon Nichols	5-11/194	Jr.
28	Demarcus Gardner	6/177	So.

Kentucky injury update

No injuries reported.

Kentucky statistical leaders

Tackles: Castell, 16

Bryan, 15

Godfrey, 14

Tackles for loss: Castell and Gadson, 2

Humphrey-Grace, 1.5

Sacks: Gadson, 1.5

Four players with 1

Interceptions: Humphrey-Grace and Castell, 1

Forced fumbles: Humphrey-Grace, 1

Fumble recoveries: Bryant and CJ Works, 1

Head to head

Category	Texas A&M offense	National/SEC rank	Category	Kentucky defense	National/SEC rank
Scoring offense	49 PPG	16th/6th	Scoring defense		113th/16th
Total offense	380 YPG	86th/12th	Total defense	324 YPG	69th/13th
Rushing offense	164 YPG	74th/10th	Rushing defense	107 YPG	59th/12th
Passing offense	216 YPG	83rd/15th	Passing yards allowed	217 YPG	85th/13th
First downs	49	39th/10th	First downs allowed	41	94th/16th
3rd down %	38.5%	84th/12th	3rd down defense	50%	125th/15th
Red zone %	84.6%	83rd/14th	Red zone defense	100%	89th/9th
Turnovers	2	47th/3rd	Turnovers forced	4	22nd/3rd
Turnover +/-	Plus-4	9th/1st	Turnover +/-	Plus-1	42nd/4th
TFL allowed	4.5/game	60th/8th	TFL	6/game	48th/11th
Sacks allowed	2/game	76th/10th	Team sacks	3/game	18th/5th
TOP	36:30	4th/2nd	TOP	28:49	95th/12th

What A&M wants to do

Get back on track against a defense that has struggled against not just Alabama, but Youngstown State as well. The Tide ran all over the Wildcats while the Penguins threw the ball well. Ironically, Kentucky gave up 343 yards of total offense to Alabama and that was their best performance against Alabama since 1989. A&M gave up 25 more yards to Arizona State and people are (rightfully) going bonkers.

This is a big game for the A&M offensive line. Alabama, in an effort to protect Keelon Russell after a bad first half, turned to the running game and ended up rushing 39 times for 155 yards (4 YPC). The front may see some changes in terms of scheme and personnel, but this is game is an absolute must in terms of establishing a running game. Rueben Owens will start, but we could see more of KJ Edwards and earlier. Someone has to start picking up yardage consistently, and it’s not all on the line.

In the passing game, the Aggies are looking for more explosives — as in, plays 20 yards or more down the field. Kentucky may be accommodating on that front, as they’ve already given up seven plays of 20 yards or more through the air. They play a lot of man coverage, which is the type of defense Marcel Reed tends to thrive against. Mario Craver has been underutilized so far, but if the Wildcats put a big nickel against him, he could simply outrun them and get into that mid-to-deep middle where Reed likes to throw.

There’s two things the Aggies need to do in the passing game, and they’re almost contradictory: be ready to get the ball out quickly to the receivers or backs when Kentucky brings extra blitzers while also trying to push the ball down the field. If the line holds up, Reed should have opportunities to find someone open, because A&M’s receivers should be a step or two up from Kentucky’s corners.

The Aggie offense needs to find consistency. They’ve been very good at some times and terrible in others. Kentucky has talent, but they’re still largely figuring things out with so many new players and they’re not really deep. That could make a huge difference in the heat. This is a game where A&M needs to get physical, win the line of scrimmage and attack in the passing game just to show that it can. The Wildcats are only getting off the field half the time on third down, so if A&M can keep disaster from happening on early downs, they should be in a position to wear Kentucky down.

How Kentucky may try to counter

We know Jay Bateman. He’s going to come after you, and he has in the first two games as Kentucky’s defensive coordinator. The Wildcats have racked up some sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers, but have also been burned by the big play. Bateman also knows Reed and what could frustrate him.

During his press conference Monday, coach Mike Elko said Bateman was doing a few things differently than what was done at A&M because of differences in philosophy. One of those differences can be seen in the size of his defensive front, which looks closer to what A&M had in 2024 than last year, when it was slimmer and a lot faster. Bateman wants his guys to out-muscle opponents at the point of attack and then come after them with extra players.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to use anything he picked up from Elko; in fact, he’s going to use a lot of what he learned at A&M against the Aggies Saturday. Blitzes from different directions, changing looks, overloading sides of the ball and then using stunts and twists.

The Wildcats blitzed Keelon Russell heavily last weekend, taking advantage of his inexperience. Reed isn’t inexperienced, but they’ll probably use a lot of the same ideas. Bateman could sneak a safety down in the box and then use him as a blitzer as part of the numbers game; he also likes to use the nickel as a blitzer too. Their scheme was good enough that they picked up four sacks and three turnovers; the execution was bad enough that they gave up 38 points. They held Alabama to five rushing yards in the first half and gave up 150 after halftime.

Bateman has the Wildcats coming after opponents, but there’s always an element of risk/reward. So far, Kentucky has seen plenty of both, so they have to play with more discipline, continue to force turnovers and get opponents off the field.

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