Week 2 will be easily the toughest game on Utah State schedule by preseason rankings as it takes on a fellow Aggie school, Texas A&M. This will likely be a ranked game, with the Coaches Poll recently releasing and having the opposing Aggies ranked 21st in the poll. That’s honestly a bit of an under-rank based on what most outlets have been projecting Texas A&M at, many of which have it inside the top 15.
Buy games like this are never easy and rarely won for Utah State. Plenty have been close but plenty have resulted in very lopsided scores.
This is the in-depth preseason preview of Utah State’s second opponent of the season, the Texas A&M Aggies.
Previous Opponent Previews
Game Info
- Game Day: Sept. 6
- Location: Kyle Field (College Station, TX)
- Kickoff Time: 10:45 a.m.
- TV Broadcast: SEC Network
Quick-Hit Info on Texas A&M
- Head Coach: Mike Elko (2nd season, 8-5 record)
- 2024 Record: 8-5
- 2024 Offense Rank: 50th (30.4 points per game)
- 2024 Defense Rank: 35th (22.2 points allowed per game)
- Returning Production Rank: 7th
- Returning Starters: 15 (8 offense, 7 defense)
- 2025 Preseason Average Ranking: 13.3
- Ranked 21st in Preseason Coaches Poll
History of Utah State vs this opponent
- All-Time Series: Texas A&M leads 1-0
- Most Recent Meeting: Sept. 19, 2009 (Texas A&M won 38-30)
Only one meeting has occurred between the Utah Aggies and the Texas Aggies, that being early in the 2009 season. A Week 2 matchup ended in an eight-point victory for Texas A&M after fending off a furious comeback attempt from Utah State. With six minutes to play in the game, Texas A&M led 38-17. But in the next five-and-a-half minutes, USU scored a pair of touchdowns to make it 38-30. With 25 seconds left, Utah State recovered an onside kick but failed to make it down the field, losing the ball on a fumble as Diondre Borel tried to scramble around and buy time to throw down the field.
Opposing Players to Watch
- Marcel Reed (QB)
- Le’Veon Moss (RB)
- Kevin “KC” Concepcion (WR)
- Taurean York (LB)
- Will Lee III (CB)
The (Texas A&M) Aggies in 2024
The Aggies were under a first-year head coach last season, aiming to bounce back from the waning years of Jimbo Fisher’s tenure which saw Texas A&M go 5-7 in 2022 and then 6-4 through 10 weeks at which point Fisher was fired. Mike Elko was hired in late November, but didn’t take over until the offseason (Elijah Robinson led the team through its final three games and an eventual 7-6 record).
That a 6-4 record was enough to get Fisher fired (and buy out the remaining $77.5 million on his contract) gives a clue as to the expected success in College Station. Elko starting things off rather well in that regard, leading the Aggies to a 7-1 start, with wins over No. 9 Missouri and No. 8 LSU, to secure a ranking of 10th in the AP Poll and 14th in the CFP Poll. But that collapsed in November as Texas A&M would lose three games. Two of those to unranked teams (South Carolina and Auburn) with the other being at home against third-ranked Texas. A loss to USC in the Las Vegas Bowl punctuated a highly disappointing 1-4 end to the season.
2025 Season Prospects
Although the November and December portions of Texas A&M’s 2024 season brought crushing failure, it’s very hard to not be optimistic about its chances to be a contender for the College Football Playoff in 2025. The Aggies rank seventh in the nation in returning production, bringing back 72% of production from last year’s team. That includes 15 starters, eight on offense and seven on defense.
While the offense does feature some potential playmakings and up-and-coming stars at the skill positions, it’s the offensive line that is the most promising. Four of the five starters from a year ago return and seven of the top eight O-linemen overall are returning. That group collectively has 156 collegiate starts under their belt. Last year, the O-line ranked 42nd and 49th in pass blocking and run blocking, respectively, per Pro Football Focus and will only be getting better this season. Three of the returning O-linemen — Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Trey Zuhn III and Chase Bisontis — were named to preseason All-SEC teams.
The big hogs up front will be protecting redshirt sophomore Marcel Reed who enters his second season as the full-time starter. In 2024, as a redshirt freshman, he threw for 1,864 yards and ran for 543 more, accumulating 22 touchdowns (15 passing, seven rushing) to six interceptions. It wasn’t award-winning stuff (well, except for the two SEC Freshman of the Week honors), but it got the offense rolling just enough. Now, in year two, Reed is expected to start making bigger strides as a passer and not just a runner.
No one has ever questioned Reed’s running ability, it’s a strength of his game almost to a fault. As a freshman, some branded him as a runner and not a great passer. There is perhaps some truth to that. During the Aggies’ hot start, he only attempted only about 20 passes per game and threw six touchdowns and zero interceptions, those were games in which he functioned more as a game manager. But in the final five games of the season, Reed was called on to pass more (largely due to a late-season injury to running back Le’Veon Moss). He averaged 32 pass attempts per game, but threw six interceptions (to nine touchdowns) and the offense 25.4 points per game (excluding the points in 4OT in the game against Auburn). And, well, the team lost four of those games.
There’s a lot more nuance as to why that 1-4 stretch happened as it’s very much not all on Reed’s shoulder, but there is a clear need for a step up as he gains more experience. The excuse of youth will only last for so long and big things are anticipated in the years to come.
Texas A&M worked the transfer portal to give Reed more options at wide receiver. Featured among the additions are KC Concepcion and Mario Craver who ranked 25th and 59th in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings. Concepcion played two seasons at NC State, playing very well as a freshman with 1,159 scrimmage yards (839 receiving and 320 rushing) and 10 receiving touchdowns. But in 2024 as a sophomore, he did very little rushing of the ball and dropped down to just 460 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He’ll aim for a bounce-back season with the Aggies. Craver finished his freshman season at Mississippi State with 17 catches for 368 yards and three touchdowns. The pairing of Craver and Concepcion will be joined by the promising Ashton Bethel-Roman, a blisteringly fast 6-foot-1 receiver who redshirted last year with the Aggies.
Overall, the WR crew is young and the most inexperienced unit on the offense, but highly talented and filled with versatility, potential and speed.
The running back room will be greatly benefitted by the return of Le’Veon Moss, who was on pace to run for about 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns before a season-ending injury against South Carolina. He was selected First Team All-SEC for the preseason and should be a dominant part of their offense as Reed slowly comes into his own in the passing game.
Texas A&M’s defense should be even better than its offense, though. It certainly was last year as it ranked 35th to the offense’s 50th. In fact, the late-season collapse likely had much more to do with the defense not performing as well than anything to do with the offense. Throughout the 7-1 start, the most points the Aggies gave up was 24. Three different top 10 teams (Notre Dame, Missouri and LSU) averaged a combined 18.7 points against the Aggies’ defense. But in the final weeks of the season, that same defense gave up 44 to South Carolina, 43 to Auburn (31 in regulation) and 35 to USC.
Several key returners should help Texas A&M return to form on defense. Chief among them is inside linebacker Taurean York. He led the Aggies in tackles (82) and was second in TFLs (10) and will be joined by fellow returning linebacker Scooby Williams (43 tackles, eight TFLs last year). The defensive line took a bit of a hit with two starters gone, but return Albert Regis and Cashius Howell and brought in Florida transfer TJ Searcy to short things up.
The secondary is where Texas A&M could have its biggest strength. Cornerback Will Lee III is a preseason Second Team All-SEC selection and will be joined by Georgia transfer Julian Humphrey who ranked 89th in ESPN’s transfer ranking. Both starting safeties return from a year ago, Bryce Anderson and Dalton Brooks, which will make the defensive backfield for the Aggies rather experienced and quite talented.
Preseason Game Prediction — Blowout Loss
It’s really hard to see Utah State competing in this one, barring a straight-up miracle. Texas A&M will likely be ranked in the top 15 of the AP Poll and the history for the Aggies against such opponents is…not great. They’re 0-35. There have been some close games against top 15 teams, such as the 38-31 loss to No. 11 Michigan State in 2018 or the sort-of close 38-24 loss to BYU in 2021. The only issue is that two to USU squads both won 11 games. This year’s Aggies likely aren’t on that level.
If there is a spark of greatness in Utah State this year, it will probably show up in this game. It’s unlikely to lead to a win, but close games against Power Four teams have often heralded great things for the Aggies.
