Texas A&M's four new starters along the offensive line have been a work in progress, and while the Aggies are 2-0 on the year after defeating Missouri State 50-0 and Arizona State 48-20 on Saturday afternoon, SEC play officially begins this weekend against Kentucky, as time is running out for this group to establish a level of consistency.
Under third-year OL coach Adam Cushing, developing this rotation won't be an issue, but as I stated above, time is of the essence, and whether it be making personnel changes or simply coaching up the current starting group and hoping for better results, Texas A&M's run game also needs to step up after producing just 92 rushing yards against ASU.
On Monday, coach Mike Elko spoke to the media for the first time
before the Aggies host Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, offering an overview of Saturday's blowout victory over the Sun Devils and noting that he doesn't "expect" results from his offensive line, since improvement starts in practice.
"I don't expect anything. You have to make things happen. We're not sitting around and hoping time solves. We've got to find solutions and find creative ways."
"That starts with me and starts with our staff."
In order to take pressure off of starting quarterback Marcel Reed, Texas A&M's run game needs to do a better job running behind even average blocking, which I argued in a recent article should involve freshmen KJ Edwards and Carsyn Baker much more to provide a dose of explosiveness and burst paired with starters Rueben Owens and Jamarion Morrow.
"We have to be able to run the ball more effectively than that. … We've got to do a better job of blocking. That's a part of it. We have to do a better job of running behind the block. That's part of it."
It's a two-way street, and this is not a situation where a lack of talent is the overarching problem, but as Elko stated, finding "creative ways" to help the O-line open more holes, combined with a more even snap allocation for all four running backs, should result in a healthier rushing attack.
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M must find 'creative ways' to improve blocking, run game
