Texas A&M dropped one spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll to No. 9, and two spots in the AP Top 25 to No. 10, after defeating Missouri State 50-0, as the Aggies recorded their largest shutout since 1997; but after LSU blew out Clemson 51-10, combined with Ole Miss defeating a ranked Louisville team 41-38 on Sunday, it's no surprise A&M dropped in both rankings.
One major reason the Aggies got off to a slow start was early struggles in the trenches, as the revamped offensive line failed to stick to their assignments, allowing Missouri State to pressure starting quarterback Marcel Reed several times in the first half, resulting in two sacks and several pressures.
However, even though this starting group had yet to play with each other in a live setting
outside of practice, every offensive lineman who entered the game is much too talented to struggle consistently, placing pressure on OL coach Adam Cushing to get this group ready, even though we saw substantial improvement in the second half.
Texas A&M will host Arizona State on Saturday, as the Sun Devils are coming off their 70-7 blowout win over Morgan State, where Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley threw for an astounding 387 yards and 6 touchdowns in his debut. The defense will focus on forcing Boley out of the pocket and preventing explosive plays, while Texas A&M's offensive line must avoid a repeat of their early struggles.
On Tuesday, LSU transfer and starting left tackle Tyree Adams discussed how he and the rest of the O-line meshed in the second half of Saturday's game.
"It was some growing pains at first just getting used to all the new guys and everybody that was coming in (and) seeing what the tendencies are... seeing what they like, what they don't like like, but I feel like we actually came together as one o-line... the Maroon Goons," Adams said.
Focusing on the details that led to missed assignments and allowed Missouri State to find wide-open holes and pursue Marcel Reed starts in the film room, and after junior left guard Blake Ivy also showed vast improvement in the second half, combined with Alabama transfer and right tackle Wilkin Formby expected to be healthy for Saturday's game after suffering a minor injury, personnel changes are unlikely.
"Each and every day, each and every second, we're getting closer and that's the biggest thing with an offensive line. Just get closer to each other, just so we know if somebody's down, we can understand (and) they don't even have to say it. We automatically know what's going on, then after that we can build them up and we can be unstoppable," Adams said.
Adams also stated that he and the rest of the O-line "block out the noise" and are only focused on what Mike Elko and Adam Cushing have to say when it comes to their performance, believing that, once these issues are fixed and consistent play comes to fruition, this unit has the potential to be "unstoppable."
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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Transfer OT on Texas A&M's O-line 'growing pains' and path forward
