Texas A&M College Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Texas A&M Aggies Preview 2024

The numbers are absolutely astounding.

And no, it’s not just the $75 million former head coach Jimbo Fisher was given to not coach college football at Texas A&M anymore.

One.

Texas A&M, the massive school with a massive athletic department and a massive fan base with massive amounts of money and resources sitting on top of an even more massive amount of money and resources has a grand total of one double-digit win season since winning the Big 12 Championship - remember the Big 12? - in 1998.

And even then, the 11-2 run in 2012 amounted to a fat load of JACK … SQUAT because Florida and South Carolina each won 11 games, LSU won ten, Georgia 12, and Alabama won the SEC West - remember the SEC West? - finishing with 13 wins and a national title.

To make matters worse for the program that once again made the cover of College Football Schools That Do The Least With The Most magazine, now Texas is really good at football again - because there’s NOTHING Texas A&M types enjoy more than when fans of that school up the road feel good about themselves.

But there’s an upside here.

Texas A&M does have the money, and the resources, and the massiveness needed to thrive in the new era of college football. It certainly has the will from a fan base that’s been stunningly sane through way too many underwhelming football seasons.

And it has Mike Elko.

The guy might have the Q Score of anyone who’d make a Q Score reference in 2024, but he’s familiar with the program - hitting his stride as the defensive coordinator at A&M - before doing the most with the least as the head coach at Duke.

You want two more astounding numbers?

Duke won 16 games under Elko over the last two years. The other number is 12 - that’s how many games Texas A&M won over the last two years.

Texas A&M Preview 2024: Offense

- The offense was far, far better, but it still wasn’t quite enough. It scored 160 more points than the 2022 version, was more explosive, and more consistent. The 2022 team didn’t score more than 28 points against any FBS team until the regular season finale against LSU. Last year’s offense pushed past 28 points eight times.

The offensive coordinator combination of Holmon Wiggins and Collin Klein will want to get the ground game moving - Wiggins handled the receivers for the last few years at Alabama, and Klein was the Kansas State OC - but there’s too much talent not to do more with the passing attack.

- Can Conner Weigman really be the NFL quarterback the program has been waiting for? Accurate, he hit 69% his passes with eight scores and two picks when he got his chances, and he can run enough to be dangerous.

He might not have Ainias Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) and Evan Stewart (Oregon) to throw to, but the combination of Noah Thomas, Jahdae Walker, and Moose Muhammad - along with a few transfers - is as dangerous as any receiving corps in the SEC.

- The tackle combination of Trey Zuhn and Chase Bisontis is terrific, even if the pass protection wasn’t always great. The line filled up the spots with Ar’maj Reed-Adams from Kansas to work at guard, massive Mark Nabou can be a blaster at center, and there are plus-300-pound blockers ready to work into the mix.

The top three backs - Amari Daniels, Le’Veon Moss, and Rueben Owens - are young, fast, and should combine for over 1,500 yards and five yards per carry.

Texas A&M Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense was hit or miss. The pass rush was incredible, the run defense great - both were the best in the SEC - but bad things happened when the machine broke down. A&M was 7-1 when allowing 22 points or fewer, 0-5 when giving up more.

But it was more than that. Texas A&M was 7-0 when allowing fewer than 250 yards of total offense, 0-5 when giving up more. New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman - and defensive-minded head coach Mike Elko - won’t let there be any sort of a slip, but …

- It’s asking a lot to get the same sack production, but Purdue transfer Nic Scourton should make up for the loss of a few of top players on the defensive front. Be shocked if he doesn’t put up All-SEC numbers, and despite the loss of star DT Walter Nolan to Ole Miss, the interior is more than fine around future NFL starter Shemar Turner and 6-2, 325-pound Albert Regis on the nose.

Florida transfer Scooby Williams will step in at one outside linebacker spot, and 230-pound Taurean York is coming off a strong 74-tackle freshman year and should lead the team in tackles.

- With that pass rush the secondary was good … for the most part. When the defensive backfield struggled - more on this next - the Aggies couldn’t overcome it. S Trey Jones (Central Michigan) and CB BJ Mayes (UAB) aren’t college football household names, but they’re ballers, and they’re not alone when it comes to the transfers.

At least seven players from the portal will matter in the secondary, but veteran Aggie Bryce Anderson should be among the best players at his nickel spot.

Texas A&M Key To The Season

The secondary needs to be a consistent rock.
The Texas A&M defensive backs had the benefit of one of the best pass rushing lines in the SEC, and it still got picked clean by Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Miami, and Alabama.

Throw in Jayden Daniels and LSU, and the Aggies were 0-5 when allowing teams to throw for more than 176 yards. All of them completed more than 61% of their throws - no one else did. That’s why …

Texas A&M Key Player

CB Tyreek Chappell, Sr.
A very, very good producer over his first three seasons, the veteran made 106 stops with two interceptions with 24 broken up passes. He’s one of the leaders of a secondary with a whole bunch of new parts.

As long as he’s terrific on one side, there should be enough options to lock down the other four spots and do even more.

Texas A&M Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: EDGE Nic Scourton, Jr.
Everyone needs to relax a little bit. One great performance in a spring game has sent Aggie fans into a tizzy, and … they’re right. That’s just a glimpse of what’s coming, because the former Purdue Boilermaker who made 50 tackles with ten sacks and 15 tackles for loss last year is just that good.

Top Transfer Out: DT Walter Nolen, Jr.
There are plenty of great talents leaving College Station for other spots, but losing an NFL defensive tackle with the talent of Nolen really stings.

It’s Texas A&M - there are other great linemen waiting in the wings - but the one-time star recruit song star recruits is now at Ole Miss after making 66 tackles with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in two years.

Texas A&M Key Game

Texas, Nov. 30
Usually we blow off the hullabaloo of a rivalry game for a matchup that’s more important to the fabric of a college football season.

Beating Notre Dame in the opener would set a wonderful tone for the new A&M coaching staff, and - more on this in a moment - beat LSU and Missouri at home, and there’s zero excuse to not make this a terrific first year with at least eight or nine wins. But of course ...

Texas. Bless your heart if you really have to ask why.

Texas A&M 10 Best Players

1. Nic Scourton, EDGE Jr.
2. Shermar Turner, DT Sr.
3. Trey Zuhn, OT Jr.
4. Chase Bisontis, OT Soph.
5. Conner Weigman, QB Soph.
6. Taurean York, LB Soph.
7. Jahdae Walker, WR Sr.
8. Le’Von Moss, RB Jr.
9. Bryce Anderson, S Jr.
10. Amari Daniels, RB Sr.

Texas A&M 2023 Fun Stats

- Rushing TDs: Texas A&M 23, Opponents 9

- Penalties: Opponents 108 for 956 yards, Texas A&M 77 for 591 yards

- Fumbles: Opponents 21 (lost 4), Texas A&M 19 (lost 5)

Texas A&M 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen

The turmoil and craziness of last year was a big part of the underwhelming 7-6 run. Now there’s too much talent in place to go along with a finally settled coaching situation. There’s no stressing over the Jimbo Fisher situation anymore.

Even bigger is a schedule that couldn’t be any nicer for an SEC team.

Notre Dame, LSU, Missouri, and Texas. All four are great, all four have a real shot to be in the expanded College Football Playoff, and all four have to come to College Station.

All five games away from home - Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Auburn - are against teams that finished with losing seasons; only Auburn went to a bowl game.

There’s no Vanderbilt. That’s the only downside. There’s also no Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Ola Miss, Tennessee, or Kentucky to face, so let’s go there before everyone else does.

Forget the grace period with the coaching change. Texas A&M has the breaks needed to win big now.

Set The Texas A&M Win Total At … 8

Likely Wins: Bowling Green, McNeese State, New Mexico State

50/50 Games: vs Arkansas, at Auburn, at Florida, LSU, at Mississippi State, Missouri, Notre Dame, at South Carolina, Texas

Likely Losses: No games that Texas A&M will surely lose.

- 2024 Texas A&M Schedule: 3 Things To Know