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The Wrecking Crew Returns The evidence was there, specifically during late-season games against Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas, which indicated that new defensive coordinator Gary Darnell had indeed pushed all of the right buttons. Yes! It certainly appeared as if the famed Wrecking Crew defense was back. Back to its old stingy self….pressuring at the line of scrimmage, creating disruption in the backfield and causing turnover after turnover. And after piecing together one of the more complete games of the season during a 12-7 win over Texas - surrendering just 230 yards of total offense, 70 yards rushing and creating 4 interceptions - the picture became even clearer. The Aggies' pride and joy had certainly returned! But then came the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, a game which saw A&M yield 45 points and 475 yards of total offense. And so the questions remain - Can the defense improve to the point where the offense will be allowed to win the big game? Was the game against Cal simply evidence of a team in the wrong place at the wrong time against the wrong team, or was it more an indicator of a program still a recruiting class away from competing at the highest level? What we do know is that Gary Darnell's troops improved significantly during his first full season on campus. The 2006 Wrecking Crew yielded an average of 322.6 yards per game, ranking 46th in total defense and showing a dramatic improvement from the previous year (107th). Pass defense improved to 44th (from 117), scoring defense to 44th (from 94) and third down conversion defense dropped by a whopping 19.1 percentage points (47.9 to 28.8). The last three games against the toughest competition in the Big 12 conference - OU, Nebraska and Texas - showed even greater improvement, as the Aggies gave up an average of 294.3 yards and 17.3 points per game. Well, what about Cal? The Bears were an extremely talented, well coached team. Cal had a solid quarterback, an NFL caliber running back - Marshawn Lynch was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the 12th pick of the first round - and an underrated defense. The Bear's defensive personnel may not have put up glowing numbers throughout the course of the season, but they did graduate three players who were taken on the first day of the NFL draft. Two-time All-PAC 10 selection, DL Brandon Mebane, was taken by the Seattle Seahawks with the 22nd pick of the third round; linebacker Desmond Bishop, who led the PAC 10 with 126 tackles, was selected by Green Bay with the 18th pick of the 6th round; and the defensive player of the year in the PAC 10, CB Daymeion Hughes, was picked by the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts with the 32nd pick of the third round. Not making excuses, the game is what it was, but I believe the wrong A&M team faced the wrong Cal team at the wrong time. The Bears were not only experienced, but talented in the right spots, and were able to take away A&M's primary strength - the running game. They did to A&M what the Aggies had done to their opponents - out-gaining the Aggies on the ground, 241 to 163 and holding A&M scoreless the entire second half. The trip out West made one thing perfectly clear - If the Aggies are to contend for the Big 12 South championship and compete on a national level they must first shore up their rush defense. A&M dropped to 55th (from 44) in the all-important defensive category, allowing over 200 yards rushing in both of the late-season losses to Oklahoma and Cal. The Sooners and Bears were clearly two of the better teams A&M faced to end '06, but it was obvious in those two contests that further improvements are needed if the Aggies expect to continue on an upward trend. A possible factor contributing to A&M's ineffectiveness against the run last season came when one of the better players and leaders on the team - defensive lineman Red Bryant - missed action with a knee injury. Two players expected to provide relief this season - Kellen Heard and Henry Smith - were, as first-year players, rushed into action in an attempt to fill the void left by Bryant. "When you lose Red Bryant, you've lost a great person and a great leader," A&M coach Dennis Franchione said recently. "I don't know if anybody can absorb what he meant to his team." So where does that leave the Aggies as they look toward this season? …Maybe this turns out to be the year the Aggies end up packing the punch at the end? The Aggies, like Cal last season, have a solid quarterback, NFL caliber stars in the backfield and several players along both lines of scrimmage possessing the necessary skill and talent level needed to be drafted on the NFL draft's first day. Maybe the Aggies could be the ones ending someone else's dream and closing 2007 on a high note? Maybe! And if it happens, you can bet that a large part of the reason will be because of an improved defense. Sure the offense is explosive and capable of blowing out opponents, but it's the defense and the improvements therein that could make it a possibility. The experience is surely there. Gary Darnell and the Aggie coaching staff obviously realize that A&M is a team loaded with veterans. In fact, according to Coach Dennis Franchione, the defensive playbook will increase by 25 to 30 percent this season. In other words, the players are in the right place, making fewer mistakes, playing faster and with more confidence. Because of that you can expect to see the coaches take more chances with a wider variety of plays (blitzes), likely resulting in a higher number of sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers. And it's not just the experience that has A&M fans excited. Returning starter and team sack leader (7.5), defensive end Chris Harrington, should be even more productive with the healthy return of Bryant and a full compliment of experienced and talented players by his side. Using a baseball analogy, if hitters 1-4 are all capable then certain players can't be pitched around (or double-teamed in this case) and it makes for a much more powerful and disruptive group. Henry Smith and Kellen Heard are extremely talented inside players - big, strong, powerful and disruptive. Last year they were both inexperienced, but now they'll take the field knowing what to do and where to go. Along with the return of a healthy Bryant, the three big men (averaging 6'4 ˝" 320 pounds) should hold down the interior and make the potential of a double-team a scary proposition. Scary because more pressure on the quarterback means more turnovers. More opportunity for the A&M offense likely means end-game for the opponent. And now pressure should be coming from more than just Harrington. Junior Cyril Obiozor, currently listed as the starter at the other DE opposite Harrington, literally burst onto the scene late last season. The combination of Obiozor and Michael Bennett, who ended the season with 2 ˝ tackles for loss and a sack, provides the Aggies with two more disruptors on the edge. RS-FR Cody Williams, sophomore Paul Freeney and junior Amos Gbunblee are other players with the necessary speed and talent capable of adding value at the position. True excitement on the topic of defensive improvement, however, only exists when it's realized that improvements won't be solely based upon the Aggies being more experienced and more talented. That's certainly the first thought, but a change in approach by the defensive coaches could be what eventually brings it all together. The coaches worked miracles with the defense last season and the numbers marked the improvement, but this year could provide an even greater display of dominance. Gary Darnell and his staff are determined to put more plays (blitzes) into the 4-2-5 defensive scheme, meaning it won't be the plain vanilla, base approach where the defensive linemen are the ones creating all the pressure and generating a majority of the sacks (17 of the 20 in 2006 were by defensive linemen). There's certainly more experience and it's obvious there's more talent, but it's the approach that could eventually make the Wrecking Crew name stick. For good! The linebackers, as a group, are as talented as they've been since Franchione's been in Aggieland. Mark Dodge and Misi Tupe are currently the starters, but two sophomores - Matt Featherston and Anthony Lewis - are making a strong push for playing time. Featherston has drawn rave reviews early in fall camp and will certainly be heard from during the course of the season. The secondary has as much skill at the cornerback position as there's been in more than a decade. Danny Gorrer, Jordan Peterson, Arkeith Brown, Marquis Carpenter and Jonathan Batson are all talented and more than capable of being excellent cover-men. Kenny Brown, currently the back-up to starter Jordan Pugh at safety (WHIP), has been mentioned as really coming on strong during early fall workouts. Devin Gregg at free safety and Alton Dixon at strong provide the Aggies with a wealth of game-changing talent in the secondary. Create more confusion with a wider variety of play selection and combine that with a secondary that possesses the skill to take advantage and it should make for an even greater level of excitment. Of course having more talented and experienced players at the defensive backfield positions is probably one of the main reasons why the coaches are considering more pressure packages in the first place. At this time next year I would doubt there'll be near the questions as to whether or not the Wrecking Crew is back, but that's just one of the reasons this corner thinks the Ags are set for a special season. Texas A&M Depth Chart Texas A&M Roster |