Quarterbacks could pick apart ‘pedestrian’ passing defenses
The Texas A&M Aggies and North Carolina Tar Heels face off in the Orange Bowl at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. What are their strengths? How do the teams compare?
When No. 5 Texas
A&M and No. 13 North Carolina face off Saturday in the 87th Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium, both teams will be looking to culminate breakthrough seasons during a trying, COVID-19-impacted year with a win.
Here’s a breakdown of how the teams compare heading into the matchup.
Texas A&M: The
Aggies went 8-1 on the season, all against Southeastern Conference opponents. Their marquee win is a 41-38 victory over the Florida Gators on Oct. 10 that started their sevengame win streak to close the regular season.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels are 8-3, including a 2-1 mark against opponents who were ranked at the time of the matchup. The wins: 48-21 against North Carolina State and 62-26 against Miami. The loss: 31-17 to Notre Dame.
WHO’S THE FAVORITE?
Texas A&M is favored by 7.5 points.
PASSING OFFENSE
Both teams have a quarterback with a known track record for success.
Kellen Mond, a senior, is Texas A&M’s all-time leader in passing yards (9,429), passing touchdowns (71), completions (785) and attempts (1,332). In nine games this season, he has completed 63.5 percent of his passes (172 of 271) for 2,050 yards and 19 touchdowns against three interceptions.
He threw at least three touchdowns in four games this year, including against Alabama (318 yards, three touchdowns) and Florida (338 yards, three touchdowns). Mond is a solid runner as well, racking up 1,572 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns in his career.
For North Carolina, sophomore Sam Howell has impressed during his first two seasons. He has thrown for 6,993 yards in 24 career games — an average of 291.4 passing yards per game — with 65 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. He has nine career games with at least 300 passing yards and 13 with at least three passing touchdowns.
The biggest separation point for the two very well might be the playmakers they have at their disposal. North Carolina’s top three skill-position players — running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams as well as receiver Dyami Brown — are sitting out the Orange Bowl.
The three accounted for two-thirds of the Tar Heels’ offense (4,056 yards out of 6,123) and 41 of the team’s 63 touchdowns. Texas A&M meanwhile, has its full cast of players from the season available.
RUSHING OFFENSE
Sophomore Isaiah Spiller leads the Texas A&M running game for a second consecutive season. He has 986 rushing yards and seven touchdowns through nine games and needs just 14 yards on Saturday to become only the third SEC running back to tally
1,000 yards this season.
UNC meanwhile, is turning its running game over to an up-and-coming yet unproven group as it replaces Williams and Carter. The duo expected to get the bulk of the carries: sophomore Josh Henderson and junior British Brooks. They’ve tallied 21 total carries for 92 yards this season.
But the Tar Heels remain optimistic.
“The backs that we’ve got, we see them every day in practice,” offensive lineman Jordan Tucker said. “All of them have speed, they’ve got power and they’ve all been learning from Javonte and Mike as well. So as an O-line and offense, we’ve got as much faith in them as we did in our backs before.”
PASSING DEFENSE
Both teams have been pedestrian at best defending the pass this season, pointing toward a potential shootout through the air on Saturday.
Texas A&M ranks 54th out of 127 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in passing defense, giving up an average of 224.3 yards through the air per game. Most of their passing yards allowed, however, came against a pair of Heisman Trophy finalists in Alabama’s Mac Jones (435 passing yards) and Florida’s Kyle Trask (312 passing yards).
No other opponent recorded more than 250 passing yards.
The Tar Heels? They ranked 85th nationally, allowing on average 248 passing yards per game.
UNC has the advantage, at least on the stat sheet, in regards to pass rushing. The Tar Heels have recorded 33 sacks on the season, tied for eighth nationally. However,
North Carolina will be without one of its top linebackers in Chazz Surratt, who was tied with fellow senior Tomon Fox for the team lead with six sacks.
The Aggies, albeit with two fewer games played, have 24 sacks this season. Junior defensive lineman Bobby Brown III leads the team with 5.5.
RUSHING DEFENSE
Texas A&M ranked second in the SEC and third in the country in rushing defense, allowing just 92.2 yards per game on the ground and just six total rushing touchdowns in nine games.
North Carolina ranked 48th nationally, on average allowing 147.8 rushing yards and giving up 20 total touchdowns in 11 games.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Texas A&M kicker Seth Small is 9 for 11 on field goals this season with a long of 54. This includes the 26-yard game-winner against Florida. Freshman Nik Constantinou is averaging 40.3 yards per punt, with 12 of his 31 attempts pinning opponents inside their 20-yard line.
For UNC: Grayson Atkins had made 10 of his 16 field-goal attempts this season, which includes a 3-for-7 mark from 40 yards and beyond. Ben Kierman is averaging 43.7 yards per punt, with 15 of 30 landing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.