Alabama Football 2026 vs Texas A&M: Previewing the Aggie Offense

For many years, I felt like my offensive previews for the Texas A&M Aggies were all about the same when talking about a Jimbo Fisher offense. Since the Aggies made the swap the Mike Elko as the head coach, though, the Tide hasn’t played them, so this is the first time I’ve gotten a good look at the Aggie offense under Elko and offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins (formerly Alabama’s WR coach).

And, uh, it’s not been good.

They’re 71st in the country in scoring with 29.4 points per game, but that’s been buoyed with big days against Missouri State, Arizona State, The Citadel, and Arkansas. In their three other games, they’ve scored all of 6 points on LSU, 6 points on Missouri, and 21 points in a loss to Kentucky.

There’s a lot of negative in their stats, but the biggest issue has been that they have one of the worst passing attacks in the whole country – they’re ranked #122 in passing EPA/play and #132 in passing explosiveness, completing less than 56% of their passes.

After a promising season a year ago, QB Marcel Reed has been awful so far in 2026 for whatever reason.

And the responsibility starts with quarterback Marcel Reed and offensive coordinator Holmon Wiggins.

Texas A&M managed just two first downs through three quarters. Two.

The Aggies gained a laughable three yards during the entire third quarter. Eight offensive possessions lasted four plays or fewer.

Reed threw two interceptions, completed just five of 13 passes in the first half and went nearly 14 minutes without completing a throw.

That’s not the production of a quarterback capable of leading an SEC contender.

It’s the production of a quarterback who needs to watch the next game from the sideline.

Reed’s struggles aren’t isolated to Missouri, either. Against LSU, he completed 10 of 26 passes for 106 yards and an interception in a 35-6 defeat.

Against Kentucky, he threw two more interceptions as the Aggies fell 31-21.

Texas A&M has now lost three of its first four SEC games, dropping to 3-3 overall.

Meanwhile, Wiggins has done precious little to demonstrate that he can fix the problems.

The first-year offensive play-caller inherited a quarterback with considerable experience and an offense that averaged 444.5 yards per game last season.

What he’s producing instead is an unimaginative, predictable attack that can’t consistently sustain drives, establish offensive balance or threaten opposing defenses.

Reed isn’t passing the ball well, and he isn’t even being particularly effective as a runner, either, getting all of 175 rushing yards on 54 carries. It’s somewhat difficult to really evaluate his receivers with as poor as the QB play has been. Mario Craver was an excellent slot receiver a year ago and leads the team with 24 catches for 241 yards. Then there’s Alabama transfer Isaiah Horton, who was 280 yards on 20 catches as the more downfield outside receiver. Past these two, the rest of the receivers only have a handful of catches. Deep threat Terry Bussey is out for the season. Freshman Aaron Gregory as scored 3 times on 10 catches, which is pretty cool. And to top things off, Craver is dealing with a nagging injury and may not even play against the Tide.

On the other hand, things have been more positive for the Aggies in the run game. Rueben Owens has been an excellent lead back for them, putting up 314 yards on 76 carries, while freshman KJ Edwards has been something of a revelation, putting up 317 yards on only 47 carries. Carsyn Baker and Jamarion Morrow also rotate in and have 155 and 122 yards, respectively, with Morrow leading the team with 4 touchdowns.

They’ve been especially good rushing off tackle, averaging over 5 yards per carry off both edges.

Interestingly, check out this snippet on their offensive line. Turns out, Wilkin Formby is one of the best pass blocking tackles in the country, but the lowest graded run blocker on his own team. Who would have thought?

When looking at the state of the Aggies offensive line, it’s first important to view the numbers by who is on the field the most. A high-win rate, but a low snap percentage, doesn’t necessarily make a player better on paper, as the number of times they are tested can change the results.

Three players have been consistent on the field throughout the season; left tackle Tyree Adams, center Mark Nabou Jr., and right tackle Wilkin Formby. Their numbers all reflect the amount of time they have spent on the field, and of offensive lineman with at least 100 snaps, those three are the highest rated pass blockers.

Formby paces the team in pass blocking, not only as the highest graded Aggie, but is the highest graded tackle in the country. He has allowed 0 sacks on the year, and just four quarterback hurries. While Formby is the lowest graded run-blocker with at least 100 snaps, Nabou Jr. is the team leader, and has been a really strong part of the interior, allowing just one sack this season.

The guard spot is where the Aggies have really struggled, and at times have led to their detriment. Trovon Baugh, who has the fourth most snaps amonst offensive lineman, has given up the most sacks on the team with four.

To their credit, the Aggies did try something new against the Tigers, moving Formby to the guard spot while placing Lamont Rogers at the right tackle position. Unfortunately he graded as one of the worst pass blockers in the contest, while surrendering three pressures, the team-high for the game. That same result was found in Sam Roseborough, who the program tried to give playing time as well.

While we don’t really know what Wiggins is as an OC at this point in his career, I expect the Aggies to come at Alabama with a very similar gameplan as what Tennessee did: Run the ball and throw quick screens. For one, they will want to protect Marcel Reed from giving Alabama freebie. And for two…. Well, it worked for the Vols, why not do the same thing?

While Reed and the running backs will get some rushing yards on the Tide defense, I have trouble seeing how this offense can really threaten the Tide too much, unless the Alabama offense just gives them ball in good field position over and over (which is definitely not out of the realm of possibilities). I think the Alabama defense mostly self-corrects some of their flaws from a week ago, though the questionable nature of Zabien Brown’s injury may affect things.

Still, I think that this is an OC that is probably out of his league against a more experienced Kane Wommack, and there’s been nothing to suggest that Marcel Reed won’t continue to self-sabotage. So let’s go with 12-14 points for the Aggies.

Roll Tide