Trenches Preview: The Citadel at Texas A&M

Texas A&M’s 2026 season has reached a point of crisis at the midway point. The Aggies are 1-3 in SEC play after a 27-6 loss to Mizzou and limping into a game against The Citadel, utterly lacking confidence or an identity. A large part of the struggles for Texas A&M lies with the lines on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. In The Citadel, Texas A&M faces a far inferior opponent that doesn’t represent a challenge on either side of the ball. With that in mind, this week’s “Trenches Preview” is going to serve as more of an autopsy of the lines to this point in the season rather than a look at the opponent and what Texas A&M needs to succeed. Let’s dive in.

Offensive Line

Texas A&M ranks 11th in the SEC in rushing offense. The Aggies are 15th in passing offense. Texas A&M has also allowed 12 sacks through six games, tied for 7th in the SEC. The offensive struggles don’t fall exclusively on the offensive line, but the offensive line certainly hasn’t helped matters as Marcel Reed has regressed. Heading into the season, I had my concerns about an offensive line replacing starters at four of the five positions. Each of those concerns has been proven true. The lack of continuity has led to communication breakdowns. The portal additions that the Aggies pursued simply aren’t difference makers, as evidenced by both the willingness of SEC programs to let the players enter the transfer portal and the performance we’ve seen put forth on the field thus far.

The Aggies stubbornly insist on trying to find traction in the run game between the tackles when the interior of the offensive line simply hasn’t shown the ability to create push, particularly in obvious rushing situations with short yardage. The cure for this is to try to get the ball to playmakers in space, but the Aggies simply don’t have those types of playmakers on the roster this season, particularly with Terry Bussey injured and Mario Craver not at 100%. I still think the only real solution is attempting more outside runs with KJ Edwards or Jamarrion Morrow, jet sweeps to receivers, or swing passes as well.

As it stands, due to the lack of success from the offensive line in the run game, things are resting heavily on Marcel Reed, and as we have seen throughout this season, Reed simply isn’t up to the task of carrying this offense. Simply put, this offseason can be chalked up as a miss in the portal for the most part, and no unit on the field represents that more than the offensive line. Perhaps we see a shift in offensive philosophy against The Citadel, but at this stage of the season, the offense is what the offense is. Unfortunately, that is an offense at the bottom of the SEC.

Defensive Line

The defensive line hasn’t fared much better than the offensive line through 2026, but it’s undeniable that this unit has at least shown signs of improvement against the run. I realize I’m saying this as the Aggies surrendered more than 200 yards on the ground to Mizzou and Jamal Roberts, but my takeaway from Saturday’s game was that the defense was doomed to buckle in the second half as the game wore on, and Texas A&M showed no signs of success on offense. When your offense repeatedly goes three-and-out, you simply can’t weather the storm. I still have my concerns about the interior of the defensive line, but Brandon Davis-Swain made plays on Saturday that give me confidence in his ability to contribute the rest of the season. Daymion Sanford returning to health should decrease the pressure on the interior as well, as Noah Mikhail also continues to build confidence at linebacker.

The edges have undoubtedly been better against the run in 2026, but it has come at the cost of the pass rush. Replacing Cashius Howell was never going to be done by one added pass rusher, but the combination of Marco Jones, T.J. Searcy, and Northwestern transfer Anto Saka was supposed to fare far better than dead last in the SEC in sacks, with four sacks between the Aggies and the next closest team. The secondary has seemed to improve in the past two weeks, but Texas A&M has to find ways to pressure opposing passers if the Aggies hope to find any success in the back half of the season. Straight four-man rushes simply aren’t accomplishing the task, and so the Aggies will need to get creative with stunts, blitzes, and twists. To this point, it has appeared that Texas A&M is reluctant to do so.

In short, the Aggies will need to head back to the portal this offseason to address the pass rush. An elite edge is needed for this defense to live up to its full potential, and Texas A&M doesn’t have that this year.

The 2026 season will go down as a disappointment after this horrendous start, but I’ll still be watching closely to see what the attitude of this team looks like going forward. If we see the effort slip, it goes from disappointment to disaster. That effort begins with The Citadel this Saturday.

#BTHOthecitadel