A&M's defense will be better ... even without Von Miller

DALLAS - Count me in the minority, but I'm buying Texas A&M's defense. Not that return of the Wrecking Crew garbage the Aggies routinely live on, mostly because that type of defense has all but been legislated out of football.
The spread offenses, and the way the game is called, prevents the R.C. days of kill the ball to really exist the way it once did.

Even though the Aggies have lost Von Miller to the NFL, this defense is going to be better.

"I think we're going to be a better team on defense even though we lose players like Von Miller," Aggies coach Mike Sherman said today.

For the record - I'm not buying that because Mike Sherman says so. He said Jerrod Johnson was good. I'm buying the Aggies defense being better because they have one of the smartest defensive coordinators around in Tim DeRuyter. Last season was his first in College Station, and the difference he made was so apparent that if this unit continues improving the way it did he will get a head coaching job in the next two to four years.

"Our guys are going to have a lot more familiarity with this defense," Sherman said. "I don't think you replace a Von Miller very easily. If you're a good program you absorb (those losses) and guys step up."

I fully expect sophomore Damontre Moore to become an Aggie terror coming off the edge. As a true frosh last season he had 5.5 sacks, and he didn't even know what he was doing.

The Aggies are going to beat UT again, but how good this team is will likely be determined when they host Okie State on Sept. 24 and play Arkansas on Oct. 1. Those two games will determine if they can challenge for the BCS.

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Jul 25, 2011 11:17:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)