No. 3 Texas vs. No. 20 Texas A&M: Five matchups to watch

A rivalry is renewed and the stakes couldn’t be any higher.

Rivalry games don’t get much bigger than this as the No. 3 Texas Longhorns and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies face off on Saturday in College Station, especially when you add in the wrinkle that this one has been dormant on the field for over a decade now.

The Lone Star Showdown is back. Two programs and two fanbases that absolutely can’t stand each other. And this year there is more than just bragging rights on the line. A trip to Atlanta and a berth in the SEC championship is up for grabs — this is the stuff from which movie scripts.

These are the games you sign up to play in when you commit to playing big time college football. These are the games you dream of playing in as a kid in little league. On Saturday in College Station, dreams will become reality for about 200 kids and it is going to be must-see TV.

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Quinn Ewers vs. A Clean Bill of Health

This has been something everyone has been keeping an eye on all week. Ewers has been banged up this year and most recently he sprained his ankle last week against Kentucky.

There was a very noticeable difference in play from Ewers after this transpired, but he remained in the game and finished the contest against the Wildcats.

Texas is going to NEED a healthy Ewers in this matchup. This is not going to be the kind of game where you can try to smoke and mirrors your opponent and hope to limit his exposure — A&M is going to come out with a plan to try to attack Ewers to see where he is at and if he is going to move his feet and if he is not able to able to navigate the chaos it is going to be problematic for the Texas offense.

If it becomes clear early that Ewers is still hampered by the ankle, I will be watching closely to see how much leash Steve Sarkisian gives him given the circumstances of this game.

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The Texas offensive line vs. the Texas A&M defensive line

This is the big-boy matchup of the entire game right here. If you ever hear the term “Good on Good,” this is exactly what they are referring to. The A&M defensive front is their best unit on the entire roster and Texas offensive line is one of the most experienced and talented on the Longhorns roster. Between both groups, you have at least a handful of guys that are going to be playing on NFL rosters in the near future.

Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks is the best of the bunch, and he was recently tabbed a finalist for the Outland Trophy.

On the other side of the ball, A&M features guys like Nic Scourton and Shemar Stewart on the edges and both play at a very high level. Scourton transferred in from Purdue after turning in an All-Big 10 caliber year for the Boilermakers and the talent translated to College Station. Stewart was a big-time recruit under the previous regime at A&M and he has been living up to the billing.

Stewart is a monster at 6’6, 290 pounds and he will be a tall task to deal with when Texas wants to set the edge in the run game.

This will be another must-see TV matchup within the matchup for me. Banks, Scourton, Stewart, and Cameron Williams are all guys that are firmly on NFL radars and they are going to be seeing a lot of each other on Saturday night.

Get your popcorn ready. This will be a fun one to track tomorrow night.

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Marcel Reed vs. the Texas defense

Texas A&M making the switch to Reed at quarterback may have saved their season from going completely off the rails. Connor Weigman was viewed as the quarterback of the future in College Station, but Reed has been a nice find for them and he has played well since taking over full time.

Reed is a true dual-threat for the Aggies and his game is similar to Arkansas’ Taylan Green and will be utilized similarly as Green by Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein.

You can bank on Reed logging double-digit carries in the run game on Saturday and he is going to force the Texas defense to play disciplined, assignment-sound football.

The Texas defense has been one of the best in the country all season and will be a tough test for the redshirt freshman signal caller. The Longhorns have playmakers at all three levels of the defense and features arguably the best secondary in college football that has shown a consistent knack for creating turnovers and getting their hands on the football.

I am very intrigued to see the game plan that Pete Kwiatkowski and Johnny Nansen have drawn up for Reed. I imagine they will be doing their best to disguise coverages and will try to deceive the young quarterback to see if they can bait him into a mistake or two.

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Texas vs. the Kyle Field experience

As someone who had the opportunity to play at field level at Kyle Field, I can personally attest that it does get incredibly loud down there and it is absolutely something you have to be prepared for before walking into that building. It is a very loud and hostile environment on any given Saturday in the fall, but when you add in the fact that it is the Lone Star Showdown after a 13-year hiatus then things go up about 100 notches.

The atmosphere is going to be absolutely electric in College Station on Saturday night and Texas will need to play with composure and discipline when it comes to the crowd noise they will have to deal with. The best way to handle that is by taking the crowd out of it early — by getting into a groove and getting on the scoreboard first. Every big play and penalty in favor of the Aggies is going to spike the decibel reading in that place and it is important to not let things get away from you.

Texas has struggled with penalties and discipline throughout the season. This is the last place and game you want to concede extra opportunities to your opponent. Keeping their poise and composure on Saturday will be a huge determining factor.

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Both teams vs. the Ted Cruz sports curse

Yes, this is absolutely something that is being discussed, and you know the recently re-elected senator is going to be in the house for one of the biggest games the state has seen in sometime.

Mr. Cruz fancies himself a sports fan, and this has been a hysterical bit to track recently.

Shoutout to the good people over at the Shutdown Fullcast for raising this point about Cruz’s attendance weeks ago. It would be a huge upset if the good senator was not present for this game. But the question remains, who will he be rooting for and which sideline will he be on? Could his rooting interest be one of the underlying keys for this monumental matchup with huge implications?

I know I will be anxiously waiting to see which way this one swings.