Texas A&M works to fill void left by Moss' season-ending injury

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During a much-needed open week, Texas A&M football coach Mike Elko had a long list of issues to address.

Topping that list was replacing the production of running back Le’Veon Moss, who sustained a season-ending injury in a 44-20 loss to South Carolina on Nov. 2.

Moss is third in the SEC with 765 rushing yards. Beyond that, through rushing and receiving, he accounted for roughly 25 percent of A&M’s total offense. Moss was responsible for 906 of the 3,559 yards the Aggies have gained this season.

Junior Amari Daniels will replace Moss in the starting lineup when the Aggies face New Mexico State on Saturday. EJ Smith will back up Daniels.

Elko acknowledged the Aggies may have to get creative to replace Moss’ production.

“A lot of things are on the table,” Elko said. “Obviously, losing Le’Veon is a big loss. That’s a lot of touches. We’re going to have to figure out the right way to handle that.

“I think there’s a lot of different opportunities and options to go about that. Amari is certainly one. EJ is certainly one. There’s other ways that we can do that.”

Elko suggested A&M may throw more frequently. That may be disconcerting with A&M hoping to reach the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff.

The Aggies are ranked 111th in the nation in passing offense.

They have not passed for more than 276 yards in any game. They’ve passed for fewer than 200 yards in six games.

More likely, the Aggies will try to incorporate more players in the running game.

Receivers could be used more frequently on jet sweeps or on running plays.

Elko also hinted offensive coordinator Collin Klein could devise ways to further use quarterback Marcel Reed as a runner.

Reed has rushed for 334 yards on 68 carries.

“When we talked all the way back to why Collin (was hired) and what are you looking for in an offensive coordinator it was always about utilization of personnel,” Elko said. “Take our weapons, take who we have and figure out the best plan to utilize them to be effective and score points and help us win football games.

“We lost a big weapon. But the goal is still the goal. Now we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and we’ve got to figure out a different way to move the ball and score points. We’ll do that.”

Tackle talk

Another priority in the open week was improved tackling.

The Aggies were estimated to have missed a whopping 25 tackles in the loss to South Carolina. It was their feeblest attempt at tackling since falling to Notre Dame in the season opener.

Elko said the Aggies refocused and reemphasized basic tackling fundamentals.

“A lot of how you tackle is by position, approach, footwork,” Elko said. “This is really the first time in a long time I’ve seen the contact point let me down as much as it did in that game.

“I think you can do some creative things to reemphasize target. You can’t go out there and do Oklahoma drills. That’s not the best approach in Week 11.

“But you can certainly find ways to reemphasize target in Indy work, in drill work, in isolated situations so that the approach stays the same, the body control gets a little bit better and then the target area on the finish needs to improve tremendously in order for us to successfully get people on the ground.”

Grand standings

Elko said he isn’t “scoreboard watching” to monitor how the SEC race is going.

Currently, Texas A&M (7-2, 5-1) and Tennessee (8-1, 5-1) lead in the SEC standings.

Texas (8-1, 4-1) is a half-game back, followed by Georgia (7-2, 5-2). Right behind Georgia are Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2) and Alabama (7-2, 4-2). Missouri (7-2, 3-2) and LSU (6-3, 3-2) also remain in the race.

All SEC teams play eight conference games. The top two teams advance to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta on Dec. 7.

Although there are key conference games this weekend, including Tennessee at Georgia and Texas at Arkansas, Elko said he won’t be distracted by them.

“The beauty of the SEC: If we win we’ll be in. If we don’t. We won’t,” he said. “It’s a real recipe for us in this league.”

50-50 proposition

Kicker Randy Bond is having an All-SEC caliber season.

Thus far he’s converted 16-of-18 field goals for an 88.9 percent success rate.

That includes 8-of-10 from 40 yards or farther. He converted field goals from 52 and 55 vs. South Carolina.

“No matter where I’m at on the field I try to hit the same ball,” Bond said. “At South Carolina when I lined up for both of those nothing really changed in anything I did. It just happens to be further. There’s a little less room for error.

“I go about the process the same way. I still aim down the middle. Just focus on what I can do until then. Fortunately, they both went in. I struck them both really well.”

Bond has shown remarkable improvement. Last season he made 26-of-35 field goal attempts for a 74.3 percent success rate.

NOTES

• A&M’s game against New Mexico State on Saturday at Kyle Field is designated as Senior Night to honor senior players. The game kicks off at 6:45 p.m.