Landry: Tests for Calzada to get tougher beginning with Odom's defense

Key notes from Chris Landry interview

• A&M played a lot of guys, and I think that contributed to a lot of inconsistency in play. With the offensively, from a technique and assignment standpoint, there were some issues there. Looking at the tape, they did a better job in the second half. They have to play better on the offensive line. You either get better players, or you get your players better. You have to get the right combination, and that has to come together this week against an Arkansas front that is pretty good.
   
• A&M played a lot of receivers. I thought Zach Calzada was pretty efficient. You could see that after a week of practice, he was more comfortable. There were guys wide-open last week, and the windows will be more narrow going forward.
   
• There is cause for concern and need to get better because Arkansas looks really good on film. They’re good at the line of scrimmage, and they’ll throw a lot at Calzada this weekend.
   
• The Aggies are rock solid on the defensive side of the ball. The issue is on the offensive line, and they need to figure out how to run it because if they can’t, this will not be a typical Jimbo Fisher offense.
   
• The front-line guys are better and more experienced. The technique flaws were there. The issues have a lot to do with moving guys from one position to another. A lot of it was hand placement and over-extending, and that leads to getting whipped. The concern is that you don’t want any of your guys to struggle with technique, even if they’re not your front-line guys. You can extend your correction periods. It’s technique-oriented. The real question is how much better will this offensive line get? That will get you to the answer about running the football.
   
• You can use a healthy use of tight ends to help the offensive line, but that eliminates their use in the passing game. With more blocking tight ends, your receivers have to win consistently.
   
• I’ll take you into Jimbo Fisher’s office: He expects this, and those players better bring their highest intensity of the season this weekend. If they don’t, they’re not going to win that game. You don’t just go out there and win a game. It starts in practice and doing those things consistently well to establish yourself as a dominant team. One of these teams is going to establish themselves. Alabama is still the team to beat in the SEC West. A lot of people think A&M is second best, but that’ll throw ice water on that if they lose this game. For Arkansas, the expectation isn’t as high, but they’re playing extremely well at the line of scrimmage.
   
• I think this game could be the game we thought it might be when Arkansas beat Texas. I think this will be a really good one. It will tell us a lot about the SEC West.
   
• Missing Ricky Stromberg would be huge for Arkansas. Defensively, you have to defend an extra gap against Arkansas because KJ Jefferson will pull it down, and Kendal Briles will run some RPOs. You can’t get beat deep. Arkansas wants to run it. They come off the ball like hogs. They want to run block. You’ll have to overplay the run, and then they’ll have some big plays. You cut the head off the snake by stopping the run. Much of what Mike Elko will do with his pre-snap looks will be baiting them into throwing the football. Stop the run, force them into third-and-longs, and you’ll start to make some plays on defense.
   
• Calzada knew where to go with the football a little bit better. He had more wide-open receivers, but you could see he understood the progressions and coverages. He was less confused and more decisive. The challenge this weekend will be more complex, and Barry Odom will mix things up. He’ll test Calzada’s patience and will mix up looks pre-snap that are different than what he sees post-snap, so he’ll try and bait him into throws. The key is patience. You have to take the check down, move the chains, work the tight ends and receivers out of the backfield.
   
• Arkansas has looked better than A&M so far, but I’m not sure they’re a better team. I’m curious to see how it works out this week.