Know thy enemy: Travis Brown of KBTX Sports previews Texas A&M

The rest of No. 22 Missouri’s 2025 season is substantially more unpredictable than it was before the second bye week. Now down starting quarterback Beau Pribula for the foreseeable future after he suffered a dislocated ankle against Vanderbilt, the Tigers will turn to true freshman Matt Zollers.

In his first start, Zollers will have his hands full against No. 3 Texas A&M. A win over the Aggies would shock the country and turn Mizzou’s season around, but accomplishing that will be its biggest challenge of the season.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: Now that Texas A&M is 8-0, what is the feeling like in College Station?

A: Kind of the phrase I’ve been using most of the season is “cautiously optimistic.” I think it’s an A&M program and fan base that in recent history have had some really great starts but see those kind of tail off, whether it be at the beginning of November or toward the end of the season. Everyone around here knows that this feels and looks like a very different team than some of those other teams, like in 2016 and last year. This team is a little bit more complete and has found a lot of different ways to win ballgames.

But I think everyone, probably all of the A&M fans, don’t want to get the cart before the horse too much before things really start to shape up here toward the end of the season.

Q: Has this team shown enough not to fall into the trap of former Texas A&M teams?

A: Early in the season, everyone thought that the offense was going to be kind of predicated on the run game, with how many good running backs they had. A&M proved early that the passing game, with the speed and the blocking they have on the perimeter, was what won the ballgames. Once teams kind of figured that out and tried to take away the wide receivers, the running game stepped up and won them some games. In the middle of the season, it was the defense that was really kind of the reason they were able to win a ballgame or two.

I wouldn’t say they’ve had, like, that big, all-encompassing, complete performance yet, where both sides of the ball are just absolutely clicking, but it’s been a team that whenever one phase of the game has maybe been a little bit less than perfect, the other phases have stepped up and won them games. I think that’s different than when you look back at some of those seasons where they’ve had really good starts that didn’t necessarily result the way they wanted them to.

Q: Where has Marcel Reed improved the most from last season?

A: There’s a couple aspects of this. I think he definitely has improved as a passer ... or been able to show more as a passer than he did last season. But I think the other thing that improved for Marcel Reed were the targets that he had. They went out to the transfer portal and got KC Concepcion and Mario Craver at receiver ... and even Nate Boerkircher at tight end. Reed has been really, really good and has done a lot to make this 8-0 start, but I would think he’s probably the third-best player on the offense behind Concepcion and Craver.

Reed hasn’t even necessarily needed to use his legs that much this season before this last LSU game. A lot of people have said that he hasn’t incorporated that much of the run game into this season, but I don’t think he’s necessarily needed to that much with how they’ve been able to play games. It’s been a good year for him, but I think a lot of that has to do with what they were able to bring in around him, too.

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Q: How talented are Craver and Concepcion? What do their skills bring to the offense?

A: One of the biggest things that Mike Elko mentioned last year about the passing game was just the fact that the wide receivers they had struggled to get separation. That’s the biggest thing Craver and Concepcion have been able to do — just bring in speed and have speed on the perimeter.

I think when you hear speed, you think the deep ball and opening up defenses with a vertical passing game. But that necessarily hasn’t been exactly what it’s been. It’s been a lot of getting them the ball within the first 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and letting them go make plays, especially Craver. They’ve been a good one-two punch, because the majority of Craver’s work is between the 20s, moving chains and getting them into the red zone. Concepcion has kind of been the closer by getting into the end zone and putting points on the board with receiving touchdowns.

Q: How strong is the defensive unit? And who sticks out as key players?

A: Cashius Howell is the guy that definitely sticks out. He is on pace to having a Myles Garrett-esque season at edge and has been a real force. I think the biggest question coming into this season was going to potentially be the defensive line, with Shemar Stewart, Shemar Turner and Nic Scourton all getting drafted, but I actually think the pass rush might be better this year with the guys they have, especially with Cashius. Taurean York at linebacker has been a constant, steady presence with the defense. He’s the play-caller, the MIKE linebacker, and has been kind of a glue for the defense.

When you look at the secondary, he kind of goes under the radar a little bit, but Marcus Ratcliffe has stepped up with Bryce Anderson going down injured at safety. He might not make the biggest headlines or have the most impressive stats, but he’s just been really steady back there. I think he’s someone who probably should get a little bit of recognition for what he’s done.

Q: What challenges do you expect Missouri to present on Saturday?

A: Missouri has run the ball really well this year, and at times A&M’s run defense has been able to be exploited a little bit early. It happened against LSU. In the Arkansas game, the Razorbacks were able to run over A&M pretty well. I think the difference in the Arkansas game was just Taylen Green being a really mobile and big quarterback who added a whole new wrinkle to the run defense. But some of that has been misfits and not necessarily disciplined defense. And if Missouri can get enough going in the run game, that could be a problem for A&M. Usually they struggle with it in the first half, but in the second half, they usually come out and play strong and stop any holes or gaps that they might have had.

The other one is the unknown of the quarterback situation, just not having a whole lot of film on Matt Zollers. It kind of played in Marcel Reed’s favor last year when A&M played LSU. The Tigers admitted afterward that they didn’t even really think Reed was going to be an option in the game, and they didn’t really game-plan for his running ability. New wrinkles that can be put out there with a guy that there’s not a lot of film on can cause some trouble for teams. That’s something that the A&M coaching staff will be decently cognizant of, especially since he had a pretty good showing in his limited time against Vanderbilt.

Q: Do you think Missouri’s defense can give Texas A&M problems?

A: Texas A&M is in the midst of a stretch of three straight road games, with Arkansas, LSU, a bye week and now Missouri. Missouri certainly was the one that I’ve had circled that’s going to be the most difficult challenge of all those. Missouri’s running offense vs. A&M’s running defense is the area I have my eyes on the most because the A&M offense has proved that it can find ways to move the ball against a lot of pretty salty defenses. LSU last week. Florida has proved itself at times to be pretty strong.

Usually, the games that A&M has struggled offensively has been more because of penalties than necessarily getting stopped by defenses. If you look back at the Auburn game, much more low scoring than I think a lot of people thought it would be, but that’s because A&M took 13 penalties for 119 yards. They seem to kind of have nipped that in the bud a little bit. But when it comes to A&M’s offense, it usually is more self-inflicted.