Texas A&M confident in defense entering tilt with Alabama
Football is a copycat sport, and Texas A&M has experience on both sides.
Once a team finds success doing something new, others quickly follow suit. When Texas A&M joined SEC play in 2012, it brought the wide-open spread offense that populated the Big 12 conference.
It took the SEC by storm as Johnny Manziel ran and threw his way to the Heisman Trophy. Now all teams, even mighty Alabama, run a version of the spread offense.
But while the Aggies brought the spread to the SEC, they needed to take notes on how to run an SEC defense in order to survive the meat grinder of a conference.
That's when Texas A&M hired revered defensive coordinator John Chavis away from LSU - the only program that slowed down Manziel in both seasons he was an Aggie - in 2015.
"We always felt like we had the talent, but that something was missing," Texas A&M safety Armani Watts told Chris Low of ESPN. "Coach Chavis was that missing piece, the way he came in here and made us believe. We took on his personality on defense, that we're going to be the ones to set the tone."
In the two years prior to Chavis being hired, the Aggies surrendered 30-plus points in 13 of their 26 games. In the 19 games since his hiring, Texas A&M has allowed 30-plus points just twice.
Texas A&M left the Big 12 for a better chance to compete for a national championship in the SEC, and Kevin Sumlin's offense has proven it can score at will. With Chavis, the program now feels it has what it takes to be a true national contender.
Related: Why Texas A&M has no chance against Alabama
This year, the Aggies rank second nationally in forced turnovers, third in tackles for loss, and fourth in red-zone defense. But to some, the most important stat is Texas A&M's No. 22 rank in scoring defense - 19.2 points per game.
Since 1998, only one team has won a national championship ranked 30th or worse in scoring defense (Auburn 2010). In 2014, the year before the Aggies lured Chavis away from LSU, Texas A&M ranked 95th in scoring defense, allowing 32.2 points per game.
"Name me a team that wasn't good on defense that has won a championship," Chavis said. "You can't."
This weekend's clash against top-ranked Alabama will put Chavis in the spotlight with a chance to prove why he is the SEC's highest-paid defensive coordinator.
The Crimson Tide rank sixth in scoring offense, averaging 45.4 points. Someone has to blink, and the Aggies are hoping it won't be Chavis. If they hold firm, it would put Texas A&M on a direct path to its first national championship since 1939.