December 17, 2025 • 11 mins
With bowl games underway and the playoffs set to kick off Friday, lots of fans begin to rally around their favorite Alma mater as we move closer to the National Championship. Taking a look at one of the two Texas teams that have made playoff contention, the Aggies are set to take on the Miami Hurricanes Saturday morning with a chance at playing against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Hearing from a voice that covers the Aggies, On3 Sports and Aggie Yell Insider Mark Passwaters joins Dan and Cole ahead of Saturday's kickoff, sharing a few possible game plans and schemes the Aggies could look to roll out as they enter Round 1 of the CFP.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Friday Nights in Norman, Alabama taking on Oklahoma also featured
this weekend the Aggies hosting the Miami Hurricanes.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Mark Passwater from on three dot Com joins us right
here on the Morning Drive and Mark, I'll ask the
easy question up first for Texas A and M to
find a way to blow this game. What needs to
happen on the flip side for Miami.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh, that is a lovely way to start called the morning.
It's fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I remember I was going to give you congratulations on
the new gig and everything, and instead I get, hey,
how are you going to screw this up?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh? It was battered Aggie system showing on up on
Saturday morning.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Boy, I'll tell you what you've brought battered Aggie syndrome
to multimedia.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Very nice, very nice.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
But I think the biggest thing would be A and
m makes mental mistakes and.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
They turn the ball over. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Miami is a team that takes advantage of opponent turnovers.
They cause a lot of them, especially interceptions, and you know,
I think that would be the biggest issue if you're
going to go out there and find a differentiator between
these two teams. It'd probably be he turns the ball
over the most.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Mark, do you have an update on L'byan Moss right now?
His status for this game after missing the last part
of the over the last six weeks.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Uh, you know that's that's the great mystery. But yesterday
at practice we got to see a little bit of
it and he was out there with the ones. So
taking that into account and what Colin Pline said yesterday
during his press conference where he said something to the
effect of I'm looking forward to seeing him finish this
(01:42):
out in style. I'm leaning towards saying he's playing, but
I've been thinking he's been going to play for a month,
so you know, you just you're not really sure. But
the indicator, the initial indicators are positive.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Again Mark Passwater's Aggie Yell part of on three joining
us here on the Morning Drive. Mark, I mean, it's
not the pessimistic view of it, but it does seem
like from Evy Aggie fan I talk with this year,
there is a little bit of wait and see. So
I mean, I know that Mike Elko went through the
whole thing yesterday about winning the national title.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
All right, is the season of bust? If we don't
win it all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But is it one of those things that you've got
to feel validated as an A and M fan to
win this game on Saturday and at least, you know,
progressing the college football Playoff.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I think it would be nice.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I mean, certainly you want to go out there and
continue to move forward, but I think it you know, actually,
you're probably right on it.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And the fact that it's a mental thing, especially with
the fan base.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
You know, you go out there, you win eleven games
in a row, but then you lose to Texas, and
now everybody, well not everybody, but a decent number of
people think.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Oh, well, I just can't get.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Excited about this because we lost to Texas, which is ridiculous,
but that's how deep we embedded that is, and they
you know, you don't want to go out there win
eleven in a row and then lose your last two
and you're done, because that would just bring back the
battered Aggie syndrome and everything else. So for the fan base,
(03:13):
if you're looking for validation, sure, go out and win
this game. Realistically, go take a look at your recruiting class,
to look at the amount of money Mike Elko has
to play with in the transfer portal.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You're there.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
The validation shouldn't be necessary. But in the minds of
a whole lot of people, just because you lost that
one game at the end of November, you've got to
go out and do big things because otherwise you're going
to get laughed back.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I think the one thing that we can all agree
on is that Marcel Reid to begin the season was
a key element to the success. He fought his way
back into South Carolina game, which was the greatest comeback
in A and M history. The two bad red zone
turnovers against Texas. It's probably the thing that's embedded in
the mind of most Aggie fans. What's the one area
that you need to see a little bit more improvement
for against a really un under rated but dangerous Miami defense.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
I think he just needs to get back to doing
what he was doing for most of the season. Go
out there, work your progression. You know, if you've got
to move, move, you know. He just kind of reverted
back to what the mean was in twenty twenty four
in the second half of that game. But then he
considered everybody else. It was kind of like they felt
pressure that shouldn't necessarily have been there. Maybe it was
(04:28):
just because of who they were playing, maybe it was
the stakes, whatever, But you know, they did a lot
of things that were out of character, and certainly the
way Reid approached that second half was out of character
for the twenty twenty five version of him.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Mark Defensively, I mean, we know about cash atll we
know how good this defense has been all year, and
the other part is too. I mean, you know, Carson
Beck is a guy that in games like this in
the past, has struggled. What are they going to do
to try to make life hard on Carson Beck?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
On Saturday morre Well I asked Elko what you do
with a team that tends to go with the short
passing game, and the response that he gave me was,
we want to try to affect the quarterback. And you know,
I think that's just their game plan in general. They're
going to come after him, and you know, taking a
look at some film last night, what they want to
do probably is get right in his face. You know,
(05:22):
it's going to be great if you get cash is
Howl or Dan Hayes coming off the edge. But what
really flusters him is when somebody gets in his face,
and I'm sure that I'm not the first person to
figure that out. I'm sure that they are much smarter
guys on the staff that have decided that's also the case.
So I think they're going to try to figure out
(05:44):
how to do just that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I know that was a dress yesterday with Elko Mark.
But what do you point to for the just kind
of I guess, you know, fumbling finish at the end
of the season where you got to come back and
beat South Carolina. I know the Texas game goes the
way it did for this.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Team, you know, that's the big one.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
You know, can you go and flush those I think
there was an element against South Carolina where they're like,
this team's just not very good.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
We're on a roll. And they came out and you.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Know, South Carolina played a great first half, and A
and M helped them a lot with just horrible turnovers,
and then they just woke up, showed what they could
really do, and you know, ran through the second half,
and I think, you know, I honestly do think that
the pressure, whether reel or imagined, got to them, especially
in the second half of that game against Texas. They
(06:40):
just got to go out there and be who they were,
you know, especially in the middle of the season when
they dismantled LSU in Missouri. You know that that team
can win a whole lot of games even in the CFP.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Mark passwater from on three dot com, Aggiel give them
a fallow at MBP on three on social media. Mark
this is a secondary that go to go up against
two elite playmakers and Mario Craver in case of concepcion.
On the regular they know what they can expect speed wise,
but there is not a more dangerous player I think
on the field comes Saturday morning than Malachai Tony. So
(07:12):
in your game plan, in your assessment of watching the film,
what makes the freshman out in Coral Gables such a
mismatched nightmare for teams?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
And how do you slow him down?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Well, I think the biggest thing is his footwork is
just amazing watching him cut. I mean, you know, that
guy could change direction like nobody's business, and that's that
automatically makes him difficult, especially when they use him over
the middle, and that's what they really like to do,
you know. I think that if they're going to line
him up in the slot, that's going to be Tyree Chappelle.
(07:45):
And I think that one advantage that A and M
has is you're talking about a guy who's in his
fifth year. He's been a very good cover corner, you
know that goal and maybe most importantly, this is the
guy that Elco really trusts. This is a guy that
they you know, they've been together going back to the
days when Oka was a defensive coordinator. So I think
(08:07):
that it will primarily be Chappelle's job, but they'll probably
find some ways to either bring somebody down to help
or maybe kip him or something like that. Get him
off his schedule and in a way that doesn't doesn't
get Jeff Flagg but you guys know what I mean.
But basically he's so good at making cuts, you know,
(08:32):
changing directions, but you got to get him off schedule.
If the timing isn't there, then you've got the advantage.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Mark eleven am kick not ideal, but I mean we
know the type of atmosphere Kyle Field can be.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I mean you talk to a lot of AGGI fans.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I mean, is that gonna be an issue for people
or we're gonna have a full building right there? As
send as the ball kicks at eleven.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Oh, I think everybody's going to be there.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I mean, it's like I said yesterday, you can start
drinking beer at six thirty. It's a Saturday, it's the
holiday season. You know, everybody get there and you and
I honestly think that the stakes are so high with this.
This is something that has been waited for for so
long that I would be absolutely shocked if there's not
one hundred and ten thousand people in there and kickoff.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You have a first time college football playoff team making
a run to the postseason.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Here's the fun part.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Mark.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
It doesn't get any easier after playing Miami that was
playing with house fire down the stretch.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Your reward for.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Beating a Hurricanes team is going up against a twelve
and zero regular season twelve and one Ohio State roster
and Arlington and then if you get past them, which
I think it's a great matchup, you probably are welcoming
in Georgia. Do you think that this is Is this
a matchup to where momentum and shifts between the game
of being able to kind of pull away and show
(09:45):
that the things that we learned about you during the
matchups against South Carolina and Texas weren't the entire identity
of your team. Is that going to be good enough
to be able to think sell a tempo of what
to expect when you go face off against Ohio State
and when you go face off against Georgia.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
If you win on Saturday, well it's it's all a
mind game, you know. Honestly, I truly believe it's all
a mind game for them. If they have their head
screwed on right and they go out there and play
the way that they did at the middle of the season,
then they can go I don't know if they can
go to the distance, but they can go a long way.
(10:20):
On the other hand, if they go out there and
they're doubting themselves and they're thinking about what happened the
second half in Austin and they're thinking about what happened
in the first half against South Carolina, well they're not
doing them themselves any good. They're they're actually doing themselves
a disservice. So they you know, it's it's all mindset.
(10:41):
If they got their head screwed on right, they can
go out there and win a whole lot. If they don't,
then you know, it's it's gonna be a quick one
and done.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But this is this is the CFP.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Everybody's got to play at their best, and they got
to play consistently at their best. And when they do that,
they're really good.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know. It's just a matter of whether or not
they can find that.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Consistency because they didn't show at the last month of
the season.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Mark, you're the best, buddy.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
It's great to hear from you again, and I know
you'll be all over it on Saturday. And hopefully we're
having a chance to talk with you next week about
a chance to go up to Dallas.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
That would be very very nice.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
There you go again, Mark passwaterzag Yell dot com part
of on three.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
We'll catch up with you soon, buddy, all right, see
you later.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Fellas
Friday Nights in Norman, Alabama taking on Oklahoma also featured
this weekend the Aggies hosting the Miami Hurricanes.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Mark Passwater from on three dot Com joins us right
here on the Morning Drive and Mark, I'll ask the
easy question up first for Texas A and M to
find a way to blow this game. What needs to
happen on the flip side for Miami.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Oh, that is a lovely way to start called the morning.
It's fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:26):
I remember I was going to give you congratulations on
the new gig and everything, and instead I get, hey,
how are you going to screw this up?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh? It was battered Aggie system showing on up on
Saturday morning.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Boy, I'll tell you what you've brought battered Aggie syndrome
to multimedia.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Very nice, very nice.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
But I think the biggest thing would be A and
m makes mental mistakes and.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
They turn the ball over. It's pretty simple.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Miami is a team that takes advantage of opponent turnovers.
They cause a lot of them, especially interceptions, and you know,
I think that would be the biggest issue if you're
going to go out there and find a differentiator between
these two teams. It'd probably be he turns the ball
over the most.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Mark, do you have an update on L'byan Moss right now?
His status for this game after missing the last part
of the over the last six weeks.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Uh, you know that's that's the great mystery. But yesterday
at practice we got to see a little bit of
it and he was out there with the ones. So
taking that into account and what Colin Pline said yesterday
during his press conference where he said something to the
effect of I'm looking forward to seeing him finish this
(01:42):
out in style. I'm leaning towards saying he's playing, but
I've been thinking he's been going to play for a month,
so you know, you just you're not really sure. But
the indicator, the initial indicators are positive.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Again Mark Passwater's Aggie Yell part of on three joining
us here on the Morning Drive. Mark, I mean, it's
not the pessimistic view of it, but it does seem
like from Evy Aggie fan I talk with this year,
there is a little bit of wait and see. So
I mean, I know that Mike Elko went through the
whole thing yesterday about winning the national title.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
All right, is the season of bust? If we don't
win it all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
But is it one of those things that you've got
to feel validated as an A and M fan to
win this game on Saturday and at least, you know,
progressing the college football Playoff.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I think it would be nice.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I mean, certainly you want to go out there and
continue to move forward, but I think it you know, actually,
you're probably right on it.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And the fact that it's a mental thing, especially with
the fan base.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
You know, you go out there, you win eleven games
in a row, but then you lose to Texas, and
now everybody, well not everybody, but a decent number of
people think.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Oh, well, I just can't get.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Excited about this because we lost to Texas, which is ridiculous,
but that's how deep we embedded that is, and they
you know, you don't want to go out there win
eleven in a row and then lose your last two
and you're done, because that would just bring back the
battered Aggie syndrome and everything else. So for the fan base,
(03:13):
if you're looking for validation, sure, go out and win
this game. Realistically, go take a look at your recruiting class,
to look at the amount of money Mike Elko has
to play with in the transfer portal.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
You're there.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
The validation shouldn't be necessary. But in the minds of
a whole lot of people, just because you lost that
one game at the end of November, you've got to
go out and do big things because otherwise you're going
to get laughed back.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I think the one thing that we can all agree
on is that Marcel Reid to begin the season was
a key element to the success. He fought his way
back into South Carolina game, which was the greatest comeback
in A and M history. The two bad red zone
turnovers against Texas. It's probably the thing that's embedded in
the mind of most Aggie fans. What's the one area
that you need to see a little bit more improvement
for against a really un under rated but dangerous Miami defense.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
I think he just needs to get back to doing
what he was doing for most of the season. Go
out there, work your progression. You know, if you've got
to move, move, you know. He just kind of reverted
back to what the mean was in twenty twenty four
in the second half of that game. But then he
considered everybody else. It was kind of like they felt
pressure that shouldn't necessarily have been there. Maybe it was
(04:28):
just because of who they were playing, maybe it was
the stakes, whatever, But you know, they did a lot
of things that were out of character, and certainly the
way Reid approached that second half was out of character
for the twenty twenty five version of him.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Mark Defensively, I mean, we know about cash atll we
know how good this defense has been all year, and
the other part is too. I mean, you know, Carson
Beck is a guy that in games like this in
the past, has struggled. What are they going to do
to try to make life hard on Carson Beck?
Speaker 4 (04:59):
On Saturday morre Well I asked Elko what you do
with a team that tends to go with the short
passing game, and the response that he gave me was,
we want to try to affect the quarterback. And you know,
I think that's just their game plan in general. They're
going to come after him, and you know, taking a
look at some film last night, what they want to
do probably is get right in his face. You know,
(05:22):
it's going to be great if you get cash is
Howl or Dan Hayes coming off the edge. But what
really flusters him is when somebody gets in his face,
and I'm sure that I'm not the first person to
figure that out. I'm sure that they are much smarter
guys on the staff that have decided that's also the case.
So I think they're going to try to figure out
(05:44):
how to do just that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I know that was a dress yesterday with Elko Mark.
But what do you point to for the just kind
of I guess, you know, fumbling finish at the end
of the season where you got to come back and
beat South Carolina. I know the Texas game goes the
way it did for this.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Team, you know, that's the big one.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
You know, can you go and flush those I think
there was an element against South Carolina where they're like,
this team's just not very good.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
We're on a roll. And they came out and you.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Know, South Carolina played a great first half, and A
and M helped them a lot with just horrible turnovers,
and then they just woke up, showed what they could
really do, and you know, ran through the second half,
and I think, you know, I honestly do think that
the pressure, whether reel or imagined, got to them, especially
in the second half of that game against Texas. They
(06:40):
just got to go out there and be who they were,
you know, especially in the middle of the season when
they dismantled LSU in Missouri. You know that that team
can win a whole lot of games even in the CFP.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Mark passwater from on three dot com, Aggiel give them
a fallow at MBP on three on social media. Mark
this is a secondary that go to go up against
two elite playmakers and Mario Craver in case of concepcion.
On the regular they know what they can expect speed wise,
but there is not a more dangerous player I think
on the field comes Saturday morning than Malachai Tony. So
(07:12):
in your game plan, in your assessment of watching the film,
what makes the freshman out in Coral Gables such a
mismatched nightmare for teams?
Speaker 5 (07:19):
And how do you slow him down?
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Well, I think the biggest thing is his footwork is
just amazing watching him cut. I mean, you know, that
guy could change direction like nobody's business, and that's that
automatically makes him difficult, especially when they use him over
the middle, and that's what they really like to do,
you know. I think that if they're going to line
him up in the slot, that's going to be Tyree Chappelle.
(07:45):
And I think that one advantage that A and M
has is you're talking about a guy who's in his
fifth year. He's been a very good cover corner, you
know that goal and maybe most importantly, this is the
guy that Elco really trusts. This is a guy that
they you know, they've been together going back to the
days when Oka was a defensive coordinator. So I think
(08:07):
that it will primarily be Chappelle's job, but they'll probably
find some ways to either bring somebody down to help
or maybe kip him or something like that. Get him
off his schedule and in a way that doesn't doesn't
get Jeff Flagg but you guys know what I mean.
But basically he's so good at making cuts, you know,
(08:32):
changing directions, but you got to get him off schedule.
If the timing isn't there, then you've got the advantage.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Mark eleven am kick not ideal, but I mean we
know the type of atmosphere Kyle Field can be.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
I mean you talk to a lot of AGGI fans.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I mean, is that gonna be an issue for people
or we're gonna have a full building right there? As
send as the ball kicks at eleven.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Oh, I think everybody's going to be there.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I mean, it's like I said yesterday, you can start
drinking beer at six thirty. It's a Saturday, it's the
holiday season. You know, everybody get there and you and
I honestly think that the stakes are so high with this.
This is something that has been waited for for so
long that I would be absolutely shocked if there's not
one hundred and ten thousand people in there and kickoff.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You have a first time college football playoff team making
a run to the postseason.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Here's the fun part.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Mark.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
It doesn't get any easier after playing Miami that was
playing with house fire down the stretch.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
Your reward for.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Beating a Hurricanes team is going up against a twelve
and zero regular season twelve and one Ohio State roster
and Arlington and then if you get past them, which
I think it's a great matchup, you probably are welcoming
in Georgia. Do you think that this is Is this
a matchup to where momentum and shifts between the game
of being able to kind of pull away and show
(09:45):
that the things that we learned about you during the
matchups against South Carolina and Texas weren't the entire identity
of your team. Is that going to be good enough
to be able to think sell a tempo of what
to expect when you go face off against Ohio State
and when you go face off against Georgia.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
If you win on Saturday, well it's it's all a
mind game, you know. Honestly, I truly believe it's all
a mind game for them. If they have their head
screwed on right and they go out there and play
the way that they did at the middle of the season,
then they can go I don't know if they can
go to the distance, but they can go a long way.
(10:20):
On the other hand, if they go out there and
they're doubting themselves and they're thinking about what happened the
second half in Austin and they're thinking about what happened
in the first half against South Carolina, well they're not
doing them themselves any good. They're they're actually doing themselves
a disservice. So they you know, it's it's all mindset.
(10:41):
If they got their head screwed on right, they can
go out there and win a whole lot. If they don't,
then you know, it's it's gonna be a quick one
and done.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But this is this is the CFP.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Everybody's got to play at their best, and they got
to play consistently at their best. And when they do that,
they're really good.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know. It's just a matter of whether or not
they can find that.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Consistency because they didn't show at the last month of
the season.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Mark, you're the best, buddy.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
It's great to hear from you again, and I know
you'll be all over it on Saturday. And hopefully we're
having a chance to talk with you next week about
a chance to go up to Dallas.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
That would be very very nice.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
There you go again, Mark passwaterzag Yell dot com part
of on three.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
We'll catch up with you soon, buddy, all right, see
you later.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Fellas
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