No. 16 Texas is struggling on defense as it enters game vs. No. 3 Texas A&M with slim playoff hopes

The Longhorns will look to clean it up against a challenging opponent in the undefeated Aggies (11-0, 7-0). Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed has emerged as a late-season Heisman Trophy contender as he engineers and offense that can grind down opponents with a bullish run game or carve them up with speedy receivers KC Concepcion and Mario Craver.

The Aggies are chasing a berth in the SEC title game. The Longhorns need a win not for just state pride, but to keep alive any hope of making the College Football Playoff field for the third consecutive season.

“We're chasing, trying to make big plays,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday of his defense, noting several games worth of broken assignments that have led to big plays and touchdowns.

In last week's 52-37 win over Arkansas, the last-place team in the SEC, Texas allowed points on the Razorbacks' first four drives. The previous two games, it was fourth-quarter collapses as Vanderbilt and Georgia both scored 21 points in the final period.

The Commodores scored 21 points in a rally that ended after a failed onside kick in the final minute. Georgia scored 21 points to turn a close game into a blowout that put Texas’ playoff hopes on life support.

“It was a lot of veteran players who have played some high level football for us," Sarkisian said about some of the mistakes.

Senior safety Michael Taaffe, a preseason All-America selection, owned up to that.

“I'm definitely one of those guys,” Taaffe said. “Just do your job, nobody needs to be super human. A lot of times we hurt ourselves more than the offense hurts us.”

Reed and the Aggies have put plenty of hurt on opposing defenses. He recovered from a dismal first half against South Carolina to lead a second-half comeback for the ages as Texas A&M rallied from a 27-point halftime deficit to win 31-30.

Texas bottled up Reed last year when the Longhorns won 17-7 and didn't allow the Aggies an offensive touchdown. But Texas players know they face a better, more mature Reed on Friday. The Aggies rank third in the SEC in scoring nearly 39 points per game.

“(Reed) scrambles to pass. And when he’s scrambling you’ve (still) got to cover 8-10 seconds,” Taaffe said. “Their receivers are really explosive.”

Reed has been sacked just nine times this season. And Texas has struggled of late against a run of dual-threat quarterbacks. Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, Georgia's Gunner Stockton and Arkansas' Taylen Green all moved the ball well against Texas.

Taaffe said he got to know Reed when they made a commercial together for a hamburger restaurant chain.

“The quarterback at Texas A&M and the safety at Texas, you don’t really want them to be friends,” Taaffe said. "But it was really hard not to like him.”

Texas played last week without injured linebacker and leading tackler Anthony Hill Jr., an elite sideline-to-sideline defender who also has four sacks and two interceptions. His status to return from a hand injury was still unclear Monday.

Texas will play the first half Friday night without linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith, who drew a targeting penalty in the second half against Arkansas.

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