Keys to Victory For Texas A&M Aggies vs. USC Trojans in Las Vegas Bowl

The Aggies and Trojans face off against each other for the first time in nearly 40 years on the gridiron tomorrow night.

Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed (10) runs the ball as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Auburn Tigers lead Texas A&M Aggies 21-7 at halftime. / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies will be spending their holiday season rolling the dice against the USC Trojans in the SRS Distributions Las Vegas Bowl tomorrow night inside Allegiant Stadium.

The Aggies finished 8-4 (5-3 SEC) after starting the season 7-1. A season opening loss against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish led to a seven-game winning streak which in turn led to three losses in the Aggies' last four games, with the losses all coming against SEC opponents.

The Trojans, on the other hand, started their season on a high note and also in Las Vegas, defeating the LSU Tigers via a touchdown with eight seconds remaining. After winning three of their first four, a three-game losing streak led to a midseason quarterback change and an eventual finish of 6-6.

As the two teams square off for the fourth time ever and first since 1977, here are three keys to victory for Mike Elko's squad in Sin City.

Contain Jayden Maiava

In the short time Maiava has held the reigns for at quarterback for Lincoln Riley, he led the team to wins over Nebraska and rival UCLA, and he did so while scoring four touchdowns on the ground, including a pair of rushing scores in the season finale loss to Notre Dame.

Fortunately, the rushing scores have mainly just come down in the red zone, so the Aggies shouldn't expect a Lamar Jackson-esque performance from the signal caller, unless Lincoln Riley has some tricks up his sleeve.

Halt The Run Game

The Aggie run defense started out somewhat loose in their first two games of the season against Notre Dame and McNeese, allowing nearly 200 yards on the ground per game to start out. Thankfully, they got it together during the winning streak, but seemed pretty lax against South Carolina, Auburn, and Texas.

And it won't get any easier against the Trojans, who possess a 1,000-yard rusher in Woody Marks, who just so happened to be the hero that scored the game-winning touchdown against LSU in Vegas to start the season.

The story remains the same: stop the run, win the game.

Time To Step Up (Especially on Defense)

With playmakers like Nic Scourton, Shemar Turner, and Shemar Stewart all opting out of the bowl game due to declaring for the NFL Draft, the Aggies are without three of their top defensive players. This gives other guys like Rylan Kennedy a chance to really prove themselves worthy of a starting position and for other players such as Taurean York and Marcus Ratcliffe to be the leaders they have been for the Aggies throughout the season now that the trio of defensive superstars will not be on the field for Mike Elko in Las Vegas.

The Aggies and Trojans kick off at 9:30 p.m. tomorrow night from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

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