Aggies vs. UMass Week 12: Defensive Players to Watch
After seven consecutive SEC games, the Aggies are treated to another non-conference matchup, and one that before the season started would've been considered to be a walk in the park.
Texas A&M will host the UMass Minutemen at Kyle Field on Nov. 19 at 11 a.m. As the Aggies are struggling to find footing themselves, a matchup with another struggling team could help boost some confidence for A&M.
UMass finished last season with a disappointing 1-11 record and has a new coach in Don Brown, who enters his first season with an FBS program, and his second stint with the Minutemen. But UMass has only been able to manage a 1-9 record in 2022.
The addition of Brown should've made the defense immediately better with his intricate, high-pressure schemes, but it hasn't happened.
And it's a defense that needs all the help it can get.
The Minutemen are scoring just 14 points per game while allowing almost 31 with 30.9 allowed per contest this season.
Stick with AllAggies.com as we preview the matchup between UMass and Texas A&M throughout the week.
DE Marcus Bradley
Bradley, a Vanderbilt transfer, will have to live up to the hype of his four-star status as he makes the move to UMass if the Minutemen stand any chance in 2022.
He's big and athletic and should be a budding star in Hadley on the new defense. New blitz-heavy packages should help Bradley and a defensive line that registered the second-fewest sacks in the nation a season ago.
Bradley has 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2022.
NT Cletus Mathurin
The 6-1, 305-pound Mathurin enters his junior season and is one of five returning starters from last year. If the Minutemen are to see real improvement over last season, Mathurin and the rest of the defensive line will need to be better. And that should be helped along by Brown and his defense-first mindset.
Mathurin has 20 tackles with 2.5 for loss this season.
CB Josh Wallace
Another returning defensive starter, Wallace registered 53 tackles last season, including 32 solo. He also contributed 11 passes defended from the cornerback position. Brown's new aggressive defensive schemes should help the secondary come up with more turnovers for a squad that had only 11 turnovers all season.
Wallace has amassed 36 tackles and two interceptions in 2022.
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