Texas A&M loses OL Blake Ivy for season after offense stalls at Missouri

Texas A&M has lost offensive lineman Blake Ivy for the rest of the season, the latest setback for a Texas A&M team that sits at 3-3 and has dropped three of its four Southeastern Conference games.

Roundtable Sports reported that Ivy was hurt in practice last week. He played in all five games before the trip to Missouri. He started the first three, then moved into a rotation on a line that has had trouble protecting quarterback Marcel Reed and has not produced a steady running game. Pro Football Focus has Ivy at 209 offensive snaps with a 65.4 overall grade, made up of a 71.9 run-blocking grade and a 56.5 pass-blocking grade, the outlet noted. Those numbers don't make him a star. But he had starting experience and could play more than one spot, and the Aggies needed that depth as they kept looking for a five-man group that works.

Saturday's game at No. 14 Missouri showed how big the problem has become. Texas A&M finished with 146 yards of total offense and only 20 of those came on the ground. Reed went 16 of 32 for 126 yards. The Aggies did not score a touchdown, and kicker David Olano's field goals from 53 and 27 yards were their only points.

Roundtable Sports wrote that Mike Elko and his staff have changed the offensive front several times, trying to open running lanes and give Reed time to throw. Lamont Rogers has been a bright spot since taking over at right tackle, but the unit as a whole has not improved. Losing Ivy leaves the staff fewer players to work with.

Elko was blunt after the loss. "We are in a really bad spot right now, but we are going to work our way out of it," he said, according to Roundtable Sports.

The schedule gives the Aggies a short break before it gets harder. Texas A&M is back at Kyle Field on Oct. 17 against The Citadel, an FCS opponent. The staff can use that game to try out new line combinations and look for some rhythm in the run game. After that comes a road trip to Alabama, and the Aggies will face the Crimson Tide's defensive front without Ivy. If the line can't hold up there, the Citadel game will have done little to repair this offense.

The Aggies began the season with much higher expectations for their offense. Now 1-3 in league play, they have little margin left in the SEC race. Injuries are part of the story, but this offense was already sputtering before Ivy got hurt.

Missouri moved to 5-1 with the win and gets a tougher test next week at Ole Miss. On Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, Ole Miss is favored at -194. The spread is Ole Miss -5.5 and the total is 59.5. FanDuel's best price on the Rebels is -200. Full prices for that game are on our Missouri at Ole Miss page.