Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies: What the Stats Say

At long last, the Lone Star Showdown has finally returned to the gridiron.

On Saturday night, the Texas Longhorns will face the arch rival Texas A&M Aggies for the first time since 2011, renewing a feud that had been lost due to conference realignment. Despite the Aggies' loss to the Auburn Tigers in four overtimes last week, the winner of this game will go to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta to face the Georgia Bulldogs next week. With College Gameday in town for the occasion, it's shaping up to be an instant classic.

As always, let's look at the numbers to see who might have the edge.

Despite the Aggies' 8-3 record, they're surprisingly near the middle of the pack in most key stats. A&M boasts a strong run game that averages 208.4 yards per game (second in SEC), but is pretty pedestrian on offense otherwise. The Aggies average 417.1 total yards (ninth), 208.7 passing yards (13th) and 32.5 points (seventh) per game.

A&M lost star running back Le'Veon Moss a few weeks ago, but has managed well with 188 rushing yards per game since then. Texas will certainly need to be ready for A&M's strong ground game, even without Moss.

Defensively, much of the story remains the same. The Aggies allow an average of 356.1 total yards (11th), 227.7 passing yards (12th), 128.4 rushing yards (10th) and 21.5 points (11th) per game. Those aren't bad stats per se, just not anything exceptional.

On the contrary, the Longhorns' strengths are clear. Their defense is among the best in the country, leading the SEC in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed. The offense is no slouch either, though the status of starting quarterback Quinn Ewers hangs in the balance.

The Longhorns lead the all-time series 76-37-5. Last time these two teams met, Justin Tucker nailed a 40-yard field goal as time expired to give Texas a 27-25 victory.