Finally, the Lone Star Showdown has finally returned to the playing field.

Saturday night, the Texas Longhorns will face arch-rival Texas A&M Aggies for the first time since 2011, renewing a feud lost in conference realignment. Despite the Aggies losing to the Auburn Tigers in four overtimes last week, the winner of this game will head to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta next week to face the Georgia Bulldogs. Now that College Gameday is in town for the occasion, it’s becoming an instant classic.

As always, let’s look at the numbers to see who has the edge.

Despite the Aggies’ 8-3 record, they are surprisingly in the middle of the pack in most key metrics. A&M boasts a strong run game with an average of 208.4 yards per game (second in SEC), but is otherwise quite pedestrian on offense. The Aggies are averaging 417.1 total yards (ninth), 208.7 passing yards (13th) and 32.5 points (seventh) per game.

A&M lost star Le’Veon Moss a few weeks ago, but has thrived since with 188 rushing yards per game. Texas will certainly have to be ready for A&M’s strong ground game, even without Moss.

Defensively, much of the story remains the same. The Aggies are allowing 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. These are not bad statistics in themselves, but nothing exceptional.

On the contrary, the Longhorns’ strengths are clear. Their defense is among the best in the nation and leads the SEC in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed. The offense is no slouch either, although starting quarterback Quinn Ewers’ status is on the line.

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

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