This week’s thoughts are going to be pretty short because the Ole Miss game was more of the same as we’ve seen all season. Even with Nick Starkel starting his first game of the year against a P5 team since UCLA it was much of the same. I will say that had Kellen Mond started the game we likely lose. Ole Miss committed to shut down the run and luckily Starkel was able to complete passes. If we don’t have a passing game then we lose that game without a doubt.
Before I get to my analysis the craziest thing about the game was the first 7 possessions by each team were mirror images. When Ole Miss scored A&M scored. When Ole Miss punted A&M punted. When Ole Miss turned the ball over A&M turned the ball over. Pretty crazy first 14 possessions for the game.
Now to my quick analysis of the game.
Offense:
We scored 31 points but only 21 of those were by the offense. All of those in the first half. The defense was responsible for 7 of those points and LaCamera was responsible for the other 3. Outside of responding to what Ole Miss was doing in the first half this offense didn’t do much at all. Every chance we had to really respond and take the lead or even start pulling away we didn’t do anything. It was completely frustrating seeing us get the ball with a chance to take the lead or pull away and couldn’t do anything.
I believe coming into this game Ole Miss was 125th against the run in the country. That’s out of 129 teams. That’s not good as they’ve given up around 5.5 yards every carry. What did A&M do to exploit that? Not a damn thing. A&M running backs rushed 38 times for 133 yards. That’s 3.5 yards per carry which isn’t terrible. Take away Keith Ford’s 43 yard run and we rushed 37 times for 90 yards. That’s 2.43 yards per carry. Against the 125th ranked run defense in the country that’s terrible. Three yards a carry less than their average. That’s maddening we couldn’t exploit that.
Even worse is Trayveon Williams carried the ball 26 times for 75 yards. That’s averaging 2.9 yards a carry but the worst part is his longest run was 6 yards. Trayveon got the ball 26 times and the longest run he could muster was 6 yards. 26 chances and his longest run was 6 yards. Trayveon’s longest run was what Ole Miss gives up on average every run coming into the game. Let that sink in. Trayveon is a home run hitting running back so that’s all on our offensive line. On 26 carries not once could they open up a hole big enough for Traveon to bust off a run longer than 6 yards. That’s terrible. It seems it was just basic running schemes off the left guard or right guard. It was great to see us commit to the run in the second half but it’s disconcerting that we couldn’t actually establish a running game against a TERRIBLE run defense.
I know our offensive line is terrible but it’s more frustrating that our offense can’t scheme any home run plays for two really good backs. Especially against a team that’s struggled against the run. We couldn’t really do anything in the running game other than what a high school team can do. I don’t get it. It appeared to be basic zone blocking and nothing more. I’m fine with zone blocking but when you can’t establish it against a terrible run defense you better have something else in your back pocket to try. We had nothing other than keep handing off and crossing the fingers hoping a big play happens.
We also still had issues with snaps. I don’t know how many there were but I believe I counted around 5 during the game. There was a crucial one being on the last drive where we were trying to punch it in to the end zone to put the game away. It completely stalled out a potential goal line score. Erik McCoy is our best offensive lineman by far but I have no clue why he can’t clean up his snaps. I don’t get it at all.
Starkel was 19 of 32 for 272 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. That’s less than 50% so he wasn’t exactly lighting it up but it was a solid enough performance. It was definitely good enough to win and I don’t think Mond would have done the same. We might have had a better running game with Mond but it wouldn’t have been dominating at all. Mond wouldn’t have been the difference in establishing a running game but just more likely he would have busted off a couple longer runs. I still think we lose with Mond though. Starkel helped us win that game but the defense in the second half was the reason we won the game. Not the offense.
From a receiving standpoint Damion Ratley had probably the best game of his career. He was outstanding catching 5 balls for 111 yards and a touchdown. He had two big catches on our first two offensive possessions when we had to respond to Ole Miss scores. He’s had his ups and downs this season but he’s been tremendous at times. Kirk had his normal productive game catching 5 balls for 77 yards. Jhamon Ausbon had probably his best game of the season catching 4 balls for 61 yards. Outside of those three there wasn’t much else in the passing game.
Let’s get to some nitpicking. There was an extremely frustrating moment in the first half. It looked like we were setting up a trick play or some kind of play to our tight end. We wind up false starting as the tight end streaked down the field before the snap. That’s completely a high school team move. We’re about to call a play with a wrinkle and our offense got ancy completely screwing it up. Similar to what happened in the Florida game. It just reeks of being unprepared and not disciplined.
From a coaching standpoint on offense Kevin Sumlin showed what appears to be continued complete unawareness of urgency. Ole Miss is lining up to kick a 28 yard field goal tied 21-21 with 28 seconds left in the half. The clock isn’t rolling because there was an incomplete pass so there’s no need to call a timeout by A&M. We call a timeout so I guess Sumlin thought he was icing the kicker. Um, you can’t ice a kicker on a 28 yard field goal. That’s 8 yards longer than an extra point. There’s no icing a 28 yard attempt. I’m not sure what Sumlin was thinking with that timeout. I really don’t. By the time the kick went through the uprights there was 24 seconds left in the half. That’s not a lot of time but you can move the ball with 24 seconds and two timeouts to set up a field goal and try to tie the game going in at half time. Those two timeouts would allow you to attack the middle of the field rather than just the sidelines.
What happens when Ole Miss kicks off? They kick the ball short to Trayveon and he bobbles it before taking off. Seems like a lack of focus or urgency by him but he actually got to the 32 yard line with 17 seconds left. Not a lot of time but decent position and you have one timeout. Go for the middle of the field, call the timeout, and go for a hail mary. What do we do? We run the ball. Trayveon runs to the sideline for a 2 yard gain stopping the clock. We then rush it up the middle for 6 yards and let time expire. I don’t get it. If you have no intention of calling the timeout you have why not kneel it?
If you don’t want to take a chance on a pass why not call the timeout and run the ball again on a draw or screen in case you happen to break a long run? It’s not likely but if you’re going to try and run twice why not try a third time? It’s just mind boggling what Sumlin is thinking in those situations. He doesn’t have ANY sense of urgency or awareness. I’d been fine if he just kneeled it. Why expose your running back to two additional hits along with your other players if you have no interest in scoring? I just don’t get Sumlin’s end of the half play and clock management. I don’t think he honestly knows either.
Another situation was at the end of the game we’re up by 4 with 2 minutes left on the 1 yard line. It’s 4th down and Sumlin decides to kick the field goal. It’s a chip shot which would put us up by 7 but we now have to kick off to Ole Miss with a little less than 2 minutes left. Ole Miss has no timeouts left and would have to score a touchdown. Sumlin decided rather than attempt a 4th and goal from the 1 yard line he’d rather go up by 7 and kick off to Ole Miss. If we score the game is over. No way Ole Miss can score 11 points with less than 2 minutes and no timeouts. If we don’t make it then Ole Miss has to drive 99 yards for a touchdown with 2 minutes and no timeouts because a field goal won’t be enough. I would think a head coach would know the probabilities of a team scoring from a kickoff in under 2 minutes or driving 99 yards in 2 minutes. I can’t help but think driving the 99 yards with 2 minutes and no timeouts to be much less likely.
To make matters worse I think our kickoff specialist who can kick it out of the back of the end zone was hurt as LaCamera was handling kick offs. LaCamera is a great field goal kicker but doesn’t have Braden Mann’s leg on kick offs. We don’t even have our best kick off guy which would seems more reason to go for the touchdown to put it away or set up a 99 yard drive.
LaCamera kicks off to their 15 and they return it to their 34 yard line so they’re set up pretty well. Ole Miss has three incompletes which ended their series before it could ever get going so we wound up just fine. Sumlin’s decision there just reeks of a coach not confident in his offense and not knowing the likely percentages of a team scoring with 2 minutes and no timeouts either having to go 99 yards or receiving a kickoff that’s returnable. It turned out fine but I would love to know if Sumlin knows the related probabilities in those two scenarios. I would think a coach would have some clue. Maybe Sumlin knows the probabilities and that was the basis for his decision but I highly doubt it.
He just seems to have ZERO sense of urgency or awareness for what’s going on for all facets of the game when it comes to making decisions. It appears he just decides in a vacuum of actual football probabilities and awareness for his team.
Defense:
We’ll talk about the first half briefly. We all saw what happened. It’s confusing how we gave up over 300 yards in the first half but only 66 in the second half. It’s tremendous we did it because it saved the game for A&M but the difference in the halves is amazing. From my standpoint there was no sense of urgency coming out to play the first half. There were TONS of missed tackles it seemed. There was no swarming to the ball and the defense just seemed to be going through the motions. Ole Miss wasn’t known as a running team coming into the game but they ran all over us in the first half. Defending the run with our front 6 has been a strength of this team for most of the season. It was terrible for a half against a team not known for running the ball. I didn’t understand it as it was happening and still don’t for the most part.
The second half was completely different as our defense shut down the Ole Miss offense. They held Ole Miss scoreless and only allowed 66 yards in the second half for their 8 possessions. That’s domination. Amazing adjustments by Chavis at half so the defense deserves major credit for the win. Without them stepping up in the second half we lose that game. I don’t even really know what else to write because it’s so dysfunctional where the same players can get rolled in the first half and then dominate the second. You got me but credit to the Aggie defense for stepping up when it mattered most.
And of course the key play of the second half was the pick six by Derrick Tucker. That was the only time the Aggies saw the end zone in the second half because our offense stunk it up in the second half. Just an uncanny game with two completely different halves of football. You got me.
Special Teams:
More of the same here where lots of inconsistency from various units but there was one star and that was Shane Tripucka. He punted 8 times for 368 yards which is a 46 yard average. Most importantly he pinned 5 of those kicks inside the 20 yard line. I thought he was outstanding all night.
Other than Tripucka nobody really stood out to me from a special teams standpoint.
Going Forward:
I don’t think this game changes anything with Sumlin. Even if he beats LSU I think he’s gone. I don’t think he’ll beat LSU though as if Ole Miss can shut down our offense for a half then LSU can shut us down the whole game. I think LSU has enough talent on offense to score more points than our offense will score. At 7-5 Sumlin will be done with no question.
Even with a win over LSU I don’t think Sumlin survives 8-4 because I think the relationship of Sumlin and A&M is done. I think both parties will agree to move on. With UCLA opening up I wouldn’t be shocked to see Sumlin take that job. It seems to suit him a lot more. Bright lights and not the same sense of urgency A&M has to win it all. Sumlin can survive a LONG time winning 8 and 9 wins a season at UCLA. I think he’ll go there and we’ll be off the hook for a good portion of his buyout.
As for Sumlin’s replacement I’m now all in on Jimbo Fisher. He’s kind of a jerk but he can flat out coach. It won’t be cheap but he’ll do better than Sumlin and there’s a good chance he’ll make A&M the second best team in the SEC West. Plus, it’s a major shot that Texas A&M is serious about winning big time college football. Attracting Jimbo Fisher IMMEDIATELY changes the perception of Texas A&M from a national standpoint. It’ll prove that A&M is interested in being more than the sleepy college football program that perpetually underachieves relative to its resources. It’s a hire that says Texas A&M is now a Top 10 job in the country like it should be. Maybe Fisher won’t be successful but his track record says otherwise.
If we don’t get Fisher then I say give Chad Morris a chance assuming he keeps John Chavis and his defensive staff. Either way we have to act quickly with an early signing period this year.
R.C. Would Have Gone For 2 