We beat Bama.

Say it again – We.  Beat.  Bama.

One more time – WE.  BEAT.  BAMA!!!

Damn that feels good.  Before I go any further let me say this – That was an AWESOME win but it wasn’t a program defining win.  Not even close.  That was a win over the best team in the country and one step closer to getting on their level.  We still have two losses and don’t even control our own destiny in our division.  Program defining wins are the kind that launch you to a level of success you’ve never experienced before.  We did this 9 years ago.  This was not a program defining win.

Right now, this team is still behind the 2020 team.  Scary to think but it’s true.

Enjoy the win but let’s not get carried away on what it means for Aggie football.  As Jimbo said – We ain’t done yet.  Not even close.  We still need to get to a point where we control our own destiny for a national title.

I knew this win was possible.  However, I didn’t think it would happen after what I saw the last two weeks.  I’ve been consistent in saying this team is more talented than last season but lacking on experience.  I believed the lack of experience would continue to show against Bama. 

I’ve never been happier to be wrong.  The talent on this team showed up and showed out.  This team went toe to toe with the best team country simply because it had the talent.  It wasn’t even mistake free football.  They simply just executed for most of the night and had the talent to go toe to toe.  We swung first, they swung back, and when it mattered most we delivered the divisive blow.

The most impressive part of this game was we gave up 21 unanswered points late in the game to go down by a touchdown.  Bama was starting to exert their will and it sure felt like they were going to get the victory.  However, this Aggie team didn’t quit.  They kept swinging back.  We put together a solid drive to tie the game and then the Aggie defense made an amazing stand.  Even with that I thought we were headed to overtime.

The Aggie team had a few more punches and drove down into field goal range where Seth Small delivered the final blow as time expired.  The fans and stands exploded.

It’s one thing to go up on Alabama and hold a lead.  It’s something completely different to blow a lead only to claw back and take the lead at the last possible moment.  That takes grit and determination.  For 60 minutes against the best team in the country the Aggies not only never gave up but had enough confidence they could win.  We executed late like we did because of confidence.  It was an outstanding effort.

I’ve been to a lot of games at Kyle Field and that was an outstanding environment.  It’s going to sway some recruits without a doubt.  It showcased what Kyle can be and what this program is capable of.  While I’m not going to call this a program defining win it certainly was a program building boost.

After the last two games it sure seemed like something we’ve seen before.  We’ve routinely experienced a disappointing season after a good season and struggle to hold recruits.  2021 will likely turn out be a level of disappointment but we still might be able to salvage a good portion of this season.  While we don’t control our own destiny in the SEC West we can still be the third best team in the SEC and finish in the Top 10.  That’s a damn good season by most standards.

We beat Bama.

Let’s get to the game itself.

Offense:

Coaching:

I’ve been hard on Jimbo for not trying to win games we weren’t quite ready to win.  That’s how I felt about this game.  I knew we had the talent to win but I didn’t think we had the experience.  I thought Jimbo would lay up yet again.  Jimbo decided he wasn’t going to let experience get in the way of trying to win.

His play calling was tremendous.  It felt like we went a little stale in the second half but I feel that was a little more on execution than play calling.  Bama decided to sell out on the run and Calzada went cold for a little bit.  He missed on some passes and we just couldn’t get any momentum going.  Meanwhile when it mattered most we didn’t back down and went back on the attack.

I’m totally okay with the play calling as it’s hard to call a complete game.  Great staffs make adjustments and you have to adjust back.  When it mattered most we had the play calls and execution.

Statistically Bama won this game.  They won time of possession and outgained us by 150 yards.  What mattered most though was the score and we got that.  Jimbo and his staff deserve some MAJOR credit.  They called a game for a team short on experience but with enough talent to beat the best team in the country.  Just win, baby.  That’s exactly what we did.  Kudos to the coaching staff.

Quarterback:

Is it okay if I eat my crow with BBQ sauce?  I think BBQ sauce makes everything better.

Zach Calzada showed everyone why he was a four-star recruit and a ton of schools wanted him.  He showed why Jimbo Fisher said over the summer he’s got an NFL career ahead of him.  He proved every doubter wrong and I couldn’t be happier for him.

4^th quarter Colorado game Zach Calzada showed up for three quarters.  The dude came out throwing perfect passes.  The line certainly gave him time but he was confident the whole game.  He knew the game plan and executed it wonderfully.

He made one mistake on the interception in the first half and was a little off in the third quarter.  When it mattered most in the 4^th quarter he hit the passes he needed to.  It also helped that his receivers didn’t have any crucial drops.

I don’t know what the future holds for Zach Calzada but you sure hope this is the game that he can build on.  He certainly appears to have taken a major step.  I’m really hoping this is a Kellen Mond moment over Florida in 2020.  The other is a Trevor Knight leading OU over Bama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl and he ends up playing somewhere else.  That path is up to him because he’s got the keys to the kingdom right now.

For one night he showed everyone what he’s capable of.  I hope there’s more where that came from.

Running Backs:

I assumed coming into this game Bama would focus on shutting down our run.  They did.  Even despite that we had enough success on the ground.  Spiller had a pretty pedestrian 16 carries for 46 yards but his running helped set the tone early on and forced Bama into defending us a certain way.  His touchdown run was outstanding.  Because of Spiller’s efforts the Bama defense couldn’t quit focusing on the run which I think helped our middle receivers get open against their safeties.  Their safeties had to defend the run and the pass.

What these guys do through the air is outstanding.  Spiller and Achane are outstanding receivers either running a flare out or down the sidelines.  Achane and Spiller were a perfect 7 for 7 on targets for 87 yards.  These guys have a real knack for moving the chains and keeping the defense honest because there’s another element that must be defended.

In addition they’re also outstanding blockers when the blitz is coming.

Can’t say enough about these guys.

Offensive Line:

If I’m not mistaken this was the sixth combination of players we’ve used on the offensive line this season.  This was game six.  Six games and six different combinations.  Usually that’s not good.  It didn’t matter as this unit showed up in a big way.  These guys were outstanding.  Just flipping outstanding.

They created holes for the running backs in the first half and kept Calzada clean all night long.  They went up against NFL caliber defensive linemen and linebackers and imposed their will at times.  They seemed to get a bit stalemated in the second half but Bama was selling out for to the run.  They held their own all night long against one of the best defenses in the country.

They did an excellent job picking up the blitz which they’ve struggled with this season.  They seem to be figuring out playing with one another.

Just in case you don’t know their names and positions here they are:

Kenyon Green – Left Tackle
Blake Trainor – Left Guard
Bryce Foster – Center
Layden Robinson – Right Guard
Reuben Fatheree, Jr. – Right Tackle

What a game for those five guys.

I don’t now what combination we go back to once Jhamir Johnson is back from his suspension.  At this point I’d roll with these guys.  The five of these guys earned it so let’s just keep rolling with them.  You’re not supposed to lose your job over an injury but I have no problem losing your job to a suspension.  Blake Trainor deserves to stay in the starting lineup.

I would make one switch in moving Fatheree to left tackle and Kenyon Green back to right tackle.  I think Fatheree is a better pass blocker at left tackle and Green the better blocking tackle.  Having Green and Layden Robinson on the same side seems like a great way to open holes for the running backs.  I get paid zero dollars for this blog and Jimbo gets $9 million so I suppose we can defer to him.

Either way, kudos to the five guys on the offensive line on Saturday night.  They went toe to toe against Bama and imposed their will at times.  It was an impressive effort and I hope they can keep it up.

Wide Receivers:

I thought the receivers were outstanding on Saturday night.  Not dominant by any stretch but they were solid.  Ainias Smith lead the way followed by Jalen Wydermyer.  Smith caught 6 balls for 85 yards and two scores.  Wydermyer caught 3 balls for 73 yards and one score.  Calzada actually missed each of these guys for what could have been another touchdown.

On our first possession of the fourth quarter Calzada was forced out of the pocket.  As he was rolling right he spotted Smith who had burned the secondary.  Calzada let a bomb fly and missed Smith by a foot or two.  It was an unbelievably tough pass but had they connected it might have put the game away.  We wound up punting on that possession.

On our last offensive possession Bama sold out for the blitz to try and get us out of field goal range.  Jimbo smartly knew it was coming and sent Wydermyer down the field.  Wydermyer slipped by the defender but Calzada couldn’t get enough on the ball in the face of the blitz for Wydermyer to go get it and score.  We got a pass interference so the result was fine but if Calzada could have connected on that pass it could have been a 7-point win rather than a last second field goal.

I’m not blaming Calzada for that.  I’m just pointing out Smith and Wydermyer had two possible touchdowns we just couldn’t quite connect on due to pressure in the backfield from Bama.  We were close to blowing that game open.

I’ve talked about the running backs as key receivers as well.  They are key contributors to this receiving unit.

As for the rest of the receivers Demas, Preston, and Lane caught five balls.  I’m fine with them not doing more.  Bama has an outstanding secondary.  Jimbo decided to attack it with his two best guys just running down the field.  It was a smart move.  Let the guys that have produced in the past carry the receiving load.  Let other guys essentially be decoys that Bama had to cover.

One thing I’ve also noticed with Calzada as it relates to the receivers is he’s much better throwing balls down the field.  It forces him to put touch on the ball rather than gunning fastballs on a crossing or stop route.  I’ll be curious to see if Jimbo and the receivers figure out a way to run more routes down the field since that’s what Calzada seems to do best.

Great job by this whole unit.

Defense:

Coaching:

Just when I was totally down on Mike Elko for his decisions against Mississippi State he totally went and redeemed himself against the best team in the country.  I’m still a little frustrated though.  If he calls the game he did against Bama against Mississippi State we have one loss and control our destiny to the national championship.  We’re that close.

Maybe he needed the Mississippi State game to wake himself up.  Whatever it was it worked.

I know lots of people still think of Bama as a dominant defense with an evolved offense.  It’s actually the other way around.  Bama is now a dominant offense with an evolved defense.  Don’t get me wrong as they’re still loaded with NFL guys on defense but this whole team has evolved.  For the last few years Bama has had one of the best offenses in the country.

This current version of the Bama offense is loaded with elite receiver speed and an outstanding quarterback.  Of course they still have an outstanding offensive and running game.  I really feel this Bama offense is the best in the country.  I do think they’re still feeling their way a bit and I think we got them at a great time.  This offense is going to torch a lot of teams the rest of this season.

The receivers were turning passes at the line of scrimmage into 4-8 yard gains because they’re so fast.  It’s basically a long hand off.  They are excellent at blocking, catching, and running.  They don’t have the names at receiver they had last season but these guys are still damn good.  It’s probably the best wide receiver unit in the country.  Saban’s just re-loading at receiver these days.

What Mike Elko did to Bryce Young (Bama QB) was the difference in the game.  We got to Young early and that changed the complexion of the game.  He was never truly settled and ready to let the ball fly.  Because of that he forced some passes he couldn’t quite connect on. 

The Bama offense finally synced up and came charging back scoring 21 unanswered points.  As part of that the Aggie defense did an outstanding job converting two 1^st and goals to field goals.  That was part of the difference in the game.  That’s a potential 8-point swing if those two possessions result in touchdowns over field goals.

There’s some armchair quarterbacking over if Bama should have run more in those situations but the Aggie defense has been good at stopping short yardage plays.  We did it against Colorado, Arkansas, and even Mississippi State.  I know they’re Bama but I agree with what Bama was trying to do.  They had superior matchups outside but the players just didn’t execute.  It worked on their last touchdown where we didn’t get lined up correctly.  We were clearly focused on the inside.

It’s fun and easy to make fun of Bill O’Brien who’s the former Texans head coach and now Bama offensive coordinator.  I don’t have an issue with his play calling in those situations.  I think he learned in the Florida game to keep his foot down on the gas and it almost worked.

Either way I thought Mike Elko had an amazing game plan despite the points we gave up.  In the end we made the stop we had to and our offense did enough to get the win as time expired.  I have no idea what happens if that game goes to overtime but I’m glad we didn’t find out.  Take the win and storm the field with the $100,000 fine.

By the way – I’m back on paying Mike Elko $5 million a season to stay and coach our defense.  We all make mistakes from time to time…

Defensive Line:

As expected, these guys were the heart and soul of the defense.  Tyree Johnson had a breakout game recording two sacks and being in the backfield pretty much all night long.  Michael Clemons was his usual self on the outside tying up the Bama tackles and getting a sack.  Demarvin Leal spent most of his night lined up inside just wreaking havoc.  Jayden Peevy was solid lined up next to Leal most of the night.  McKinnley Jackson and Isaiah Raikes did a good job rotating in an out.

I know we gave up 38 points but this unit set the tone for the whole night letting Bryce Young know he couldn’t get comfortable.  They also dictated to Bill O’Brien Bama was going to battle for running yards and weren’t going to have time to go deep.

Alabama won’t face a better defensive line until they play Georgia.  This unit is elite SEC caliber.  Jimbo and his assistants have just done an outstanding job recruiting and developing SEC caliber defensive linemen.

Without these guys we’re not knocking on the door of being able to challenge Alabama every season.  Elite SEC teams win in the trenches.  These guys are a major reason why we’re able to do so.

Linebackers:

Our linebackers are still the weakest link of this defense but they’re not bad.  They’re simply out of position from time to time.  I wouldn’t say we truly miss Buddy Johnson but I do think this defense would be much improved with him in the middle.

The good thing about our linebackers is they’re physically talented.  They’re not getting beat physically.  They’re just not in the correct position at times due to not diagnosing the play properly.

They did fine on Saturday night considering who they are.  They missed a few assignments here and there which really allowed Bama to roll up some yards on the ground.

However, they were REALLY solid on pass pressure and helped change the complexion of the game in that regard.  This is their strength because our defensive line is so good at consuming the offensive line.  These guys get to benefit from one of the best defensive lines in the SEC getting turned loose to chase the quarterback.

I hold out hope they continue to develop overall but I think Elko learned a valuable lesson in the Mississippi State game.  These guys are best when they’re allowed to be disruptive.  They’re going to make mistakes from time to time but it’s also best if Elko puts them in a position to be disruptive.  Even just the threat of being disruptive helps this unit in a big way.

Hopefully we continue to see these guys inched up on the line of scrimmage as it’s their best element.

Secondary:

These guys are the second-best unit on the defense and it showed on Saturday night.  They gave up 369 yards of receiving but they didn’t break.  Bama had two completions over 30 yards on Saturday night.  If you remember Bama games in the past couple of years they’d have a couple long touchdown passes over 50 yards.  That didn’t happen on Saturday night.  Most of that was thanks to the guys up front but this secondary played bend but don’t break defense remarkably well.

They did a really solid job of harassing the Bama receivers all night long which lead to some timely incompletions.  You’re not going to shut down the Bama receivers so at minimum they need to know they’re going to work for completions and there’s going to be contact when they catch the ball.

Individually I thought Jaylon Jones looked good.  He’s by far our best cover corner.  He’s physical enough though to make receivers work for completions.

Antonio Johnson looked great.  Demani Richardson had one of the plays of the game with his interception in the end zone.  That interception was all him.  He was in great position to defend the receiver but most importantly he recognized the route and was able to cut underneath to make a play on the ball.  That’s being prepared.

I don’t know if Leon O’Neal played the best game of his life but it was up there.  I don’t recall him making any major mistakes.  He did an outstanding job tackling all night and blitzed beautifully sacking Bryce Young once.  He was also in a great spot to pick up the ball on a 3^rd and 1 when Bama’s running back didn’t get the hand off.  He seemed to have himself in the right spot all night long and executed well.  This guy has really matured and I’m very proud of him.

This unit is going to make mistakes from time to time and give up plays.  They’re also a unit that’s going to make big plays.  I think Elko also learned from the Mississippi State game this unit is better off attempting to make some plays here and there.  These guys can play football.  It’s okay to take some chances rather than sit on our heels.

Special Teams:

Fortunately and unfortunately I have to write about special teams.

The Punt Block:

This was 100% on coaching.  We completely screwed up because we gave this to Bama.  I haven’t been paying attention all season but in this game we used two “personal protectors.”  Those are the guys lined up between the line and punter.  They’re supposed to be a secondary/last line of defense for the punter.  I’ve seen most teams use three guys but we used two on Saturday night.  I don’t know if that’s how we’ve been doing it all year but Bama created an opportunity because of it.

Bama set this up in classic Nick Saban fashion.  On the previous punt they overloaded one side but didn’t send everyone.  They were just checking numbers.  On the next punt they overloaded the same side.  When A&M didn’t react like the previous punt they sent everyone and overwhelmed the “personal protectors.”  Nice job by Saban and his crew but a TERRIBLE job by Jimbo and his crew.  Someone should have noticed it on the previous punt and reacted accordingly.

That could have been in a HUGE momentum swing but it wasn’t because…

The Kickoff Return:

I personally think this was the play of the game.  Bama had just swung some momentum their way.  They were still down a touchdown but the Aggie offense was not doing much.  That punt block sure felt like one of those plays where the momentum was about to swing big time.  Some people believe a blocked punt is the most demoralizing play in football.  I don’t know if I’d say that but it’s up there.

However, Devon Achane made that play moot for the most part.  He hadn’t returned a kick all night long but the ensuing kick off fell a little short of the goal line so he decided to take it.  He caught it in stride, took a few more strides, saw a hole, hit the hole, and was gone.  It was beautiful.

The dude is so damn fast.  25 yards after the catch he still had some traffic to get out of but everyone in the stadium knew he was gone.  Nobody could catch him.  This is Alabama who’s special teams players can start at pretty much every program in the country.  They have plenty of speed.

The don’t have Devon Achane speed though.  Before he got to midfield this dude had run away from the Bama kick off team.  All he did was field the ball cleanly and head up field.  It’s not like he did a bunch of cuts and jukes to suck everyone in.  He simply ran straight and before midfield he cleared everyone coasting the last 10 yards into the end zone.  He’s so fast he let up the last 10 yards because nobody could catch him.  That’s unreal.

He’s got really great vision which helps a ton but damn the dude can fly.  He’s a true homerun threat.  Having to defend guys like Devon Achane is demoralizing because sometimes you just can’t do it.

Looking Forward:

Is this the Florida game from last season?  Do the Aggies rip off 7 straight wins and finish in the Top 10?  I have no idea but it sure feels like it.  The Aggies that played on Saturday night can beat every team left on their schedule.  That’s pretty obvious considering Bama is the best team in the country.  That doesn’t mean it’ll happen though.

We need to see if this offensive line and quarterback that showed up for 3 quarters can do the same the rest of the way.  I think they can.  I think we’re going to see a lot of what we saw after the Florida game last year.  Establish the run and hit some passes from time to time.  I think that will do wonders for Calzada or King if/when he comes back.  I’m not talking about a quarterback controversy.  Just acknowledging King may still come back this season as no one seems to really know. 

It was originally expected Kind would be out 4-6 weeks but Jimbo mentioned before the game he may not be back this season.  At this point I hope it doesn’t matter.  We can win 7 in a row no matter who’s under center.

We have two of the best running backs in the country and they need to be the focus of this offense.  I think Jimbo will go back to this without question.  Especially if we can get some consistency in who’s playing on the offensive line.

We need to get through Missouri and South Carolina first before worrying about November.  Strangely Auburn worries me more than Ole Miss or LSU right now.  That’s not to say Ole Miss or LSU will be easy games but I think we match up with those teams really well right now.

I do think we’re going to look back at the Mississippi State game and wonder what could have been.  Oh well.  Welcome to Aggie Football.  Give me 11 wins and a Top 10 finish so we can focus on next year.  There’s always next year…

We.  Beat.  Bama.

In other news I have a batch of Make Aggie Football Great Again hats in stock.  They’re $25 including shipping.  I believe this is going to be the last batch.  I truly think we’re going 7-0 with a Top 10 finish.  When that happens there we won’t be any need or hope to Make Aggie Football Great Again.  Jimbo will have us on solid footing and we’ll be where we need to be.  We’ll remember 2020 and 2021 as the early foundation of a great run in Aggie Football.

If you want one shoot me an email at chewyredding@yahoo.com.

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I’d like to congratulate Jimbo Fisher on his first “Kevin Sumlin Loss” where he completely botched a win into a loss.  There was no reason to lose to Mississippi State at Kyle Field on Saturday night.  In my last piece I analyzed Jimbo’s losses in his time at A&M.  Prior to this game I really felt the 2019 Auburn loss and the 2021 Arkansas loss were the only two losses that were solely on coaching.  I am okay with those losses to a degree because Gus Malzahn is a gambler and Sam Pittman and Arkansas simply wanted that game more than the Aggies and staff.  Jimbo has done a really good job winning the games he should have.

Mississippi State was COMPLETELY different.  Mike Leach has Mississippi State in a decent place but they’re still a long way behind where Texas A&M is right now.  Jimbo wasn’t prepared for what Mississippi State could do.  We trailed pretty much the whole game.  Jimbo and his staff couldn’t figure out how to get the lead so we basically played from behind the whole game.  That hasn’t been a good recipe so far this season.

Jimbo thought he could come out and grind Mississippi State into the ground and sneak out with a win.  There was a point I thought it was going to happen.  Kyle Field was ABSOLUTELY rocking and the team couldn’t take advantage.  The atmosphere was electric so you certainly can’t blame it on the fans.

In the end Jimbo couldn’t pull off another one of his patented wins where we sneak it out by the smallest of margins.  In this business all that matters is wins and losses.  We’ve lost some games we could have won.  That hurts.

I think the biggest issue is A&M can’t build a lead and do what Jimbo wants to do.  Jimbo isn’t doing well playing from behind.  Sure, he’s got a quarterback who has deer in the headlights but great coaches figure out a way to get these wins.  Jimbo keeps hoping his offense will break a big score and his defense will hold.  It did almost happen on Saturday night but almost doesn’t count.  We lost.  We didn’t run out of time.  We lost.

In my mind we lost the worst game of Jimbo’s career.  A very winnable game at Kyle Field we figured out how to lose.  That’s what Kevin Sumlin did here.  I’m not saying Jimbo is Kevin Sumlin but every good coach figures out a way to win the winnable games at Kyle Field.  Those should be gimme games in a very tough SEC West.  You must have those wins.  Kyle Field against less talented opponents has to mean something.  You can’t give those games away.  That’s what Jimbo did on Saturday night and he’s put a disappointing season further down the rails.

I have no idea if this is a trend we need to be worried about or Jimbo and his crew are going to get it corrected.  It’s all certainly fixable.  We just have to wait and see.

Let’s get to a quick analysis for the play on the field.

Offense:

Quarterback:

I’ll start with the most obvious issue.  I hate to bag on a college kid but the fact is Calzada is in his 3^rd season at A&M.  I get he’s the backup but even capable backups progress when they finally get snaps.  They may have a little rust but that gets knocked off quickly and they start progressing.

That’s not happening with Calzada at all.  I had some hope coming out of the Colorado game that 4^th quarter Calzada would be what we’d get going forward.  8 quarters into SEC play and 4^th quarter Colorado Calzada is nowhere to be found.  Nowhere at all.

The moment looks to big for him and he’s wildly erratic.  Something that struck me in this game were his slides.  On a couple scrambles he slid WAY before any contact and basically gave up getting any yards.  He was clearly shying away from contact.

There’s a theory Jimbo told him to do that to make sure he didn’t get hurt.  We don’t have a backup.  If true Jimbo should be fired.  I get being cautious but if Jimbo told him to make sure he doesn’t get hurt it’s the stupidest thing ever.  You have a quarterback who is obviously unsure of himself and you just introduced another element to his brain in avoiding injury.

I have no idea why he slid like he did.  All I know is his slides are further proof this is a kid that’s really uncertain of what he needs to be doing on the field.  If he’s completing passes and doing those slides that’s fine but he’s not.  He’s all over the place on the field.  He’s got the physical talent but maybe the mental football ability is just not there.

A couple of other things as we see more of Calzada.  It’s clear there was never a quarterback competition between King and Calzada.  If there was we’re in bigger trouble than we think.  I said in my pre-season blog King was the obvious choice for the starting position based on Jimbo’s actions last season.  Think about this – In our second game of the season against the best team in the country a true freshman took the second team snaps over the guy who is supposed to be just as talented with an extra season on the team.  For the rest of the season that true freshman continued getting the second team snaps over the kid with one more season under his belt. 

At this point I think that says more about Calzada than King.  Calzada just isn’t developing to his talent.  He’s had more opportunity to grab the starting job from King but it’s clear he hasn’t.

Here’s the other thing – There’s not an Aggie fan alive that wouldn’t take Kellen Mond over Zach Calzada right now.  Ouch.

Let’s just hope he can get us two more wins before King comes back.  Make no mistake this is King’s team the second he’s able to take a live snap with contact.

Offensive Line:

We had a new combination of people on the offensive line on Saturday.  We had Jahmir Johnson at left tackle, Kenyon Green at left guard, Bryce Foster at center, Layden Robinson at right guard, and Rueben Fatheree at right tackle.  I think it’s our best collection of talent even if two guys are true freshman.  Personally, I hope this is the unit we use going forward.  If this unit can stay healthy and get some time together I think we can finally get the offensive line to gel.  The talent is definitely there.

I thought these guys did okay on Saturday night.  Maybe the best we’ve seen so far this season.  We ripped off some decent runs and Calzada had time to throw most of the night.

Mississippi State isn’t a vaunted defense but they’re not terrible.

Let’s hope these five guys stick and get some cohesion.  Beyond getting King back this will be the biggest difference maker once we get past Bama for salvaging the season.  These five guys will be the most crucial for salvaging the season.

Running Backs:

Spiller ran 16 times for 107 yards and Achane ran 8 times for 76 yards.  That’s an average per carry of 6.3 yards and 8.6 yards respectively.  That’s with the defense keying on them.  That’s damn good and highly underrated since we’re losing games.  These two guys are flat out producing with Spiller leading the way.  He’s really the best back in the country nobody is talking about.

I get you can’t run the ball every down but I really do think we need to use the run even more to set up the pass rather than just try and be balanced.  Run.  The.  Damn.  Ball.

The running backs are the only saving grace of this offense right now.

Wide Receiver:

We attempted 20 passes and completed 12 of them for 135 yards.  That’s a 60% completion rate and over 10 yards a pass.  Statistically that’s not terrible.

Eyeball wise it’s terrible.  This whole unit looks out of sorts.  These guys just aren’t a threat.  Wydermyer sure looks like he misses Mond in a major way.  Ainias can’t quite break anything open.  The other guys just kind of catch some passes here and there.  Nobody you can consistently count on.

I know we’ve got some guys hurt but I’m not sure they’d make a difference.  This unit just has some bad mojo right now and I’m not sure why.

Baylor Cupp has been suited up since Kent State but we haven’t seen him in a game.  He’s supposed to be a matchup nightmare.  He’s simply Bigfoot at his point.  A lot of talk but nobody’s seen him.

I don’t know what else to say about these guys.  I know the quarterbacking isn’t great but these guys don’t appear to be helping the quarterback at all.

Defense:

I can’t believe I have to write this but in my mind Mike Elko and his crew cost us the game on Saturday night.  Mainly more Mike Elko than the players.  I love Mike Elko but he botched the game on Saturday night.  I’m devastated.

I was okay with the 3 man defensive line if we’d brought more pressure with our linebackers and secondary via disguised blitzes.  We didn’t do that.  We simply tried to get to the QB with a 3 man front and it didn’t work.

I don’t know why Elko continued to sit back and let Mike Leach pick apart our guys in space where they busted off a few long passes here and there.  He should have been disguising pressure bringing at least one person on every play from the second level and occasionally two or even three just to keep the quarterback from getting comfortable.  We didn’t and Will Rogers got comfortable and completely picked us apart.

We got 3 sacks but we never got consistent pressure at all.  Mike Leach’s QB doesn’t need much time in the pocket and he got all the time he needed pretty much all night.

Will Rogers completed 46 of 59 passes.  That’s a 78% completion rate.  That’s basically completing 4 out of every 5 passes against our supposed elite level defense.  They threw just shy of 60 passes.  Major league starters don’t even throw that may times in some games anymore.  That’s a lot of damn passes.

Mississippi State passed for 408 yards on us.  408.  They had 5 different receivers catch passes over 20 yards on us.  You know how you catch passes over 20 yards?  One of two ways – 1) No pressure on the QB or 2) busted tackles.  Both occurred on Saturday night.

Makai Polk destroyed us all night catching 13 balls for 126 yards.  You ever heard the name Makai Polk before Saturday night?  I hadn’t.  How we couldn’t shut that guy down is beyond me.  He had twice as many receptions as any other Mississippi State receiver.  Mississippi State was either keying on him all night or we completely forgot about him.  At some point you must shut down the hot receiver.  We didn’t do that.

I’m not doing a unit analysis because the whole defense had issues thanks mainly to the scheme. The strength of this team is our defensive line.  I get we don’t have a perceived pass rushing threat like a Von Miller or Myles Garrett.  We’ve got a pretty good corps of people though that can destroy an offensive line with 4 people.

When it was apparent Will Rogers was comfortable making completion after completion changes were warranted and necessary.  Elko didn’t do that.  He’s been so good in his four seasons at A&M of making in game adjustments and he didn’t do that in this game.  I just don’t understand it.  He dominated Mississippi State last season and apparently completely forgot how he did it.  He brought pressure so their quarterback couldn’t get comfortable last season.  How did he forget how to do that?

Our weakest unit is our linebacking crew and Elko left them all alone to get picked apart.  Leach just flooded the mid-level and Rogers had time to find the open man.  That’s the Mike Leach system so you can’t let him do that.

I just don’t understand why someone with a headset didn’t ask why we weren’t trying to apply more pressure.  This wasn’t the 2019 LSU team with Joe Burrow and that receiving group.  This was Will Rogers and a host of receivers that likely never see the NFL.  Apply some damn pressure.  Elko had a complete vapor lock in his brain.

Credit to Leach and the Mississippi State team.  They took what A&M gave them and executed it flawlessly.  I just tend to think we’re a MUCH better defense than what happened on Saturday night.  Especially with the atmosphere at Kyle Field for a night game.

Maybe we’re not that good of a defense.  Maybe Mississippi State just exposed us completely for who we are on defense.  If so, oh boy…

Looking Forward:

I personally still hold out hope for this season.  I say that simply because we could be 5-0 right now.  I’m not saying should be.  We got beat by teams that wanted it more and executed it better than we did.  We got beat in these last two games plain and simple.  Tip our hat because they beat us.  I’m not denying that.

However, different decisions by the coaching staff and a little better execution by the players and we’re 5-0 ranked number 3 in the country with Bama coming to town.  We’re not nearly as far from that as it seems.  I’ll fully admit we’re also not far from 2-3 with zero wins over FBS programs.  That’s the part of football most people forget.  It’s always a few plays that swing most games.  All about coaching and execution.

Our mistakes are completely fixable.  They really are.  It’s not a team devoid of talent.  Well, not everywhere…

We’re 3-2 and no longer ranked in the Top 25 with Bama coming to town.  There is exactly ZERO chance of us beating Bama.  It’s not in Jimbo Fisher to figure out a game plan to beat Bama.  We simply don’t have the talent at quarterback, receiver, and linebacker to beat a team like Bama right now.  The offensive line is in question but I think we’re finally on the right path.

My hope is this season winds up turning out like the 2010 season where we hit a first half snag going 3-3 and then go on a tear ripping off 6 wins to get to 9-3 on the season.  I honestly believe that to be possible.  There’s enough talent on this team and every game after Bama is winnable.

I’m not saying we win those games as it’ll be up to the coaches and players.  I don’t look at our schedule post Bama like in 2019 where you saw games we just couldn’t compete in.  We can absolutely compete and win the remaining games on our schedule after Lord Saban goes 25-0 against his assistants this coming weekend.  Hopefully there’s a run like we had in 2020 that just comes a few games later than we ever imagined it needed to.

I think what’s going to happen against Bama is Jimbo is going to try and establish the run which I’m okay with.  It’s going to be an ugly game as our offense will look anemic.  Well, it is anemic. However, if our offensive line can do some good against the Bama defense at times then every defense the rest of the way won’t old a candle to the Bama defense.  I’m hoping we can use this game as the point where our offensive line finally learned to play together even if it doesn’t exactly show up on the field.

At this point I don’t want Jimbo to even try and beat Bama.  No crazy wrinkles or anything like that.  Let’s just go out and play fundamental mistake free football our normal way.  Even if it’s against the best team in the country we should treat it like a glorified scrimmage where your single goal is to execute assignments and not worry about the score.  For once this season play a complete game of football even if it means getting beat.

Learning to play mistake free football against the best team in the country could pay major dividends the rest of the season.  It sucks this is our reality but we’re here.  Let’s not let the season slip away as there’s still a lot to salvage.

To the Fightin’ Texas Aggie football team I say this – The spread is 17.5 at some books, fellas.  Let’s go out there and show the country we can cover it!  I’ll take a damn moral victory this week!  BTHO 17.5!

Someone tell the Yell Leaders we’re making a slight modification to one of the yells on Saturday.  BTHO 17.5!

If you’re going to the game make sure you tailgate appropriately.  If you’re watching at a bar make sure you have a designated driver or an Uber account.  If you’re watching at home make sure you’re somewhere comfortable so you can just pass out and get some good rest.

Copious amounts of alcohol are going to be needed for this game.  Don’t say I didn’t warn ya’…

BTHO 17.5!