Sometimes the final score of a game doesn’t indicate what happened. 34-22 in Arlington last weekend is certainly the case here.

If you didn’t watch the game you would have thought Arkansas put up a pretty good fight. The reality is Arkansas didn’t put up much of a fight at all. Especially after their first two offensive possessions. Sure, they got a couple of big plays to keep the game close but it was more about A&M shooting themselves in the foot more than anything else on those two scores.

Arkansas scored 10 direct points off turnovers and had a touchdown late in the game when the game was well in hand. That touchdown came off an Aggie turnover. The Aggie defense allowed zero touchdowns on Arkansas possessions that weren’t the result of an Aggie offense turnover.

In addition to those Arkansas points off turnovers, Texas A&M missed two field goals. That’s a potential 22-point swing. Arkansas went for 2 on that late touchdown and didn’t make it which is why it’s 22 and not 23.

Let’s say we take 16 points away from Arkansas and add 6 to the Aggies. That’s a 40-6 beatdown. We weren’t far from that score happening. There are another 7 potential points the Aggies missed out on but I’m not even counting those. It reasonably could have been 47-6.

A&M played a game with a decent amount of errors on offense and missed two field goals. Even with that, they walked away with a convincing 34-22 win. That’s pretty impressive when you can shoot yourself in the foot a few times and keep walking like nothing happened.

Let’s get to the game and I’m starting with the defense.

Defense:

For anyone calling D.J. Durkin by the name of D.J. Urkin, you can stop that for now. The defense stubbed their toe against Miami but his body of work so far as a defensive coordinator has been really solid to date. I don’t know if it keeps up but the Aggie defense has had more good games than bad games in his 17 games as Aggie Defensive Coordinator.

Right now, I would put Ole Miss, Florida, and Miami as outliers in his time in Aggieland. What the defense has done over the last three weeks has been dominant. They didn’t allow a touchdown in 11 straight quarters and the touchdown they did finally give up was off a turnover late in the game due to a defensive back brain fart.

I understand the opponents didn’t have the most dominant offenses but that’s the first game Arkansas essentially didn’t score a touchdown all season and Auburn scored two touchdowns on Georgia’s defense last weekend. The Aggies kept Auburn out of the end zone and basically did the same to Arkansas.

I don’t know how you can say that’s not damn impressive.

Defensive Line:

If you didn’t watch every snap of the Arkansas game you have no real clue how dominant the defensive line was. Sure, you can see the 7 sacks and 15 tackles for losses but if you didn’t watch every snap you don’t realize just how dominant it was.

These weren’t individual sacks as much as they were “swarm sacks”. What I mean by that is the ENTIRE defensive line was collapsing the pocket on pretty much every play. K.J. Jefferson is an outstanding runner which we’ve seen in the past.

However, on this day, he had nowhere to run because there was nowhere to run. All he could do was pull the ball down and wait to see which defender would take him down. Often it was more than one person taking him down. He couldn’t get away because the pocket had just collapsed and there were no lanes for him to run out of pressure. He just had to pull the ball and wait to be tackled.

That’s VERY rare in the game of modern football with a guy like Jefferson. Usually, an offensive line like Arkansas will keep the pocket as spread as possible so if Jefferson needs to take off there’s some kind of lane. There were no lanes on Saturday. Especially after the second possession.

The Aggie defensive line simply pushed or found their way into the Arkansas backfield while limiting space for Jefferson to get loose. The Arkansas offensive line is a little suspect but they couldn’t do anything against this Aggie defensive line. They just got dominated from the second possession on.

It was really impressive.

Individually, Walter Nolen and McKinnley Jackson were the most impressive. Those guys just collapsed the interior by brute force or contorting themselves past the interior of the Arkansas offensive line. I think these two guys are the best defensive tackles in college football. They’re certainly playing like it.

Shemar Turner also flashed at times.

The rest of the defensive line was impressive but these three guys are the core of this unit and allow the rest of the defense to make plays when they’re not making plays themselves.

The most impressive thing about the performance of these guys is the Arkansas coach said in his post-game press conference they prepared all week for the pressure. They KNEW it was coming but couldn’t do anything about it. That’s when you know you’re dominating.

Linebackers:

I bet Edge Cooper, Chris Russel, Jr., and Taurean York are just giggling at each other watching film right now. It looks like all these guys are doing is filling what gaps the defensive line creates. These guys are racking up tackles because all they have to do is fill the little gaps the defensive line creates.

They’re doing an outstanding job of it but it’s MUCH easier to fill a smaller gap than a larger gap.

I think this is the biggest difference in the defense right now. I don’t know who finally figured it but screw gap integrity. Let the defensive line just fire off the ball creating havoc and the linebackers just wait to see what gaps are created and then fill them with violent force before they get any bigger.

Our linebackers are pretty talented but it’s SO much easier to play linebacker when you don’t have to worry about big gaps or blockers teeing off on you.

I’m not taking anything away from our linebackers as they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. Keep supporting the defensive line and have fun making plays thanks to the guys in front of you.

Our linebackers are essentially the number 1 and 2 batters hitting in front of Barry Bonds in his prime steroids years. They saw pitches to hit and our guys are gonna have plays to make so just have fun benefitting by the dominating play of those around you.

Secondary:

Thanks to all the pressure by the lineman and linebackers the secondary didn’t have much to do this game. Arkansas only completed 9 of 17 passes. Jefferson was 6 for 9 on the first two possessions. That’s a 66% completion rate so that’s pretty good.

All of those passes were in the first quarter. That’s right. The majority of Jefferson’s pass attempts came in the first quarter.

Jefferson only attempted 8 passes the rest of the game for 3 completions. That’s a 38% completion rate. That’s not good. One of those was the botched coverage on the touchdown throw so he really should have been 2 for 8 which is a 25% completion rate. That’s terrible for 3 quarters of football in which you’re trailing.

Our front pressure shortened the time and field that our secondary had to defend which helped immensely.

If I have one concern coming out of this game it’s our ability to defend the deep ball with decent receivers. Specifically, Josh DeBerry. He’s been burned a couple of times now in the Miami and Arkansas games. If I’m an opposing offensive coordinator I’m trying to figure out a way to isolate him on a deep ball.

You need time to throw the ball but I would say the deep ball against #28 seems to be the Achilles Heel of this defense.

I hope I’m wrong but it’s the biggest concern I have about this defense right now. Assuming our defensive line keeps wreaking havoc we should be fine but if we start struggling to apply pressure I do believe there are components of this secondary that are vulnerable.

We’ll find out on Saturday because if there’s one man who can identify and take advantage of weaknesses it’s Nick Saban.

Offense:

Quarterback:

I’ll start with Max Johnson. There’s no bigger fan of Max Johnson than me. I’ve been banging his drum for two seasons. He’s a damn fine quarterback.

However, I don’t think he played that great of a game on Saturday. He was 17 of 28 for 210 yards so that’s not terrible but it’s just a 60% completion. Jahdae Walker had a few drops which certainly would have helped Max but Max kind of tailed off after the first two possessions.

He threw a BEAUTIFUL touchdown pass to Evan Stewart and was carving up the Arkansas defense. He completed his first 7 passes and it should have been 8 for a second score but Jahdae Walker stuttered on his route for some strange reason and missed the ball.

Similar to K.J. Jefferson, Max was 7 for 9 to start the game. After that, he was 10 for 21.

He went from a 78% passer on his first two drives to a not-even 50% passer the rest of the game.

I can’t explain why he tailed off but there was certainly a difference between Max on his first two possessions and Max the rest of the game.

Running wise Max is a damn fine scrambler. He’s way more athletic than you would think. He had some beautiful scrambles to get yards but he needs to avoid contact and hold onto the ball. Hopefully, Saturday was a big learning event for avoiding contact and holding onto the ball.

Max’s biggest failure in this game was pulling the ball from Le’Veon Moss on three occasions. I don’t know the play design but three times in the game Max put the ball in Moss’ belly and pulled it. Moss had a hole to run through and Max got tackled by backside pressure.

Even Jimbo was visibly upset about why Max kept the ball on a couple of those plays he should have let Moss take it.

I’m still behind Max Johnson. It’s impressive that we can still be so strong on offense when Max has kind of a Jekyll and Hyde day.

If he eliminates his mental and physical errors we’re going to roll opponents even more from an offensive standpoint.

Running Back:

A big issue I’ve had with Jimbo the last two years is his use of running backs. He seemed to have had a set rotation rather than adjust in the game to who was the most productive.

Not sure what happened on Saturday but Jimbo appeared to ride Le’Veon Moss in the running game which I’m okay with. He was producing more than any other back so he got the most carries. That makes sense.

Moss carried 17 times for 108 yards which is a 6.3-yard-per-carry average. That’s damn good.

Amari Daniels carried 10 times for 37 yards and Rueben Owens only saw 2 carries for 7 yards. That’s a 3.6 and 3.5 yards per carry average respectively.

Moss has kind of separated himself from Daniels and Owens as far as production goes. Owens is the most talented but he’s still a true freshman learning his way. Daniels is the most explosive but can’t do much if a hole isn’t there.

Moss seems to be the most aware of knowing what’s going to happen in front of him and exploiting it. Good to see Jimbo recognize it and give him the majority of the carries.

Offensive Line:

I thought the offensive line did fine for the most part. They gave Max time to throw and we rushed for 204 yards on 39 carries averaging 5.2 yards a carry.

I can’t complain about that.

If I have one concern about this group they cannot exert their dominance early in the game. I’m all about wearing a defense down over four quarters but it would be nice to see this offensive line come out and blow defenders off the ball early in the game.

Moss had runs of 15 and 30 yards on our final possession which were the longest runs of the day for Moss. It would be nice to see runs like that in the first half.

I do believe this line seems to be improving each game which is a great sign. They’re doing much better handling pressure and wearing down the defensive line late in games.

Playing ahead score-wise thanks to a dominant defense has helped that.

Just paints me a bit concerned if this team has to play from behind because this unit takes a while to exert some dominance on the defense.

Wide Receiver:

Because of the defensive effort, we weren’t forced to pass and Jimbo smartly played to protect the lead for the most part.

Ainias led the receivers with 4 catches for 71 yards. That’s a nice day but it’s certainly not dominant.

Evan Stewart had two BEAUTIFUL catches on his touchdown and play on the sideline. Both were just picture-perfect. He missed a good portion of the game for some reason but the fact he came out in the 4th quarter was a good sign. We’re going to need him for Alabama.

Jahdae Walker filled in for Stewart and had a TERRIBLE game. He stuttered on a route that had he kept going he would have walked in for the second touchdown of the game. He missed a couple of other balls where he was somewhat defended but very makeable plays.

Walker has looked good at times in his first four games but he didn’t do anything against Arkansas. He could have made a couple of big plays with one being for a score and the other a big first down. He did neither. Hopefully, it was a blip and he keeps developing.

Moose didn’t seem to see the field much as we ran a lot of tight ends and fullbacks this game.

Tight-end wise they weren’t dominant but Jake and Max each had a couple of nice catches to extend drives. They looked good blocking at times as well.

This unit still looks like it’s trying to find its identity. The talent is there but with the way the defense is playing I get limiting the desire for big plays and just keep moving the ball downfield in small chunks.

As long as Ainias keeps producing while Max and Evan hook up for beautiful touchdown passes I’m good where things are for now.

Special Teams:

What a day for Ainias. He had two beautiful punt returns taking one to the house. He had more all-purpose yards than Arkansas had offense. A nice statement game for him after ending his season in the same game last year.

Constantinou had a good day booting two punts over 50 yards inside the 20-yard line. I’m not complaining about that after the Auburn game.

Randy Bond seems to have an issue with any field goal over 45 yards. He missed his two attempts at 49 and 48. I don’t think he’s completed a field goal over 45 yards this season. He’s got to figure that out as there will likely come a game where we need 3 or 6 points from those distances. This is the SEC after all.

I still worry about this unit because we had an offside on a punt return and had a breakdown on a couple of kickoffs. Why we don’t just boot the ball through the end zone every kickoff I have no idea. We struggle to defend kickoffs and have been burned in the South Carolina game last year and the Miami game this year with kickoff returns for touchdowns.

With our defense just let the offense start at their own 25 and not give the other team’s special teams a chance to gain better field position or even score.

Kick the damn ball in the endzone and be done with it.

Let’s Talk About Bama, Baby:

I get it. You’re over the Arkansas game and focused solely on the Bama game.

On paper, I think things favor the Aggies. Bama can’t block and the Aggie defensive line can destroy offensive lines. One has to think those trends continue on Saturday.

My biggest problem is we’re still going up against Nick Saban and he’s not ready to give up the SEC West to anyone. Certainly not Jimbo Fisher.

I think this is going to be a pretty low-scoring game. I think both Saban and Jimbo are going to coach very conservatively hoping the other team makes a mistake. Rather than be a turnover offensively or a botched defensive assignment for a big play, I think Saban and Jimbo are going to hope the other team makes a fatal mistake.

They certainly don’t want to be the team making the fatal mistake.

For me, this game is going to come down to the Aggie defense against Jalen Milroe. If Milroe gets lanes to run or the Aggies let a Bama receiver get deep Bama will win the game. Milroe is one of the best running quarterbacks in football and you have to keep him contained.

Along with that, I think Bama is going to see if they can isolate one of their talented receivers on Josh DeBerry and burn him deep.

For the Aggies offensively, I think we’re going to see if we can establish the run so we can leverage some play action. Because of the nature of the game, I don’t think the Aggies try to get greedy early on believing their defense will limit the Bama offense.

Throw some quick punches and see what you can land before trying to land something big. I feel confident our offense will move the ball and score some points but I have no clue how many.

What I can’t figure out right now is if this is 2020 Jimbo or 2021 Jimbo that spit the bit in games that mattered and were winnable. This wouldn’t be a shocking win by any stretch to those who have watched these two teams this season and not relying on past performance.

Can Jimbo make a statement it’s not like it used to be? I don’t know.

What I’m REALLY hoping is this 2023 defensive line is the equivalent of the 2020 offensive line and running game. The 2020 running game would impart its will against the opponent. There’s no reason the 2023 defensive line can’t do the same against opponents because it has the talent and has shown it knows how to do it.

I just don’t know if we can establish defensive pressure when it matters most. I still have concerns about Jimbo and his coaching in a game like this.

With that, I’m going with Bama in a VERY close game. Tide 23 and the Aggies 20.

Just win, Jimbo.