I said at the beginning of this season we wouldn’t know what we truly had for the 2023 season until after the Tennessee game.

Well, here we are. We’re 4-3 and on an 8-game road losing streak. We still have Ole Miss and LSU on the road this season. That doesn’t seem ideal to change the streak.

We have South Carolina in a couple of weeks at Kyle which we should win but it’s not a gimme by any stretch. We could easily lose that game if Rattler gets hot. Shane Beamer is up against the wall at 2-4 right now so he’s going to come in ready to gamble. That usually doesn’t work in our favor but I do think we win this game.

I do believe Mississippi State and Abilene Christian are wins so we’re staring down something between 6-6 and 8-4.

7-5 seems like the most likely outcome at this point. We’ll win at Kyle and lose on the road.

In year 6 of Jimbo Fisher with Top 10 recruiting classes we’re likely going to finish 7-5.

If only we had executed better in 3 of those losses we could be 7-0 right now. That’s what Jimbo will tell you. Execute, execute, execute. It’s all about the lack of execution by the players according to Jimbo.

It’s the same excuse over and over and over and over. Lack of execution.

What if Jimbo had coached differently rather than doing the same thing over and over again? Is that not possible? Maybe when your team isn’t executing you should try something different.

We hired Bobby Petrino to run the offense and make things better. You sure as hell wouldn’t know it. Does anything look different about this offense 7 games in? Not to me.

Sure, we’ve been more productive at times this year than last year. I think that’s simply a factor of talent over competition more than the actual scheme. We have better quarterback and receiver play this year than last year.

I don’t think anything about the actual scheme is that much different.

This offense looks exactly the same as the previous two years. There are a few wrinkles like more motion but at the end of the day, it’s the same.

It still takes forever to get plays in and lined up. There’s never any urgency. Players don’t always know assignments. It looks like the same damn offense even though we have an offensive coordinator.

The offensive line is a massive question mark letting defenders through like an amusement park turnstile.

The offense was supposed to be different this year but it’s not. If you’re an opposing defensive coordinator you can take film of any of the Aggie losses going back to 2021 to devise a winning scheme.

Just send pressure off the edges and mix in the occasional blitz in the middle of the line. Don’t even get cute on the edge pressure. Just have your defensive end or outside linebacker run a straight line through the tackle to get to the quarterback. They’ll get there.

If the Aggies need a yard then put a man head up on the center and as soon as the ball is snapped fire straight ahead as fast as possible. You’ll blow the center up.

It’s not a hard offense to defend and Jimbo refuses to admit it making adjustments to cover those deficiencies.

There are no quick passes and very few screens. Motion Ainias into the backfield and do a quick toss to see if he can get outside the edge rusher and juke a second-level defender. At least try and scare the defense they may not know what play is coming.

We don’t pressure the edge at all. It’s all about trying to get downfield with slow-developing plays.

Our motions are terrible as they never set up any plays. It’s like we just put players in motion because someone said it’s a good idea. We don’t use motion to our benefit it seems like.

Either way, Jimbo, just try SOMETHING different than the last 3 years. It’s mind-boggling he keeps running the same offense out there that’s not working.

Even more maddening is his lack of adjustment in the second half. Just the same thing the defense learned to shut down after the first couple of series and Jimbo keeps thinking it’s going to break loose.

We haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in the second half of our last three games against Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee. Three straight games and not a single offensive touchdown in the second half. Jimbo is supposed to be an offensive coach. Bobby Petrino is supposed to be a great offensive mind. The Aggie offense has been kept out of the end zone in the second half for three straight games.

If only we executed better…

That’s garbage. That’s not on player execution. It’s on a coaching staff not adapting to what the defense is doing.

Do you want to know what Jimbo REALLY thinks of his offense? For two weeks in a row, he refused to take timeouts to give his offense more snaps at the end of the first half.

That’s a CRYSTAL CLEAR sign he’s more worried about his offense making a mistake than making a play. A coach confident in his offense to take more snaps. A coach with no confidence in his offense wants to limit the snaps.

He can say what he wants but for two games in a row, he didn’t want his offense to take more snaps than necessary to end the first half. That’s a problem.

That’s just the offense. I haven’t got to special teams yet.

I suppose I should talk about the Tennessee game in a little more detail before I rant too much.

OFFENSE:

Offensive Line:

My greatest concern with this offense has been the offensive line. It’s looked decent at times until defensive coordinators remember the cheat code.

Apply pressure to our tackles. Our right tackle situation is terrible. Neither Bisontis nor Crownover have looked good against better opponents. They both routinely get pushed around or just whiff on slowing down a defender.

This has been a known problem for a couple of seasons now and it’s not been addressed. I know trying to start a true freshman in the SEC is not ideal but that’s what we’re doing. We’re in a bad way if there’s no other tackle on the roster that’s better than what we’re running out there. Just this last week Jimbo was talking about Crownover playing in the NFL. The dude got destroyed in 2 plays against Tennessee and didn’t see another snap. What the hell does Jimbo see?

I get building players up but game film matters more than anything else. I swear Jimbo sees stuff happen in games and just denies it’s happening because he sees it differently in practice.

I know Fatheree is hurt but he wasn’t exactly stellar last season. I’m not sure he’s the answer if he does get healthy.

I just can’t believe Jimbo, Petrino, and Addazio can watch GAME film, and believe those two guys are the absolute two best options. Apparently, they are which speaks to Jimbo’s roster management and player development. It’s year 6 and we don’t have a serviceable right tackle. We have a MASSIVE liability.

I don’t know what’s up with Bryce Foster but this guy has regressed from the 2021 season. He struggles to snap the ball and gets no push when we need it most. He routinely gets blown up when it’s clear we’re trying to run inside for a yard or two.

Same thing – is he truly the best option we have at center right now? I know he looks and talks the part. He probably practices great. His actual game film against better opponents is pretty bad.

I think our guard play is fine. At least relative to right tackle and center. Trey Zuhn has improved from last year but I certainly wouldn’t call him dominant. He struggles from time to time letting pressure get through. He’s not a concern relative to the other glaring issues though.

This offensive line is far and away the greatest liability of this team. Yet Jimbo won’t admit it with his play calling. He thinks this line can hold up giving the quarterback the needed seconds for plays to develop downfield. It’s just not happening.

Wide Receiver:

The use of our receivers is probably the most frustrating thing for me. We have serious talent with Evan, Ainias, Moose, and Noah Thomas.

Noah Thomas made some great catches against Tennessee but the other guys were non-existent for the most part. It’s not their fault.

To me, it’s the scheme. They just line them up and let them run normal routes. There are no bunch formations or bubble screens to see if they can break something loose.

The scheme is to just run them downfield in normal routes hoping they can break open while Max has enough time to get the ball off.

We’ve got some serious horses at receiver that are limited by the offensive line. Rather than give these guys a chance to make plays Jimbo just keeps hoping the offensive line can figure itself out and give the quarterback time.

Running Back:

Unfortunately, there’s not much to say here. Le’Veon Moss does as much as he can considering the offensive line issues. Jimbo seems content to ride him for good reason.

Rueben Owens is still a little green with hesitation in his game at times. Amari Daniels didn’t even see a snap due to his struggles with blocking I believe.

I would like to see more production out of this group but until the offensive line starts to exert any influence at the line of scrimmage there’s not much this unit can do.

Quarterback:

I read a stat that Max was pressured 65% of the plays on Saturday.

That’s 2/3. I don’t know how a quarterback can be successful with that pressure. Even on the 1/3, he’s not pressured he’s bracing himself for it.

Max isn’t perfect and he’s not without fault but he’s tasked with waiting on routes to develop in a pocket that’s routinely collapsing. It also doesn’t help he’s having to deal with an errant snap from time to time.

The fact the right tackle situation is his blind side only compounds the problem.

I’m not sure we’d have beaten Bama or Tennessee with Weigman under center. Weigman is more mobile but he didn’t light up Auburn before he got hurt. Max seems more apt to run than Weigman did. I think we’d have seen the same results if Weigman hadn’t gotten hurt.

I think no matter who’s under center is going to have a tall order in waiting on routes to develop while the pocket quickly disintegrates to nothing. We’ve got a scheme problem and not a talent problem.

Until the scheme changes to allow quicker routes or more rollouts whoever is quarterbacking will struggle.

Defense:

These guys flat-out played their asses off on Saturday.

I think the Tennessee passing game is pretty anemic for the most part so it’s not a dominant offense but this unit only gave up one touchdown and got a crucial turnover.

We went into the game missing Bryce Anderson and lost Edge Cooper at the half. We lost Walter Nolen in the fourth quarter. That’s three MASSIVE talent losses.

Still, the guys who took their spots stepped up in a big way not letting Tennessee make a big play, and got off the field without giving up a touchdown in the final three quarters.

I was a little frustrated by Durkin daring Tennessee to run but after the game it made sense. Milton is a streaky passer but he has a great arm. Our secondary is suspect. We moved DeBerry to a safety position due to the loss of Anderson and put Deuce Harmon in his spot at the corner.

Durkin knew his secondary was a massive man down so he didn’t want a repeat of Bama. He smartly dared Tennessee to run the ball hoping we could get them into stoppable third downs. The plan worked as the defense routinely stuffed the Tennessee offense on 3rd down forcing punts and field goal attempts.

We were even perfect on fourth-down attempts.

I had a bad feeling when Edge Cooper didn’t come out of the locker room after half we would lose. I was correct about us losing but I was wrong the defense would be the reason. Cooper certainly would have improved our defense maybe limiting a field goal or even two but we were always destined to lose that game.

I can’t say enough good things about this defensive unit. Since getting their pants pulled down against Miami this group has played four outstanding games. Certainly good enough for the Aggies to win.

Sure, the Bama game had issues but a better offensive performance in the second half and we probably win that game. Especially considering the defense got crucial turnovers in the second half of the Bama game and the offense did exactly zero with them.

As long as this unit doesn’t fall apart we’ll have a chance to win our remaining games. If for some reason this unit regresses we may struggle to make a bowl game.

I don’t see them regressing though.

Special Teams:

Oh boy. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you know I’ve been worried about our special teams all year.

Well, it killed us on Saturday. In a game where field position mattered, we couldn’t flip the field thanks to our punter.

He had a miserable game. It was pretty windy in the stadium but it was a weird wind. Depending on where you looked the wind was doing different things.

On the field, the flags on the goalposts weren’t going crazy and showed opposite directions at times. I don’t think wind on the field was a factor.

Constantinou averaged 32 yards a kick and his longest was only 38 yards Tennessee’s punter averaged 40 yards a kick with a long of 49. I don’t think you can just blame the wind if the other guy is finding better success.

The dagger was his punt from the end zone. When we got the ball on the goal line I was convinced they’d get a blocked punt for a touchdown. I knew Jimbo wasn’t going to be aggressive offensively so I knew we would likely be punting with as little space as possible.

I was right about where we’d be punting from. I just assumed Tennessee had a punt block dialed up. What I didn’t realize was Tennessee has an elite punt returner. He got the ball with a short field and took it to the house.

Randy Bond missed another field goal attempt over 45 yards. He continues to be perfect at missing field goal attempts longer than 45 yards this season. It could have mattered if the punting and offensive line struggles hadn’t mattered more.

How Jimbo doesn’t have a dedicated special teams coach is beyond me. Our special teams have been a massive liability under Jimbo his entire time at A&M.

The only bright spots have been Achane returning kicks and Ainias returning punts. Just raw talent excelling and not scheme or coaching.

Along the way, our special teams issues have contributed to losses against App State, South Carolina, Miami, and now Tennessee in just the last two years. There’s probably a couple I’m forgetting.

They certainly didn’t help against Alabama with the blocked field goal last week.

I can’t figure out if Jimbo can’t see this or just doesn’t care. The Aggie special teams are costing us games. It’s an absolute liability and Jimbo isn’t doing anything about it.

I assume hiring a dedicated special teams coach would help but who knows? The hire of Petrino hasn’t changed anything about our offense.

It’s extremely frustrating special teams have been a massive liability under Jimbo for two seasons and nothing has changed.

Just add it to the frustration list.

Looking Forward:

I hope that Jimbo takes the bye week to correct some of these issues. History says he won’t.

He’ll just focus on fundamentals and “executing better.” He won’t introduce any wrinkles or take advantage of an extra week to fix the glaring issues. He didn’t do it last season and didn’t do it this offseason. Why would this bye week be any different? It won’t.

Let’s be clear – He still has a path to win 10 games. Bama and Tennessee were the toughest tests for me. There’s ZERO margin for error but as of right now, Jimbo Fisher can still win 10 games this season including a bowl win. What a massive season it would be to close out with 6 straight wins.

Even though it could happen it won’t.

We’ll come out sluggish against South Carolina at home and likely eke out a somewhat convincing win.

Jimbo will think we’re back on track. We’ll march into Oxford and get punked by Lane Kiffin in a close game where Lane has a couple of offensive wrinkles that make the difference for his team.

We’ll come back home and beat Mississippi State convincingly. We’ll follow that up with a snooze win over Abilene Christian.

We’ll go to Baton Rouge the Saturday after Thanksgiving and get clocked by LSU where our defense just finally falls apart and their defense has their best performance of the year.

We’ll be 7-5 gassing up the buses for the drive down to Houston for the Texas Bowl. Ironically the same stadium where the national title game will be held.

It’ll be a fitting ending playing in the same stadium as the national championship game. An obvious reminder of how far we really are from the ultimate goal.

Jimbo will say we just have to work on fundamentals and execute better. We’re that close.

Whatever. It’s a tired act.

Just win, Jimbo.