Not sure where to begin with that Bowling Green game. On one hand, we dominated Bowling Green from a defensive standpoint in the first half. Then, like in Gainesville, we came out in cruise control and got bit in the second half.

Three real games this season. We’ve given up two touchdowns in the second half while not giving up any touchdowns in the first half in each of them. Three games certainly feels like a trend.

This game felt a lot like the Notre Dame game to me. It was a night game at Kyle Field that wasn’t truly decided until the end. No team was ever really comfortable until their final possession.

The only real difference between Bowling Green and Notre Dame, other than the talent of the two teams, was the Aggie offense did just a little bit more than in the Notre Dame game to secure the win.

Still, by most accounts, the Aggie faithful felt highly disappointed after a night game at Kyle Field for the second time this season. Two games and two disappointments even if one resulted in a win. That’s not the way things are supposed to be for night games at Kyle Field.

Aggie fans want a change. They want to walk out of Kyle Field confident about the team they saw on the field. What a difference a week makes.

We’re a quarter of the way through this season and I’m still not sure what to think of this Aggie team. I wanted the hope that was found after the Florida game to continue building. The Bowling Green game simply reminded me of the concerns I had coming into the season.

The reality is this isn’t a truly talented football team. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad football team. It’s simply not an elite level college football team in 2024.

Talent Concerns:

Let’s take a look at each group compared to the 2023 squad:

Quarterback:
I honestly can’t grade this because there’s so many variables due to injury and games under center. Marcell Reed could develop with each game or he can regress because defenses learn how to defend him. Conner could get healthy and take back the starting job. He could be gone all season due to Reed’s play or his own health. I’m going to call this a push simply because it’s more of the same. We haven’t the foggiest idea what we truly have at quarterback right now.

Running Back:
Despite the loss of Rueben Owens; Moss, Daniels, and Smith have been serviceable. They’re certainly not carrying this team as they’re not a homerun threat every time they touch ball. They’re the least of the worries on offense though. They’re grinding out yards as best they can. I call this a slight advantage.

Offensive Line:
Last year’s unit was so bad that everyone is now enamored with the 2024 Aggie offensive line. It’s absolutely better but I’m still not sure how great it is. It’s far from the 2012 and 2020 offensive lines in my mind. How much better this unit is than last year’s remains to be seen. I’ll just call this unit some degree of better and hope it can improve even more.

Wide Receiver:
Oh boy. Through four games this unit is definitely worse than last year. We miss a playmaker like Ainias in a big way. Maybe Reed and these guys just need to get on the same page. A quarter of the season in, and this unit looks like a non factor for moving the ball and scoring points. This unit is definitely worse than last years.

Sure, there’s been a few good receptions but they’re few and far between. We need a lot more production out of this unit if we’re going to have a great season.

We need better receivers but how do you recruit better receivers if the current receivers you have aren’t producing? What kind of receiver recruit wants to come here? They want a productive passing game. That hasn’t happend in College Station for a while.

I felt like Elko really missed on getting a great receiver in the portal. Isiah Bond seemed like the obvious choice after hiring is position coach from Bama but he wound up in Austin. That made no sense to me why he didn’t land in College Station. Is the perception that bad or did Elko and Wiggins not pursue him or miss out on him?

I’m not saying Bond would have dramatically changed the outlook for this team but there’s no way Elko and Wiggins could have thought he wouldn’t be a positive addition to the wide receiver room. Bond would have absolutely been a positive addition to the wide receiver unit.

Whatever happens this season, Mike Elko needs to address our wide receiver situation in the absolute worst way. This position has been stuck in neutral since Jimbo arrived in 2018 and it’s time to figure out a way to put it in gear.

Defensive Line:
I think a lot of people would say this unit is better than last years. I don’t know if I would go that far. Last year’s defensive line was pretty elite. I don’t think this unit is worse than last years but it’s different. We don’t have the run stopper like we had with MacKinnley Jackson but Albert Regis is doing a damn fine job. Shermar Turner is doing a damn fine job taking over Walter Nolen’s spot. Scourton and Stewart are doing just fine on the edge. I’m going to call this one a push. That’s not a bad thing. It’s actually a good thing they’re similar to last year’s unit.

I don’t really care about the lack of sacks with this unit. If you’re watching the game you know what this unit is doing. Quarterbacks aren’t setting up shop in the pocket and it’s clear offenses are doing everything they can to slow this unit down. I attribute the lack of sacks to the respect offenses are paying this unit and the lack of plays by the other parts of the defense.

Linebacker:
I was worried we would miss Edge Cooper and I feel we do. I think York is struggling being the main guy offenses can focus on. He’s a smart player but he’s not nearly as physical as Cooper. Offenses seem to be able to take him out of plays where Cooper was much tougher to take out.

Besides York, it’s a rotation of mostly Scooby Williams and Daymion Sanford. They’ve been okay, but like York, they can be taken out of plays. I’m afraid this unit is going to get exposed by the better SEC teams on our schedule. This unit is definitely worse than last year.

Secondary:
My greatest fear for the 2024 Aggie football team is this unit has not been tested. Which means it may not have been fully exposed. I think we’re slightly better than last year but this unit was so bad last year that’s not saying much. This unit has blown coverage at times and seems to struggle to tackle on broken running plays. I’m going to call this unit incomplete but I think we find out a lot on Saturday.

Bobby Petrino has tried to be very balanced with his quarterback this season but against Oklahoma State he aired it out. I think he’s going to take some big swings early in the game so this unit better be up for the challenge. If not, it’s going to be a long game and season for the Aggies.

As a whole, I think this team is about the same as last year just in different ways. Oline is improved while wide receiver and linebacker are worse.

Last year was a 7-5 team for reference.

One more thing on talent while we’re here.

How many NFL draft picks do you think are currently on this roster? I mean absolutely certain NFL draft picks? I count three in the Shermar Brothers and Nic Scourton.

There’s certainly some other guys that could get drafted, but if I had to wager money on guys right now, those are the only three I’m wagering on.

Season Outlook:

Here’s my breakdown of remaining games:

No doubt – New Mexico State
Should wins – Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Auburn
Tough wins – Missouri, LSU, and South Carolina
Longshot right now – Texas

I feel like there’s 8 wins in there and maybe even 9, but this coaching staff is going to have to pull their heads out of their rear ends and realize the Jimbo style of coaching ain’t gonna work. They need to admit this isn’t an overly talented team and start taking some chances on offense. At least start desiging creative plays instead of just trying to establish the running game in hopes the passing game follows it.

They need to figure out how to get their defense to play smart football for 4 quarters and not give up second half plays because their players were in the wrong position to defend the play. They need to admit there’s holes in the linebacker group when it comes to defending the run and holes in the secondary for defending passes.

If you didn’t know Mike Elko and a whole new staff were on the sidelines, you’d think this was another Jimbo season but with motion from the offense. There’s nothing new with this staff four games in.

We’re going to find out a lot this weekend in Arlington. You better believe Pittman and Petrino smell blood to salvage their season. They need an A&M win to get to six wins and go bowling this season.

They need to beat one of the currently ranked teams on their schedule to go bowling. We’re the lowest rated of those teams. When you look at their remaining games, we’re the most obvious sixth win.

They’re going to stress the Aggies and we won’t win if we don’t change our approach.

If we lose this weekend, we’ve dug a massive hole for the 2024 season.

We win and we’ll have taken the best punch from someone smelling blood and can feel much better about the rest of the season.

One game at a time.

Coaching Concerns:

I love Mike Elko as a person. I don’t know about him as a head coach though.

If you ask any Aggie why they love the Elko hire there’s three main things:

1) He was a wonderful defensive coordinator under Jimbo.
2) He elevated Duke as their head coach.
3) He gets A&M.

Only one of those three things actually matters to being a great head coach and that’s his time at Duke. He was 8-4 in his first season and 7-5 in his second season so he actually regressed in his two years. I know he lost Leonard but we can’t give Elko a pass on his losing his QB when Jimbo had the same issue.
The reality is his time at Duke was pretty good but it wasn’t amazing or elite. Doesn’t mean he can’t become amazing or elite but we certainly haven’t seen it.

I’m in no way calling for the firing of Elko. Not even close. He’s our head coach for at least four seasons due to financial reasons. Plus, we’re not like some other programs who change their head coach at the drop of a hat. Elko will get plenty of time to prove himself as the Aggie head coach.

I hope the light comes on for him as a head coach and he finally elevates the Aggie program to a level we haven’t seen since the late 80s and early 90s.

Yes, it’s really been that long.

My greatest fear with Elko right now is he’s some version of Wade Phillips. A lovable person with an amazing mind for defense including exotic blitzes. However, he’s just missing something as a head coach.

I’m not saying he’s another Wade Phillips. His head coaching tenure is too short to really know. I’m just saying there could be some similarities if Elko doesn’t flip a switch as a head coach. Two seasons at Duke and four games at A&M aren’t trending well if you’re truly being objective and looking under the hood a bit.

He’s responsible for the hiring of Klein and Bateman. Right now, neither hire looks that great.

Klein is running a VERY vanilla offense. What does this offense look like without Reed’s mobility? It’s very possible we’re 2-2 and maybe even 1-3.

It’s a stagnant offense if not for Reed’s legs. And don’t give me everyone is getting used to it. What was the point of the off season if it takes actual games to get used to it? I do understand it takes time so you’re going to see some hiccups from time to time. However, there is NOTHING we’ve seen from this Klein offense. It’s a vanilla offense that has no wrinkles or urgency.

It’s not the same, but the end result is a Jimbo style offense. But with motion. The on field performance is all that matters. It’s not there four games in.

I get Elko wants to win with defense because he’s a defensive coach. The reality is this defense might not be as good as Elko thinks. We have played four pretty bad offenses. We’ve got a couple more in Mississippi State and Auburn thank goodness.

However, I don’t think this defense can hold up to the stresses that Missouri, LSU, South Carolina, and Texas will put on it. If our offense isn’t ready to swing back then we’re going to lose those games.
My greatest fear right now is Petrino pulls something out of the hat this weekend and by the time we get to Auburn in November, Freeze has found a quarterback that doesn’t turn the ball over.

If that happens, there’s a chance we don’t go bowling and recruiting is going to take a massive hit.
If Elko can’t see that and get Klein to start designing and calling plays with some creativity and urgency; then this Aggie team could be in big trouble.

I hope he’s aware after four games that 8-4 is very possible. However, it’s nowhere near a lock and it’s going to take some adapting from the first four games. If he’s stubborn like his predecessor and keeps trying the same thing, it’s going to be a long season.

We’ll find out a lot over the next two weeks with Arkansas and Missouri. Both winnable games if this coaching staff is willing to admit reality and take come chances. If not, they’re both losable.
We know the talent on this team. The wins and losses will come down to coaching the rest of the way.

The Elephant in the Room:

While talking about the talent issues, there’s a main culprit that everyone has forgotten about or doesn’t want to remember.

The greatest recruiting class in the history of college football. That’s right. The vaunted 2022 recruiting class.

The 30 guys that were supposed to elevate this program to a sure national championship. They would be in their third year in the program. It’s not a stretch to think half of our starters this season should be from that class.

Care to guess how that class went?

7 guys have started this season. Only 5 are currently starting due to the injuries to Weigman and Nabou. Shermar Stewart, Le’Veon Moss, Theo Ohrstrom, Bryce Anderson, and Noah Thomas. That’s it.

There are seven other guys still rostered. I think only Brownlow-Dindy and Donovan Green of this group stand any chance of starting at any point in the future. I know Green’s injury knocked him back quite a bit, but there are five guys from that class still rostered who will likely never see meaningful minutes for the Aggies.

The 16 others are gone pecans. Over half the 30 guys in that vaunted class are no longer on the roster.
Third season and half the class has vaporized for whatever reason.

That’s where the talent drain happened. I get it’s a new era with NIL and the transfer portal but that’s pretty pitiful. A class of elite prospects mostly wiped out with little to show for it from the transfer portal.

OUCH!!!!

What a massive failure that class was. Not just on the field but financially. That class is a massive reason Jimbo got his big extension. We couldn’t let Jimbo go to LSU and have that class dissipate. I get the why.

Everybody just looked at the stars and not under the hood. I’ll admit I looked at the stars like everyone else, but I don’t get paid to look under the hood when offering contracts to coaches. I was just being an excited fan hoping things were finally turning for Aggie Football.

That class is THE biggest reason we’re in the shape we’re in for the 2024 season. We don’t have the talent that elite college football teams have. It never materialized and we never even came close to replacing it.

We can pretend we have the talent of elite programs, but that would be foolish. I certainly agree we have more talent than a lot of college football teams, but I’m ready for Texas A&M to be elite. I’m tired of this cycle we seem to be stuck in other than an outlier season every now and then.

To become elite will require creative and aggressive coaching. Doing the same thing the previous staff did but with a defensive mindset is not going to work.

NIL is no longer an advantage for us. Everyone else in the SEC has money too. We can’t tout that advantage anymore. Sure, we can still spend with the best of them but it’s not a unique advantage.

We need WINS!!!!

WINS is what will make the difference in recruiting and building the program to an elite level. We can’t keep selling we have great resources and it’s only a matter of time story. I’m tired of Groundhog Day.

WINS will come with great coaching. That’s on Elko on his staff. We need WINS now more than ever.

I sure hope a light went off in Elko’s head at Kyle Field on Saturday night.

If not, I’m afraid it’s gonna be just like it use to be.