Month: October 2024

Thoughts From the LSU Game

This Game Was Different Than It Used To Be:

My theme for much of this season is waiting and wanting to see things differently than they’ve been in the past. Jimbo uttered the phrase, “It ain’t gonna be like it used to be,” and everyone ate it up. The problem was that Jimbo never backed it up. In the end, Jimbo’s tenure wasn’t much different than those before him.

I’ve been hesitant about Elko because I didn’t want to buy into a head coach until something happened that made me realize that it wasn’t like it used to be.

That happened on Saturday night at Kyle.

It’s not what you’re thinking, though.

It wasn’t the Aggies winning a big night game at Kyle Field. That’s happened.

It wasn’t the Aggies appearing to take a step they hadn’t taken in the past. By that, I mean this LSU game was more than just a Top 10 team coming into Kyle at night. It’s been downplayed, but this game was for first place in the SEC. The Aggies would have stumbled at that moment in the past.

Taking that step was a MASSIVE step, but it’s still not what I see as so different from the past. It was certainly a bigger step than we’ve seen in a long time.

For me, it was how this Aggie team took that step. Since we joined the SEC, we’ve never seen an Aggie team win a big game like they did on Saturday night.

Here are the biggest wins for the Aggies in the SEC era:

2012 Alabama
2014 Auburn
2018 LSU
2020 Florida
2020 Orange Bowl
2021 Alabama
2022 LSU

A couple of others could go on the list, but I’ll stick with this list.

There has not been a game in the SEC era where we were down by 10 at the half against a Top 10 team and came back to win it—not only win it but basically put it away in the fourth quarter.

With about 6 minutes left in the game, it was pretty obvious the Aggies would win. Down by 10 at half, they scored 21 unanswered points to take the lead. Then, they kept pounding to cruise to victory.

No nail biting.

In many of the games I listed above, the Aggies came out and took an early lead. Then, it was just holding on for deal life, hoping we didn’t blow the lead.

This game was indeed different than it used to be. We overcame a pretty solid deficit against a top team in college football. From a talent standpoint, LSU is a top-10 team based on talent alone.

I’m happy to take the step with the SEC lead on the line.

I’m happier with how this team did it. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have the Aggies take control from the start and never waver, but what this Aggie team did on Saturday night was remarkable.

This team had the confidence and belief that even down 10 at the half, they weren’t done fighting.

We’ll discuss Elko’s decision to bring in Marcel Reed but don’t forget that this team came out of half ready for another half of fighting against a top-tier opponent.

I’d wager 90% of Aggie fans at halftime didn’t have much faith we’d win. I’m in that 90%.

We didn’t just win. We stormed back to the point where we spent the entire fourth quarter having a blast on the way to an Aggie victory.

Credit to Elko and this team’s attitude for having plenty of fight for another half of football.

Credit to Elko and this team’s attitude for winning a game entirely different than it used to be.

The Play of the Game:

There was a lot of focus on what Marcell Reed did in this game, but there’s a key play that’s being overshadowed a bit.

B.J. Mayes’ first interception was the absolute play of the game.

He picked the ball at the 35-yard line and returned it to the 8-yard line.

Marcell Reed comes into the game, and one play later, he’s in the endzone with the Aggies only down by 3 points. Kyle Field explodes, and it doesn’t calm down until the game is over.

I don’t know if anyone asked Elko when he decided to put in Reed. He may have already made the decision for the next offensive series, but with the play by Mayes, it was a no-brainer.

I watched Mayes’ press conference after the game, and he said he knew the route. He didn’t think Nussmeier would actually throw it since he had it covered, but when Nussmeier went to throw the ball, Mayes was on it.

That’s excellent coaching and player execution. Thanks to coaching and execution, Mayes would get another interception, but that first interception was the game-changer. Without that, the Aggies may not win.

It certainly opened the floodgates for the rest of the game.

That was Mayes’ first game to start at nickel, which makes it even more remarkable.

What a game for him.

The Importance of the Turnovers:

I know it’s obvious what turnovers mean to a game. Both in gaining possession and momentum, but the most crucial part of a turnover is where you gain the possession.

These are the spots where our offense got to start on the three interceptions:

LSU 8 yard lineLSU 26 yard lineLSU 38 yard line

We scored two touchdowns on the first two interceptions and should have scored on the third interception since we had first and goal at the LSU one-yard line.

I think we went really conservative on that final drive after Callahan’s false start. It was all about not turning the ball over and burning the clock because a field goal would have made it a 15-point game.

There would be less than 4 minutes left, and I think LSU was out of timeouts then.

Either way, the Aggies scored 17 points off of those three interceptions.

They were absolutely the difference in the game. The defense deserves MASSIVE credit for rattling one of the best quarterbacks in college football to throw three interceptions.

It’s a massive accomplishment and the difference in why the Aggies won.

The Noah Thomas Catch:

While the BJ Mayes interception was the turning point in the game, the Noah Thomas catch was a statement.

Everything about that play was perfect.

The Aggies had taken the lead 28-17 with about a minute into the 4th quarter.

LSU took the ball and marched down 78 yards in 9 plays, consuming a little over 4 minutes of game time. They missed the two-point conversion, so the score was 28-23.

You’re a liar if you’re an Aggie fan who says they weren’t worried at that point. There was a level of doubt in every Aggie fan’s mind, just like a newfound hope in every LSU fan’s mind.

With momentum taking a slight turn, Collin Klein dialed up the perfect play, and the Aggie offense executed it perfectly—I mean, perfection all the way around.

Perfect call, perfect timing, and perfect execution.

As that pass floated in the air, it looked like it would fall into Thomas’ hands. Every Aggie in the stands was ready to erupt and celebrate. And when Thomas came down with the catch, Kyle Field exploded. Momentum fully swung back to the Aggie side, never to go LSU’s way again.

I haven’t seen a catch like that in a moment like that since Mike Evans in the 2013 Alabama game.

This time, it would mean much more. Simply because it swung momentum, and we won.

As for Noah Thomas, you know I’m high on him. I hope he continues to develop because that play is precisely what the Aggies need. Thomas was double-covered, but he created enough separation and kept his focus on the ball.

The pass from Reed was perfect, but don’t underestimate Thomas’ ability to create the separation and haul it in. Short of scoring a touchdown, that’s about as big of a catch in that moment as you can have.

Thomas delivered in a big way.

Three plays and 21 yards later, the Aggies would go up 12 points with eight minutes left on the clock. The game wasn’t over by any stretch, but the chance of an Aggie victory was more likely.

Just outstanding work by the coaching staff and players.

Special Teams:

A real quick shout-out to special teams because they had two key things happen.

The first is on the second missed field goal. On the first missed field goal, we had a guy from the kicker’s left side who was pretty open. He ran untouched to the kickpoint. He was late and didn’t impact the kick, but he ran open and wasn’t far off.

On the second attempt that he missed, we loaded up the kicker’s left-hand side. It was pretty apparent that three guys were coming from the left side just like before, and one would likely have a chance at the block. He was attempting the longest kick of his career.

I don’t know if that impacted the LSU kicker, but you don’t see a right-footed kicker miss that far right very often. That ball never had a chance when it left his foot.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think he knew he had trouble coming from his left side and not only rushed it but also did a little overcompensating from his previous kick.

Maybe the kid didn’t have the leg for that distance, so I’m reading too much into it. At least it appeared we were trying to do something to mess with the kicker. We actually did not send anyone this time, mostly because I think we worried about the fake and staying home. I’m fine with that since he was attempting a career-long. Lord knows LSU loves to run fake field goals in those moments.

Also, credit the special teams for the errant snap on the next field goal attempt. The crowd undoubtedly impacted that, but I’m curious if the special teams did anything to trigger that early snap.

I gave this unit grief after the Arkansas fake punt, but they’ve been pretty solid.

Good to know we have a head coach who does value special teams.

That’s certainly different than it used to be.

Quarterback:

Before we go any further, let’s just talk about the quarterback position.

Obviously, we all know what Marcel Reed did. It’s still fascinating to me that all he did all night was run a read concept. He did it masterfully, but it was amazing that LSU had no answer to a concept that’s been all over football for a decade now.

Some draws were mixed in, and the pass to Thomas was a big thing. The defense couldn’t just focus on Reed. It’s still amazing that Reed ran all over that LSU defense doing something he’d shown was his bread and butter in previous games.

I get that LSU was prepared for Weigman, but did they spend no time last week considering whether Reed came in? They couldn’t even slow Reed down.

I’m not trying to take anything away from Reed, as he was masterful in executing what he was doing. That was definitely part of it. Reed anticipated what LSU was going to do defensively and let the ball go or pulled it to keep.

When he kept the ball, he ran all over that LSU defense where they had no real answer.

It was a master class by Reed on running a read type offense.

I’m just a little shocked it took LSU by total surprise.

Reed has to be the guy going forward. He earned it with his performance on Saturday night. I don’t expect him to have the same level of success he had on Saturday night, but he earned the right to take the first offensive snap against South Carolina.

It’s his job until he proves he can’t be productive.

Just like it was with Conner.

As for Conner, I don’t know what to say. I’m not going to bash the guy. However, he didn’t show up in another big night game at Kyle Field against a Top 10 opponent. He went 6 for 18 for 64 yards and was sacked four times.

To be fair, it wasn’t all his fault. The receivers dropped a few passes they should have caught and the offensive line could have pass blocked better. However, Conner got rattled and it appeared he wasn’t going to get comfortable.

That’s on him. Conner wasn’t winning that game.

I have no idea if we’ll see Conner start an Aggie game again.

It’s crazy that a guy Aggies pinned their hopes on for three seasons may never materialize. Football is a crazy sport.

A part of me wonders if the Aggies have benefited from a defense utterly unprepared for the quarterback under center. Conner against Missouri and Reed against LSU.

I still have concerns over Reed’s ability to pass, but Reed deserves the ball to start the game against South Carolina. That much is clear.

I hope Conner is ready should the need arise for a change of pace under center.

The Running Game:

Believe it or not, LeVeon Moss and Amari Daniels had most of their yards in the first half.

They combined for 102 yards rushing in the first half and 72 yards in the second half. Marcel Reed would add 62 yards, so Moss, Daniels, and Reed trio rushed for 134 yards in the second half.

That’s not much more than Moss and Daniels did in the first half. That’s 32 yards, to be exact.

That tells you how important the field position created by the defense really was.

The yard per carry was amazing. Daniels averaged 7.6 yards per carry, with a long of 28 yards—91 yards on 12 carries, to be exact.

Moss averaged 5.9 yards per carry with a long of 25 yards. 83 yards on 14 carries.

Reed averaged 6.9 yards per carry with a long of 20. 62 yards on 9 carries.

Those are pretty impressive yards per carry without really long runs. They were ripping off yards on every carry and rarely getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. We really haven’t seen a rushing effort like that all season.

Reed forcing the defense to defend the whole field definitely opened up the running game, but Moss and Daniels were also running well in the first half. It wasn’t just Reed opening things up on the ground in the second half.

Chase Bisontis was out this game (and I think he might be out a lot longer), so T.J. Shanahan and Kam Dewberry had to fill his spot. They appear to be much better at run blocking than pass blocking, which I feel contributed to some of the pressure that Conner was under.

I wouldn’t be shocked if the pass-blocking struggles partially contributed to Elko’s decision to bring in Marcel Reed. Conner was obviously struggling, but if we couldn’t protect him, it was time to sell out to the running game.

It’s clear that the running game is going to be the bread and butter of this offense. We can’t be one-dimensional. We still have to pass, but it’s clear that this team’s strength is establishing the run.

The Passing Game:

Other than the pass to Noah Thomas, the passing game was really anemic.

We completed 8 total passes the entire night. Conner completed 6, and Marcel completed 2.

Our receivers caught three balls for 81 yards, with one 54-yard pass to Thomas and the other two completions to Jabre Barber for 27 yards.

Three completions to our receivers the entire game. Ouch.

We had one pass to a tight end for 6 yards.

The other four passes were to our running backs for 47 yards.

That’s really bad. We can’t get away with that and win out.

I’ll leave that issue up to Elko and Klein, but that’s a massive concern to this offense going forward.

The Defense:

The heroes of this game are, no doubt, the defense.

What they did in the second half set the stage for Marcel Reed to do what he did. If they didn’t have their second-half performance, we never win this game.

They didn’t look great in the first half, but they didn’t look bad either.

They gave up two touchdowns in the first half, but one was partially due to a fumble and stupid personal foul, which gave LSU the ball at the 21-yard line. That was 100% on the offense.

The second was a 76-yard touchdown pass to the slot receiver, who was lined up on none other than Jaydon Hill. We were in zone coverage in Hill’s defense, so he released him to the safety and linebacker. Dalton Brooks whiffed on the tackle, and the LSU receiver was off to the races. If Brooks makes a better play on the receiver, that’s not even a first down.

Still, it was a mistake by the defense and Brooks specifically.

LSU missed two field goals in the first half, so in theory, it could have been 23-7. However, if we don’t fumble the ball, it could be anywhere from a 10-7 to 16-7 score, depending on how you want to score the field goal attempts in whatever theoretical scoring game you want.

Those were also long field goal attempts for their kicker, which I touched on earlier.

We could have been up 7-3 at half if we didn’t fumble, and Brooks made the tackle on that long touchdown pass.

You can play ifs and buts all day long, but the fact is we went down 17-7, mostly because of our inept offense and a bad play by Dalton Brooks.

The Aggies clamped down on the LSU offense in the second half, only giving up one touchdown and a botched field goal attempt.

LSU had 7 possessions in the second half. They had one touchdown drive of 78 yards.

Here are the other 6 possessions:

4 plays, 20 yards – Punt
3 plays, 13 yards – Interception
9 plays, 35 yards – Botched field goal snap
2 plays, 0 yards – Interception
4 plays, 12 yards – Interception
5 plays, 10 yards – Turnover on downs to let the Aggies kneel it out.

That’s a total of 27 plays for 90 yards. That’s 3.3 yards per play other than the touchdown drive. You hold that LSU offense to 3.3 yards per play on all but one possession in a half, and you’re doing something.

Outside of the turnovers, the key stat was this – Caden Durham rushed 11 times for 15 yards. That’s an average per-yard carry of 1.4 yards. Even more impressive? He had a long run of 10 yards.

That means in his other 10 rushes, he only averaged .5 yards a carry. HALF A YARD A CARRY ON TEN ATTEMPTS!!!!

The Aggie defense completely shut down the LSU rushing attack. The week before, Durham carried the ball 21 times for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns against Arkansas. That’s a 4.8-yard-per-carry average against a pretty decent defense.

I didn’t see the Aggie defense shutting Durham down, but they did.

Not letting the LSU rushing attack get going was key to forcing Nussmeier to keep passing the ball. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t sit on a lead and grind the clock.

Holly Rowe posted late Saturday night about something Jay Bateman had told her during a production meeting. Bateman told Rowe their goal was to change what Nussmeier was seeing. I don’t think that meant spotting LSU 17 points in the first half and then intercepting three passes in the second half, but whatever the plan was, it seemed to work.

Thanks to the work of the defensive line and linebackers, Nussmeier could never get super comfortable in the second half. He was only sacked twice but seemed to throw much sooner than he wanted most of the night.

One thing I did notice from Nussmeier in the first half was that he was looking the way he wanted to go right from the snap. If he looked right, he threw right. If he looked left, he threw left. I watched his head quite a bit in the first half, and he never looked anything off; he just went to the other side. He seemed very deliberate in where he wanted to throw the ball from the moment he took the snap.

Mayes mentioned that on both of his interceptions, he noticed Nussmeier indicating where he was going to throw and was surprised he threw the ball both times.

I don’t know if the Aggie defense baited Nussmeier in the second half or picked up on him indicating where he wanted to pass as well, but they clearly took advantage of something. Even on York’s interception, he was on the edge, but he noticed the running back releasing up the middle and drifting over to make the interception.

Those three interceptions weren’t luck. They were interceptions by a well-prepared defense.

While the entire defense played great, it goes without saying the linemen and linebackers are the critical components of this unit.

That LSU offensive line is arguably the best in college football. I’m not going to say the Aggie defense dominated them all night, but they certainly won many battles with them.

It’s not a massive surprise, but Elko and Bateman’s work on this defense is outstanding.

I had my questions about whether this unit was better than last year’s unit, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it is better than last year’s unit.

That’s a credit to Elko and Bateman. They identified the needed talent, developed them in the off-season, and are coaching them in the season.

It’s really impressive work.

You play defense like this unit and you’re gonna be in every football game.

It’s up to the offense to win it.

Looking Forward:

Our path to Atlanta is clear. We have three SEC games left, and if we win all three, we’re there without question. We could lose to South Carolina and beat Texas, and we’d still be there, I believe. We’d only have one SEC loss with the head-to-head over LSU and Texas. We could beat South Carolina and lose to Texas, and if we got some help elsewhere, we could also be there.

I think one side of the SEC Championship runs through Athens on November 16th as the winner of Georgia and Tennessee will have a clear path. I think the other side runs through College Station on November 30th. The winner of A&M and Texas matches up with the winner of Georgia and Tennessee.

I could be wrong, but that’s how I see the SEC Championship game shaping up. The winner of those two games meets in Atlanta on December 7th.

As for the College Football Playoff, I think the path is even clearer. Win one of South Carolina or Texas, and our ticket is punched. That’s assuming we beat Auburn, obviously.

If we beat South Carolina and lose to Texas, we’ll be 10-2, with Notre Dame and Texas as our only two losses. They’re both ranked in the Top 10 right now. That’s as good as any two-loss team in the country.

If we lose to South Carolina and beat Texas, we’ll have a win over another Top 10 team at the time. That scenario also puts us in the SEC Championship game, which is basically a lock for the College Football Playoff.

I’d rather just win out, but considering scenarios, we’re in a really good spot right now for the College Football Playoff.

As for South Carolina, I feel good about that game. It won’t be easy as Columbia at night isn’t easy, but I believe in this squad.

This coaching staff and team seem to be getting better every week.

South Carolina has some really good defensive ends, but I think Reed’s legs can probably neutralize them. Their offense is pretty inept, with a mobile quarterback that I think we can contain.

It won’t be a blowout by any stretch, but I do feel like we have a solid chance to come out of Columbia with a win. Turnovers will be the key, as that’s what South Carolina has benefitted from the most this season.

We don’t turn the ball over, and we win that game. I feel really confident about that.

Maybe I’m drinking a little too much Maroon Kool-Aid. Elko and this team have me believing that things are, in fact, going to be different than they used to be.

Final Thought:

The craziest outcome of Saturday night’s game is that the Alabama—LSU game in two weeks is basically a College Football Playoff elimination game. The loser will be 9-3 and a massive longshot to make the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

It’s wild to think that the game that for a decade and a half all but decided the SEC West and a shot at either the BCS Championship or the four-team College Football Playoff will eliminate one of them for a 12-team College Football Playoff.

That’s certainly not like it used to be.

College football is indeed cyclical. Some cycles take longer, and some are much shorter.

Just ask Florida State…

Thoughts on MSU and a Look to LSU

Some Aggie fans seemed to be teeth-gnashing during and after that Mississippi State game. I get it to a degree. We wanted to put them away, and we never did.

On the other hand, this game was really never in question. Even when MSU opened up the game with a touchdown, the Aggie offense marched down on its first possession to tie the game. We responded right away.

Then, we forced a punt and scored a touchdown to go up 14-7. We never looked back from there.

MSU would get within 4 points a couple of times, but I never felt like we were losing that game.

Despite MSU taking their best shots, we controlled that game from the moment we got our hands on the ball until the final seconds clicked off.

We could have and should have put them away much earlier in the game, but we never truly let them back in once we went up 14-7. The momentum never really swung to Mississippi State’s side. When they had a chance to swing the momentum, we answered immediately.

I’m not going to do a deep analysis mostly because I’m happy we got out of Starkville with a solid enough win. Those things have been few and far between.

I know MSU doesn’t look like a great team due to their record, but they’re not a pushover. They don’t have the talent other teams have but they’re going to take some swings. Van Buren is not afraid to throw the ball around and he’s not terrible. I wouldn’t be shocked if they beat one of Arkansas, Missouri, or Ole Miss before this season’s done.

I’m mostly looking at Missouri since that game is in Starkville.

Offense:

Conner Weigman finally threw his first interception in the SEC. I’ve been waiting on this. The first interception was one he sailed, and then he had two more potential interceptions dropped. His second interception was a shallow underneath pass where he again didn’t see the defender sitting there.

It’s a little concerning. That’s now four interceptions on the season in essentially 3 games. I’m not counting the McNeese State game as an actual game. They all had the same last name on the back of the jerseys.

He did look pretty good outside of those four passes, though.

His touchdown pass to Noah Thomas was beautiful. He also did a great job making some key passes on third downs to move the chains.

He was 15 for 25, which is a 60% completion rate. That’s a pretty good day for most quarterbacks at the office.

We still don’t know what we have in Conner Weigman, though. Is he the Missouri quarterback? Is he the Notre Dame quarterback? Is he somewhere in between, like this game?

His sample set is too small, but we’ll learn a lot this Saturday night. LSU will be the biggest test of his collegiate career.

As for the rest of the offense, I thought they did fine.

The offensive line was wonderful at pass blocking, giving Conner all kinds of time. They weren’t as dominant in the rushing game as I would have liked, but they did enough blocking to keep the ball moving.

Moss and Daniels were good enough on the ground, combining for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries. That’s a 3.86-yard average per carry. That’s not great, but it’s also not terrible.

Moss’ two biggest runs were called back because of penalties. That was 68 yards of rushing called back, thanks to an illegal formation and a questionable holding call. We’ve seen worse holds not get called by SEC officials.

If those runs had happened, the total yards would have shot up to 190 yards on 31 carries for 6.12 yards per carry. That’s a solid day.

Moss continues to prove he’s one of the best running backs in the SEC, and only SEC officials can truly slow him down.

At receiver, Jabre Barber had a really nice day, catching all 6 of his passes for 92 yards. Noah Thomas had a nice 20-yard touchdown catch in the end zone. Weigman barely missed him earlier in that drive. That would have likely been a 62-yard touchdown catch.

Cyrus Allen had a big catch he couldn’t quite haul in.

We didn’t have Terry Bussey, who I think would have been a factor from a receiving standpoint.

I know my analysis is sporadic, but that’s how that whole game was. At points, it looked like a solid rhythm was about to emerge, and then something would happen where it stopped.

Then we would get going again, and something else would disrupt it.

I know I was hard on Klein before the Missouri game, but I thought what he did on the first two drives of this game was really good. He took some shots and had some wrinkles the defense wasn’t quite ready for. We had two great drives to open up the game, scoring on drives of 74 and 81 yards.

We then scored a touchdown on our fourth possession, thanks to a short field from our defense. We scored 21 points in the first half on essentially four possessions.

We might have scored on the fourth possession if Conner hadn’t sailed that first interception.

The second half was sporadic, and I’m not sure why. Much of it was just trying to control the ball because the defense was flat-out bringing it in the second half.

I think Elko likely told Klein to let’s just get out of Starkville with a win. Don’t get cute. Take what the defense is giving so we can grind yards and clock.

Had Conner not had the second-half interception and had Moss not had his long run called back, the scoreboard would have looked entirely different. But that’s football.

I’m not super proud of the offensive effort in this game because it was sporadic, but I’m not disappointed with it either. They stayed in front of Mississippi State in Starkville.

Defense:

The Aggie defense was a tale of two halves.

In the first half, they couldn’t stop giving up big plays. They were bringing plenty of pressure, but their failure to tackle at the second level resulted in some decent plays for Mississippi State.

The Aggie defense got a lot of that cleaned up in the second half, where there weren’t a lot of runs that even got to the second level.

If it wasn’t for Weigman’s interception, I don’t think Mississippi State even scores a point in the second half. The Aggie defense was that dominant.

Elko has two main calling cards from a defensive standpoint:

  1. Halftime Adjustments
  2. Third Down Conversions

We obviously had some serious halftime adjustments because Mississippi State struggled to move the ball in the second half. They had six offensive possessions in the second half, the longest one for 26 yards. That’s a controlling defense.

Third-down conversions were 5/16. I’m going off memory, but I feel like they had nine straight third-downs that didn’t convert.

After the Arkansas game, I wrote I was worried about the defensive line because I didn’t want a duplication of last year’s defensive line. That unit was good against inferior offensive lines but couldn’t bring pressure against decent offensive lines.

Well, this defensive line is not last year’s defensive line. This unit is DISRUPTIVE. I don’t know if it’s the best defensive line in the country, but it’s certainly in the conversation. These guys flat-out get after it and are the difference-makers for this whole team.

They continue to just live in the backfield, disrupting the opposing offense’s whole rhythm.

The linebacking trio of York, Williams, and Sanford continue to make massive strides as players, and the hybrid end/linebacker duo of Howell and Kennedy continue to make strides.

While they’re not always perfect, these guys disrupt, making it hard on an offense. Couple that with Elko and Bateman making adjustments, and this group of guys is just outstanding.

This defense still has issues in the secondary, most obviously at the safety positions. I’m going to include the nickel as a safety.

Jaydon Hill (number 8) needs to never see the field again. He is routinely burned on deep balls. It’s pretty clear offensive coordinators are trying to get him into man coverage with a receiver, and then they just burn him. He’s an obvious liability, and putting him in positions where he has man coverage on a wide receiver is foolish.

I wrote about him after the Missouri game, but the regression of Bryce Anderson is unreal. This dude has the raw athletic talent and seems to have the desire, but he’s not doing anything. He’s just nowhere to be found in the secondary. He had a couple of missed tackles on those big plays. I guess you keep running him out there, hoping the light finally comes on.

Dalton Brooks continues to play well. I think BJ Mayes is about to be the new nickel, and Marcus Ratcliffe is pushing Bryce Anderson to get his safety spot.

I thought Will Lee and Dez Ricks did decent enough at corner. They seemed to be playing with a big cushion, but I think that was more to keep Van Buren from going for big shots.

At least against them. Van Buren got a couple of big shots against Hill.

Overall, this secondary is doing enough, but it is clearly the weakest link behind the linebackers and defensive line.

I will give Elko credit. With all the transfers he brought in, he’s absolutely improved this unit. I questioned their ability before the season, but he’s absolutely developing them.

It’s not elite by any stretch, but it’s a massive improvement that has allowed this defense to make some strides from last season.

What About LSU?

Whatever happened in the Mississippi State game won’t matter around 10:30 on Saturday evening.

At that point, we’ll have either beat LSU or lost to LSU. Not a single person cheering for the maroon and white (yes, I’m aware of the rumors) will care about what happened in the Mississippi State game.

Hell, you probably don’t even care about Mississippi State right now.

I know the Aggies are a 3-point favorite to LSU, but to me, this is a total coin-flip game. It will all come down to which quarterback has the best game.

LSU is coming off what is probably their best game of the season. They basically controlled Arkansas from start to finish. Arkansas got down early and fought back in the second quarter and early in the third quarter, but they never truly threatened. LSU put it away late in third quarter thanks to an interception at the Arkansas 2 yard line. It was over at that point with the score at 24-10.

I’ve watched a good portion of LSU in their bigger games this season. They have an amazing collection of talent at some key positions.

Nussmeier can sling it as well as any quarterback in the country. Kyren Lacy has the talent to be the best receiver in college football. Caden Durham is starting to come on as a true freshman running the ball. They have one of the best offensive lines in the country.

Their offense has struggled at times, but when they find their gear, it’s as good as any offense in the country.

Their defense has been an issue this season, but they’ve played really well in the last two games against Ole Miss and Arkansas. Their defense seems to be finding its footing under first-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker.

Whit Weeks is the heart and soul of this defense, especially with Harold Perkins gone for the season.

The rest of the defense has talent, as there are plenty of guys that A&M recruited but ended up in Baton Rouge.

As usual, talent is not the problem in Baton Rouge.

The coaching matchup is going to be interesting because I don’t think Brian Kelly is that involved during a game. I think he approves the game plans during the week and then just lets it roll on Saturday nights.

He’ll ask some questions occasionally but doesn’t appear to be active in giving his coordinators guidance.

He’s a damn fine football coach, but I think he believes more in letting the script play out than tinkering with it during the game. It’s won him a lot more games than he lost, but I think it’s bit him a few times, especially in season openers.

Elko, on the other hand, seems a bit more involved with making adjustments, especially from a defensive standpoint.

This game will be a chess match because each team’s offense and defense are so different. LSU’s strength is its offense, while A&M’s strength is its defense.

A&M would love to establish the run and keep the LSU offense off the field while the LSU offense will want to take shots through the air. Nussmeier is averaging 40 passes a game at a 65% completion rate.

The dude wants to sling it. Nussmeier is going to get yards through the air. It’s just a matter of limiting the big plays and obviously score.

It’s all going to come down to Conner Weigman keeping the chains moving to chew the clock and then the Aggie defense pressuring Nussmeier for what snaps he’s taking out there.

It’s entirely possible, but I don’t see it.

I think LSU is playing with too much confidence coming off the big wins against Ole Miss and Arkansas. Confidence and talent are tough to overcome.

I don’t think A&M has been tested quite enough where LSU has. I see LSU making more plays than the Aggies.

I do think the Aggies will make a game of it, and it’ll be a back-and-forth contest for much of the night.

I just don’t think the Aggies have LSU’s talent, and LSU seems to be clicking right now.

I think LSU wins 27-23.

I hope Conner proves me wrong and he has the game of his life on Saturday night. The Aggies will need it to beat the Tigers.

I’m ready for things to not be like they used to be.

Georgia/Texas:

Real quick thoughts on the game in Austin on Saturday night:

• Kirby Smart is the new Nick Saban. The dude is head and shoulders above every college coach out there. I know he lost to Bama, but Georgia is about to march to Atlanta, taking out Tennessee and Ole Miss along the way. When the dust settles, they’ll be the SEC Champion and number one seed in the playoff.

• Texas is a damn good football team. Their offense just wasn’t ready for Georgia’s defense. Their defense is legit, and they did everything they could to keep them in that game. I think it’s possible they drop another game before coming to Kyle, but if I had to wager, they roll into Kyle at 10-1, looking to get past us and to Atlanta. I think it’ll be LSU and Georgia in Atlanta, but Texas will roll into Kyle determined to get past us to Atlanta.

• I hope the officiating fiasco on Saturday night finally spurs Greg Sankey into doing something about the quality of officiating in his league. Schools are making hundreds of millions from their football program, and the SEC is trotting out officials that screw up time and time again and aren’t held accountable. It’s bad leadership from him.

Thoughts from the Mizzou Game

Have you ever had that family member or friend who always let you down? But, you loved them so much you couldn’t quit loving them?

Well, for many of us, that’s been Aggie Football for 25 years. There have been a few moments of elation and excitement, but there has been a lot more head-shaking in disappointment.

I don’t know if what we saw on Saturday is the moment things will finally be different than they used to be. Or, that game was just a blip like we’ve seen before, and we’ll return to things being just as they used to be.

Nobody has any idea. I hope this moment is different, but we’ll have to wait 3 more weeks until LSU comes to Kyle Field for a better idea.

We haven’t seen a game in which we dominated a quality opponent from start to finish since South Carolina in 2014. Yes, it’s been a decade in which the game was never in question against a quality opponent.

What we saw on Saturday was a molly whopping. If you’ve ever wanted a visual definition of a molly whopping, you saw it on Saturday. We went bell to bell and hammered Missouri the entire game.

I had my concerns going into the game, but I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the elation and excitement from that game. We looked like a team that could beat anyone in the country. As the clock struck midnight on Saturday, it looked more and more like it. Every team in college football looks beatable this season.

I don’t know if this game was a case of the team taking extra motivation from everything Missouri said and did, but I hope the Aggies can bottle what they did and use it for the rest of the season.

If so, things are gonna turn much better for the Aggies.

With that win, the floor for calling this a successful season is now 9-3. 8-4 seems like a lock, as we need to find 2 wins out of Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Auburn. I’d like to think those are possible wins, but as you saw on Saturday, you can’t take anything for granted in the SEC.

It’s very possible we can go 10-2 and sneak into the college football playoff. It’s also possible we go 11-1 and find ourselves in Atlanta the first weekend in December.

Because our lone loss is to Notre Dame, we may also find our way to Atlanta at 10-2. We would only have one SEC loss, but a lot would have to be shaken loose.

We actually control our own destiny to Atlanta and the College Football Playoff. I would have NEVER guessed that after the Bowling Green game.

Say that again – We have a legit shot at controlling our own destiny to Atlanta and the College Football Playoff. College Football is WILD!

Let’s talk about the game.

Offense:

Welcome back, Conner Weigman. Completing 18 of 22 passes for 276 passes is flat-out having a day.

I don’t expect him to complete 82% of his passes the rest of the game, but the Conner we saw on Saturday should complete between 60% and 70% the rest of the way.

He completed passes to 10 guys. That’s spreading it out. He wasn’t just honed in with one guy.

He didn’t hit a ton of big passes, but he did have passes of 40, 33, and 29 yards. He was VERY methodical and surgical in carving up the Missouri defense. He didn’t have guys running wide open but they had enough separation and he was putting balls in the perfect spot.

My favorite pass from him was the 32-yarder to Terry Bussey on the second drive of the third quarter.

Thanks to a holding call, we had a 2nd and 20. Bussey had man coverage and was streaking down the field. When Conner let it go, I thought he was going for a deep ball. I quickly realized it was vastly underthrown, but then Bussey saw the ball and adjusted to it for a completion.

For the first time since I can’t remember, the Aggie offense completed a deep back shoulder fade. I’ve seen countless other college teams run that on Saturdays, and we finally did it!

It was the perfect play call in the moment and perfect execution.

I don’t know who this Collin Klein is. In the previous five games, I feel like we would have run some kind of screen or draw to hopefully get it to 2nd and 10 at best. It was definitely not a pass over 5 yards.

Instead, we threw caution to the wind and went for the big hit.

I LOVED IT!

Maybe Klein was just playing it conservatively due to Reed’s apparent passing limitations. Perhaps he read this blog and realized he needed to open things up. Whatever it was, I’m glad he did.

I sure hope there’s more of this Collin Klein in the second half of the season.

As for the rest of the offense, I can’t say enough great things about Le’Veon Moss. The dude carried the ball 12 times for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns.

His 75-yard run to open the second half was an absolute gut punch. The way he’s running, he will find himself playing on Sundays.

A part of me wants him to get more carries, but if we’re better off giving him fewer carries to keep him fresh, I’m okay with that. He’s clearly the best running back on this team.

As for the offensive line, I’m not saying anything bad about them. They had some frustrating holds and false starts, but they gave Conner plenty of time to throw and opened enough holes for 236 rushing yards.

They were magnificent. The progress we’ve made from last year is outstanding. I hope they continue to get better each week.

On the receiving side, nobody did anything truly special, but they all contributed to catching balls and moving downfield. I know that’s really generic-sounding, but the way Conner distributed the ball was truly an entire unit effort.

I’d like to think Noah Thomas and Conner will become a very reliable pass-and-catch duo in the second half. Coming into the season, I said their connection would be the biggest benefit to this offense. I hope it comes to fruition with those two.

I also hope Terry Bussey’s use in this game continues for the second half of the season. The formations where we had Moss and Bussey in the backfield had me salivating. Bussey’s athleticism and versatility in motioning in and out of the backfield will keep defenses guessing.

I have no idea why Collin Klein waited until the sixth game of the year to try new things on offense. I’m just glad he did.

I hope he’s not a turtle and goes back into his shell for the rest of the season.

Defense:

My biggest fear coming into this game was that Missouri, like Bama last year, would be able to neutralize the pressure from our defensive front after watching them destroy the Arkansas offensive line the week before.

Boy, was I wrong.

This defensive line destroyed the Missouri offensive line and pressured Brady Cook all game. Cook was a miserable 13 for 31 with only 186 yards passing. 52 yards came on Missouri’s final drive when the game was over. 59 came on the big touchdown catch.

75 yards of passing the rest of the game.

He was sacked five times and pressured the entire game. He never got comfortable in the pocket, and it was clear he was hearing footsteps the whole game.

I know Nic Scourton got a pretty good NIL deal to come to A&M, but he’s making himself a TON of money with his play on the field. He looks like a top 10 draft pick. The dude is an absolute beast and terrorizes offensive tackles. He wasn’t officially credited with a sack but he was in the backfield the entire game.

His three other buddies on the defensive line aren’t far behind him. What the four of them did against Missouri was domination. I don’t have any reason to think they can’t continue this.

My main reason for that belief is that Elko and Bateman are helping them. Unlike D.J. Durkin, who put last year’s defensive line on an island, Elko and Bateman are dialing up pressure from the second level. They’re putting at least two additional guys on the edge or gaps to confuse the offensive lineman about who’s coming.

You have no idea how helpful that is to the defensive front. That’s the biggest difference between last year’s defense and this year’s defense.

Speaking of those second-level guys, the whole rotation of York, Sanford, Williams, Kennedy, and Howell has been working really well. In that Missouri game, everyone seemed to know their assignments and execute them.

I was concerned with this unit coming into the season because Edge Cooper is such a talent. Not one of these guys has Edge’s talent, but they have progressed from the start of the season, at least from an applying pressure standpoint. I still have concerns with their coverage ability, but if they’re applying pressure, that helps a ton in coverage.

The coaching staff’s scheme is helping these guys. However, these guys deserve a ton of credit for executing the plan. Jimbo has to be so proud watching these guys execute.

Elko’s specialty is bringing pressure from areas that are hard to tell pre-snap. I know Bateman is the defensive coordinator, but I have to imagine Elko has some influence on the blitz packages and timing.

Dalton Brooks had the game of his young career on Saturday. The dude is a true sophomore, so he’s still developing, but he was all over the field on Saturday. He led the team in tackles and was laying the hammer. Fortunately, he’s doing it with his head up, so he doesn’t get called for targeting.

I guess Bryce Anderson is hurt. He doesn’t show up on the injury report, and I also don’t remember hearing his name called. He didn’t show up on the stat sheet, either. I’m not sure what’s going on with Anderson, but he and Brooks could be quite the duo.

As for coverage, we looked pretty damn good. Ricks got burned on a touchdown, but for the most part, our corners locked down their receivers.

I know the whole drama with Will Lee and the blanket for Theo Rease. That’s all stupid stuff because play on the field matters more than silly motivation tactics off the field. Especially when they wind up motivating the wrong guy. Lee got the better of all the Missouri receivers in the game. That’s what matters most.

I think Elko handled that nonsense well. Elko used it to motivate Lee and then accurately told people to ask the Missouri head coach about it. It was a clear motivation tactic from the Missouri side. It fell flat on the Missouri side.

I still have a feeling we’re going to bust coverage occasionally, but we shut down some pretty good receivers on Saturday. That was by far the best we’ve looked all season.

The most impressive thing from this defense was Missouri’s final drive. I believe we let our foot off the gas a bit, and Missouri drove down the field with a couple of nice passes to Luther Burden and a facemask by the Aggies.

Missouri got to first and 10 at the Aggie 11-yard line. They gained 8 yards on the first down, so they had second and 2 on the Aggie 3-yard line.

At that point, the Aggie defense decided to make a statement.

Missouri gained 1 yard on the next play and then stopped for no yards on the third play. The guys making the tackles on those two plays? The Shemar Brothers.

On 4th and 1, they gained a yard with a tackle by Albert Regis. That got them a first down at the Aggie 1.

In three plays on the three-yard line, Missouri only got 2 yards. It was a meaningless drive and meaningless points, but the Aggie front four was determined not to let them score up the middle.

That set up 1st and goal from Aggie 1 yard line. Missouri didn’t want to try up the middle again for whatever reason. They went outside to Luther Burden on a swing pass. Dalton Brooks read the play the entire way and took Burden down for a five-yard loss.

It’s 2nd and goal from the 6-yard line. Two incomplete passes later, Drinkwitz is running the field goal unit out there.

That was a massive goal-line stand in a meaningless moment. The Aggie defense was playing with a lot of pride.

Looking Forward:

So here’s the $20 million question: Was that game a Jimbo Blip, or are things finally going to be different than they used to be?

I’m putting on my maroon-colored glasses but leaving the maroon Kool-Aid on the counter for now. I’m hopeful but not certain. I’ve seen this situation before, and I’m hoping for a different outcome.

I know we control our own destiny for Atlanta and are in excellent shape. However, I’m gonna tap the brakes for just a bit.

We really have to win out to make Atlanta. We’re started too far back in the pack, and we’re not a blue blood. If we have 1 SEC loss and there are a couple other 1 loss teams that are blue bloods, we’ll find ourselves on the outside looking in.

I don’t see us winning out because the SEC is so tough. I don’t think we make Atlanta.

Even if we have 1 SEC loss, which I think is attainable, that still puts us in a 10-2 football program and likely in the College Football Playoff. That’s REALLY DAMN GOOD in Elko’s first season.

Losing two SEC games puts us at 9-3, a massive improvement over what we’ve seen. I want more than 9-3 right now, but I won’t complain about 9-3.

Let’s get through Starkville in two weeks because that place has been tough on us. I would love to see a convincing win on the road in the SEC, even if it’s Starkville.

Let’s get through that, and then we can focus on the swamp kitties coming to town.

Maybe, just maybe, things aren’t going to be like they used to be.