Last Saturday was a real head-scratcher of a game. It should have been a much bigger win, but it wasn’t.

A lot of Aggies ended the game wondering what it meant.

As someone who walked into the season very skeptical of this Aggie program, I saw many positives.

I’m well aware of the negatives, but there were more positives than negatives. That’s assuming this coaching staff and team can continue developing and improving each week.

In looking back, two things stood out to me:

1) Despite a few slight moments of worry in the game, the Aggies controlled the game from start to finish.
2) The defense had everything to do with that. They flat-out owned the Auburn offense the entire game.

The Aggie offense had a fair amount of self-inflicted issues, which caused this game to be closer on the scoreboard than on the field. We missed 6 points on missed field goals. We had a touchdown called back, having to settle for a field goal. That’s 10 points right there.

26-10 would feel much different than 16-10.

Take away the interception, which was essentially a Pick-6, and you’re talking about a potential 10-point swing since we were in field goal range.

That would have made the game 29-3.

I say that with some level of confidence because the defense was just so damn good on Saturday.

Not factoring in Auburn’s touchdown because that was on the Aggie offense, Auburn only attempted one field goal. That was thanks to a perfect pass that Will Lee might have intercepted, and then a personal foul by Albert Regis. Even on that drive, Auburn never got inside the 10-yard line. That was Auburn’s only trip inside the red zone the entire game.

The Aggie defense was that dominant on Saturday.

I’m sure you’ve seen the stats: Auburn didn’t convert a third or fourth down on Saturday. In addition, Auburn got 1 yard of offense in the fourth quarter.

Defensive domination.

Coaching:

I was critical of Elko and Klein coming into the season, but I can’t fault them for what they’ve done this season. They’ve not been perfect, but they seem more aware of their talent and this season’s competition.

I’ll address the 3rd and 1 playcall that resulted in the Pick-6. I disagree with it, but I don’t hate it. I get what Klein was trying to do. He was trying to be unpredictable.

Reed took a bad snap and threw a high pass that Bussey couldn’t bring in. It bounced favorably to Auburn, and the worst thing could have happened. It was at minimum a 7-point swing, but likely a 10-point swing or even a 14-point swing.

Klein was a little erratic this game, but I believe he was trying to stay balanced and not rely on one aspect of the offense. I actually get that. I’ve mentioned this before, but the Aggies will need to rely on the pass to beat teams.

Reed needs to develop a better rapport with his receivers and there’s only one way to do that – actually doing it in games.

I like that Klein is trying to continue developing the passing game. We won’t be able to rely solely on the running or passing game if we want to make Atlanta and the CFP. I wish he’d get better at sequencing plays, but I like what he’s doing this season much more than last.

Take away a couple of those offensive line penalties, and this offense would have looked entirely different on Saturday. Klein felt like a boxer who landed the first big punch, staggering the opponent, and then spent the rest of the game trying to land the final knockout punch. He almost had it with the Craver touchdown, but it got called back with a ticky-tack call.

Let’s see what he does against Mississippi State.

The defensive coaching was perfection. It really was. I can’t complain about one thing from the defensive effort on Saturday.

I didn’t see that defensive effort coming at all, but above everything else, it gives me hope this Aggie team can finally get to Atlanta and the CFP. The Auburn offense is pretty bad. Their offensive line and Jackson Arnold are terrible, but credit to Elko and company for coming up with the perfect scheme and getting the players to execute it. That’s often easier said than done.

Let’s get to the sides of the ball.

Offense:

I’ve talked about Klein, but the offense looked good enough. They weren’t even really good, which is encouraging, assuming they continue learning and developing.

Running Back:

Le’veon Moss had another solid day toting the rock. The dude carried 21 times for 140 yards and a score. That’s 6.6 yards a carry. The guy is the most underrated back in the country at this point. I have complete faith in him.

Reuben Owens looks like he’s starting to find his groove. He only had three carries, but he had 52 yards. Amari Daniels had a very serviceable day, carrying the ball 12 times for 42 yards while picking up blitzes.

This group continues to live up to its promise.

Offensive Line:

This unit is solely responsible for our offensive struggles. For all the good they did at times, their penalties flat-out held this offense back.

This unit’s actual play is still inconsistent. They’re really good at times and then struggle at other times. Reed was sacked four times, which is partially a testament to how much pressure Auburn brought most of the game, but also how much this line can still improve.

We will continue to see teams bring pressure and try to exploit this line.

I’m okay with this group, but they still have a lot of room for improvement. That’s even beyond all the penalties.

Wide Receiver:

Auburn made a conscious effort not to let Mario Craver have a big play. Not a terrible move. Craver still had four catches for 34 yards. He should have had five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown. You already know that.

Meanwhile, KC Concepcion had a productive day catching seven passes for 113 yards.

Craver and Concepcion didn’t have quite the impact they had in the Notre Dame game, but they certainly contributed to the production.

Niblack had a nice catch-and-run. This was a great catch as he was going across the middle and anticipated the contact. He kept his arms extended and brought them in right away, avoiding the contact to get quite a few yards after the catch.  A lot of guys would have short armed that ball and not caught it.

My only complaints about the receivers are Bussey and Bethel-roman. Bethel-roman seems to struggle to adjust to and catch balls. Two passes to him weren’t great, but he made zero adjustments to the ball. He basically runs his route. If the ball doesn’t hit him in stride, he won’t adjust and catch it.

Bussey seems to struggle with fluid routes and getting separation from the defender. I’d really like to see these guys develop. They could make an explosive offense even more explosive.

Quarterback:

Marcel Reed had a much better day than most people realize. He was an efficient 15 for 22 for 207 yards, which is an almost 70% completion rate. That has to be one of his most efficient days as a quarterback.

He won’t win the Heisman this season, but I see him continuing to develop the rest of the season. I’m hopeful there’s more to come from Reed.

Defense:

I’m going to talk about this group as a whole.

First, my apologies to Will Lee and Taurean York. I was critical of their play in the Notre Dame game, but they absolutely stepped up in this game.

York may have had the best game of his Aggie career. The dude was all over the field. His play anticipation was off the charts in this game.

Will Lee and Dez Ricks all but shut down Auburn’s receivers. Auburn has a great set of receivers. They only had 125 yards of receiving, with one pass going for 37 yards. Will Lee had perfect position on the receiver, to the point that a case could be made that he intercepted the ball.

Cam Coleman is one of the best receivers in the nation, but he was totally shut down, only catching four balls for 18 yards. His longest reception was for five yards. I can’t say enough good things about what Ricks and Lee did on Saturday.

I’m shocked at Ricks’ development, but I’m not complaining—massive kudos to him for what he’s done.

I talked about York already, but Daymion Sanford had another great game. I don’t know what to do when Scooby comes back, but it’s a good problem to have.

The defensive line had far and away its best game of the season. I liked what I saw from the defensive tackles in the Notre Dame game, and they continued to be disruptive against Auburn.  

The defensive ends did a great job of setting edges and not letting Auburn get outside. Auburn’s offensive line contributed to some of the performance, but seeing the defensive line take advantage of an inferior group was great.

The safeties looked great—especially Marcus Ratcliffe.

It was just a great effort by the entire defense. I don’t know how replicable it is because, as mentioned, the Auburn offensive line and Jackson Arnold are pretty bad.  

However, seeing them do so well is encouraging, as they didn’t have any lapses throughout the game.

You’re imparting your will when you hold the opponent to 1 yard in the fourth quarter.

Kudos to Elko and everyone else involved with the defense.

Looking Forward:

After Notre Dame and Auburn, there’s no doubt in my mind that A&M can beat everyone left on its schedule. That’s partially because of how this A&M team is playing and how the remaining teams have played. They all look beatable.

The Aggies won’t run the table, but if this team can keep doing what it’s doing and continue to develop, it will win a lot more games than it loses.

I’ll move the floor to 9-3 for this team and put the overall record at 10-2.

I need to see more from this team, along with LSU, Missouri, and Texas, before I get too confident about the 11 or even 12-win category.

We should be 7-0 when we head to Baton Rouge. After watching this team against Notre Dame and Auburn; wins over Mississippi State, Florida, and Arkansas seem probable.

They can absolutely lose any of those games if they get too confident and have a brain fart.

I’d like to see a perfect game in which they absolutely annihilate an opponent. I’m starting to get bought in on this team, but I’m going to hold back to see what happens in the next three games.

Let’s take it one game at a time and BTHO Mississippi State.

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