I got tied up last week and didn’t get a chance to blog about the South Carolina game.

I don’t really know what else to write other than – “It was the worst of halves, it was the best of halves.”

Seriously. We did everything we could in the first half to shoot ourselves in the foot—just mistake after mistake.

And then in the second half, we did everything damn near perfect save for that stupid play call on third down at the goal line.

Despite that stupidity, we still managed to hold on and win.

I can’t explain it. I wish I could offer you some great insight into how or why it happened, but I can’t. Other than to say this is an inconsistent football team, which we’ve seen all year.

Somehow, they find a way to win, and that’s all that matters.

If there is one main takeaway from the South Carolina game, I hope that in the future, Elko and Klein realize we need to punch the gas more on offense.

Especially with the games we have left.  That’s the Texas game, and then whatever postseason games.

At some point in the second half of the LSU game, they felt like the Aggies could control the game on the ground going forward.

Go for a more ground attack than an air attack.

It worked against Missouri, but it was failing against South Carolina in the first half.

I know ball control is tempting, especially for a defensive coach, but we’re gonna have to stress the defense every which way we can.

From here on out, I want to see an offense that stresses the defense across the entire field, even if it means some three-and-outs. We have the talent, so take the shots.

Texas Game:

As for the Texas game, I’m torn on what’s going to go down.

Maybe it’s my Battered Aggie Syndrome, but in the back of my mind, I can’t get rid of two things:

1. It’s tough to go undefeated.
2. Rivalry games are crazy.

I do think A&M walks into DKR with a better team, but Texas is still a formidable opponent.

Sure, we can point to their loss in Florida and the close games against Kentucky and Mississippi State.

Obviously, Georgia had their way with them in the second half.

But at the same time, they handled Vandy and Arkansas. Sure, the Vandy score was close at the end, but it was the equivalent of our Arkansas game. Vandy was never a real threat to win that game.

They kept Arkansas at bay in the first half and then put them away in the second half.

I know the Texas offensive line has struggled to protect Arch at times. At the same time, our defense should have crushed the South Carolina offensive line, but we didn’t do a thing for an entire half from a pressure standpoint.  

So one can rationalize all they want about how this match-up is going to go. As of this writing, the Aggies are a 2.5-point favorite. That says the Aggies are a slightly better team even on the road.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a close game.

I personally think it’s going to come down to three Ts to win:

1. The Toys
2. Tight Ends
3. Turnovers

The Toys:

I’ve referred to Concepcion and Craver as the toys since the Notre Dame game. While I’d love to see the same performance as Notre Dame for these two, I don’t see that happening. They get too much attention now.

I don’t see them putting up a combined 300 receiving yards between the two of them.

That doesn’t mean they can’t bust off 4-5 big plays that either score points directly or lead to the Aggies scoring points.  

The Tight Ends:

While the other receivers, not named Concepcion and Craver, have stepped up their game, I think using the tight ends will be really important to keep the Longhorn defense honest.

Marcel is going to have to recognize it is okay to hit these guys to move the chains rather than focus on the big play downfield.

Now, if you’ve got man coverage with Concepcion or Craver, by all means attack that. However, if you have safeties playing back, then take what’s underneath and keep moving the ball down the field.

No need to get greedy.

Especially near the end zone.

Turnovers:

This is totally obvious, but something that hasn’t been talked about is how sloppy Reed has been with the ball since the LSU game.

He had an awful interception in the end zone against LSU, and then again against South Carolina.  

Sure, he’s bailed himself out of these situations, but that’s a fire that’s gonna burn you at some point.

If Reed continues to turn the ball over, this is likely the game where it finally burns him.

I know those are all pretty obvious points, but most of sports are pretty obvious.  Just do better than the other team, and you’ll win most of your games.

Might as well add a fourth T – Tackling.

Texas likes to do a lot of short passes and get yards after the catch. Our secondary has had a few issues making initial tackles this season, and that can’t happen on Friday night.

Don’t let Texas get additional yards after contact.

So do those four Ts and the Aggies win this game without much issue.

I know, it’s obvious.

Random Thoughts:

Get ready for Texas to score some points. I have little doubt that Sark will have 4-5 plays that take advantage of the Aggies being overaggressive on defense.

Especially, the tendency for our defensive ends to not properly seal the edge or be too aggressive on backside pursuit of the ball.

I think Texas scores 17-20 points in this game.  Not a problem, as the Aggies should certainly score more.

I’m not too terribly worried about the cutbacks on the ground that destroyed us last year. Not saying Texas won’t break off some runs on cutbacks, but they flat-out gashed us last season on simple cutbacks by their running backs.

We’re better at defending those cutbacks this year than we were last year.

As for our offensive line, I defended rotating guys after the Missouri game when Reed-Adams got hurt, but I’m over that. I felt it was good to have everyone cross-trained and gain experience for the betterment of the offensive line.

For whatever reason, we went with the same offensive line group against South Carolina that we ended with in Missouri.

It was Fatheree, Bisontis, Zuhn, Nabou, and Crownover to start against Missouri.  That’s going from left tackle to right tackle. I can’t remember precisely when Reed-Adams came in against South Carolina, but he sat out the first three or four series.

That grouping of Fatheree, Bisontis, Zuhn, Nabou, and Crownover showed up against Samford, and we weren’t super clean as Reed got some pressure he shouldn’t have.

From this point going forward, I want to see Zuhn, Bisontis, Nabou, Reed-Adams, and Crownover. Barring an injury and a close game, I want those five guys in those five positions.

That’s clearly our best combination of offensive linemen. I want to see that grouping of offensive linemen the rest of the way.  

No need to tinker otherwise.

As for Arch Manning, I don’t think he’s a bad quarterback.

His challenges are no different than any other quarterback. When he doesn’t have time to throw, he struggles.

I’m not saying he should win the Heisman, but he’s not as bad as people make him out to be.

The media is a funny thing.  They’ll build someone up. Then they’ll take a big dump on that player when that player doesn’t live up to the hype they themselves created.

Arch isn’t going to make plays out of nothing, but if he has time, he can run Sark’s offense.

The Aggies have to make sure he doesn’t have time.

No different than any other quarterback.

Sark’s Schedule Sadness:

One thing that gives me a great deal of hope is Steve Sarkisian complaining about having to play an SEC game the week before this one, while A&M played a weak opponent in Samford.

I hope what Sark is really worried about is Mike Elko having extra time to draw up and install more of his exotic blitzes.

Sounds like a coach already making excuses. Hopefully, Sark knows he’s got a big challenge, and the schedule is making that challenge worse.

I don’t care.

Here’s the deal, Sark. The SEC has been set up like this forever. The SEC starts conference games before other conferences.

You came over from the Big 12, where non-conference games were all front-loaded.

You were playing Sam Houston for your fourth game while we were playing Auburn this season. It ain’t our fault, and it ain’t no conspiracy.

It’s due to your conference move.

Stop complaining to the media and tell your Athletic Director to schedule like everyone else.

Or maybe focus on coaching your team instead of making excuses in advance.

Speaking of Schedules:

I’m also tired of people saying the Aggies haven’t played anyone.  I’ll freely admit the teams we played have been disappointments, but we started the season with three teams in the Top 10 and two more in the Top 15.

We beat Notre Dame on the road. We emptied Tiger Stadium. We helped get Billy Napier and Hugh Freeze fired.

Maybe we get caught with our pants down in Austin, the SEC Championship, or the CFP.

Our schedule looked as tough as anyone in the country to start the season.  It’s not our fault we’ve exceeded expectations while others have fallen off.

All we can do is win the next two games and prove we’re one of the four best teams in the country going into the playoffs.

We do that, and nobody can say a damn thing about our schedule.

Special Teams Scares:

One thing that scares me about this game and every game from here on out is our special teams.

Short of KC Concepcion’s God given talent, I don’t have a lot of faith in our special teams right now.

Sure, the fake punt against Missouri was awesome, but there’s nothing else that gives me great confidence about our special teams.

I have a bad feeling it’s going to be our special teams that costs us our first loss of the season.

I’m not sure it’s in Austin, but it sure feels like if there’s a loss for the 2025 season, it’ll be because of special teams.

With all of that, I think this is somewhat of a coin flip game.  If the Aggies protect the ball, then they win. If not, Texas wins.

It’ll come down to one of the basic tenets of football.

Protecting the football.

You read all of that to get that fundamental analysis.  

Sometimes it really is that simple.

BTHO tu

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So it’s been over a week since the Aggies beat LSU.

I took some time off from blogging to think more about that win.

Some of it was due to Battered Aggie Syndrome, and some was due to cautious optimism.

I loved every minute of the second half of that LSU game. My problem is that’s precisely what happened last season. We were down at half and stormed back in the second half to beat LSU.

Then, we lost to South Carolina, Auburn, Texas, and USC in the bowl game. In the South Carolina and Texas games, we were pushed around badly.

I’ve spent the last week wondering if we’re about to see the same thing in front of us. Or is this year different from all the November collapses from previous seasons?

I do think it’s different.

This team is different from last year’s and previous teams, dating back to 2020.

We’ve got a seasoned quarterback who seems to be improving each week.  We’ve got a very seasoned offensive line that is doing a good job protecting that quarterback and creating running lanes for a talented group of running backs.

We’re even missing our best running back and still cranking out yards.

We’ve got two dynamic difference makers at receiver.

We’ve got a defense that has hiccups from time to time but can flat out bring pressure and, more often than not, shut down an offense.

Especially if they get them to third and six or longer.

I think the defense is only getting better as the young guys gain more experience.

I do think this team is different than every Aggie team we’ve seen since the 2020 season.

With one more win against our three SEC opponents, we will have punched our ticket to the College Football Playoff.

At worst, our record will be 10-2, which is good enough for the playoffs.

We still control our destiny to go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. We even have a slight margin of error: We could lose a game and still make Atlanta. That will all depend on how things shake out for the other SEC teams, who have one loss or less right now.

I’ll get to that later.

We’re sitting real pretty right now.

So now I’m just gonna ramble a little bit.

LSU Game Takeaways:

I have two big takeaways from that LSU game:

1. The Aggies still have not played a perfect game this season.
2. That was a REALLY poorly coached LSU team.

The first one excites me, and the second one concerns me.

The Aggies shot themselves in the foot in the first half. Marcel Reed had a really bad interception in the end zone and an unfortunate interception on a tipped ball.

Dezz Ricks committed a really stupid penalty after a third-down stop, which resulted in LSU scoring a touchdown when they should have punted.

We also had another blocked punt near our end zone, which luckily resulted in a safety for LSU instead of a touchdown.

Despite all of that, the Aggies were only down by four at halftime.

Then the Aggies straightened it out and dominated a poorly coached LSU team.

Most people don’t realize this, but the Aggies only attempted three passes in the second half. They decided to confuse the LSU defense with all kinds of looks and run the ball down their throats.

The Aggies used the running game and help from special teams returns to outscore LSU 35-0 in the second half. LSU got a late garbage touchdown, but the Aggies essentially put a 35-0 beatdown on LSU in the second half.

LSU didn’t know what to do. They were lost and clueless. Their defense was running themselves out of plays. Their offense couldn’t respond to being down because the A&M defense unleashed pressure everywhere.

The Aggies had seven total sacks on the night. Garrett Nussmeier couldn’t get comfortable, and the LSU offensive line couldn’t figure out where the pressure was coming from, thanks to the Aggies’ defense disguising who was coming.

It was total domination on both sides of the ball in the second half.

And yet it still wasn’t close to a perfect game.

As much as I am concerned that A&M beat a massively overrated team, I hope this Aggie team will get better.

We’ll find out over the next three and hopefully four SEC games.

Coaching:

I was very critical of Elko and Klein coming into this season.

Specifically, I believed Elko wasn’t involved in the actual game.  I felt Elko was just watching the game with his headset on, yelling at referees, and nothing more.

I felt Klein lacked creativity in his play designs. They were basically some semblance of the same plays over and over again, making it easy for the defense to defend.

Boy, what a difference a year has made.

We heard in the off-season that Elko would be more involved with calling the defense.  That’s been obvious, as our defensive third-down conversion is one of the best in the country.  That’s been an Elko calling card for his defensive coordinator career.

Other than the Notre Dame and Arkansas games, we’ve seen our defense clamp down in the second half, another hallmark of an Elko-led defense.

Effective halftime adjustments.

I have no clue why he was so hands-off on the defense last season. He seems to be fine handling the head coaching duties and helping call defensive plays this season.

I hope he continues to do it, as it seems to have made a massive difference on defense this season.

As for the offense and Collin Klein, I know he got two new toys in Concepcion and Craver. I also know he has a more seasoned line and quarterback.

However, his play design has been COMPLETELY different this season compared to last season. Maybe it’s because he felt he lacked the talent last season and was forced to be conservative.

This offense is night and day from last season. I can’t believe it’s the same coordinator from last season.

The pre-snap motion is more complex this season, and most importantly, the use of jet sweeps is confusing defenses on how to defend us at the line of scrimmage.

Defenses can’t just focus on between the tackles when defending the run. They have to worry about guys in motion getting the ball and getting outside.

I know we tried it with Bussey a few times last year, and it rarely worked, but it’s highly effective this year. Maybe it’s just the talent of Concepcion and Craver running the ball.

The routes we’re running are very complementary and getting guys open.

Again, maybe it’s just having the talent to do these things effectively, but I have to credit Klein for running an explosive offense.

While our defense has been sporadic, our offense has been the most consistent unit so far this season, especially since the Florida game.

I also have to credit Elko for letting Klein mash the gas with his offense. Many defensive head coaches would tell their offensive coordinator to be a little more conservative, but it’s clear Elko is letting Klein try to score as much as possible.

I think it also allows Elko to be a little more aggressive in his defensive play calling when we’ve got a lead.

Elko said something really interesting about the Arkansas game. Arkansas never had the ball in the second half, when they could have tied or taken the lead.

They were always playing two scores down. I think that’s why Elko kept the pressure up, hoping for that knockout punch rather than moving to a more conservative defense.

We’ll see what happens the rest of the way. I think Elko and Klein have adapted this season to definitely get us in the College Football Playoff. There’s also a good chance we’ll be in Atlanta on the first Saturday in December.

College Football Playoff Poll:

The first CFP poll comes out on Tuesday night, and there’s zero doubt the Aggies will be in the top four. I’m curious where they land, as they could even be in the top one or two.

I think Ohio State and Indiana will be number one and two, simply because they have been more consistent in their winning.

We can debate their competition all we want, but they’ve looked better winning than the Aggies in all of their games.

The Aggies have plenty of opportunity to polish their resume and overcome one of, if not both of, those teams.

Let’s keep winning and let our play speak for itself the rest of the way.  It’s too early to worry about what a collection of idiots thinks about specific rankings.

Winning will take care of itself.

How Likely is Atlanta?

I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little concerned about getting to Atlanta.

Sure, some of its BAS. However, much of it is because chaos is the usual rule of order for college football in November.

It’s tough to go undefeated, and you’re actually better off getting in a loss early on.

How far away does the Bama loss against FSU look right now? Ironically enough, how far away does LSU’s win over Clemson that first week look now?

Bama fans were contemplating firing their coach, and LSU was making plans for Miami in January.

Now, each team has flipped its view from that first week. LSU fired its coach, and Bama is looking at Miami in January.

Things can change in a hurry in college football.

Obviously, if we win out, we’ll be in Atlanta and probably get a bye week in the playoffs. At worst, we’ll be hosting a playoff game at Kyle as a very high seed.

If we lose a game, it will depend on who we lose it against.

Right now, Bama and the Aggies have no losses, while Ole Miss, Georgia, and Texas have one loss each.

Georgia and Texas are going to eliminate one of themselves in two weeks.

I think Ole Miss wins out.  Georgia wins out in the SEC if it gets by Texas. I don’t think Georgia loses to Mississippi State.  That’ll leave at least two teams with one loss.

I think Bama wins out, but OU and maybe even LSU could trip them up.  Either way, they have a margin for error like the Aggies.  

I’ve looked at the SEC Championship game tie-breaker rules, and I get tired head. It’s a six-step process that will likely come down to common opponents and records.

It will be an absolute mess if three or four teams have one loss.

It’s best if the Aggies win out and avoid trying to figure out who goes based on various opponents’ records and match-ups.

I do think the Aggies can win out, but two things concern me:

1. The previously mentioned November chaos.
2. The Aggies haven’t played a stinker of a game yet. They haven’t played a perfect game, but haven’t played a stinker, which is why they’re undefeated.

Maybe there’s no stinker game this season. The history of sports says there could be, which bothers me more than anything right now.

Mizzou doesn’t scare me as much with their starting QB out. South Carolina doesn’t scare me either, and I think having an early game at Kyle benefits us.

I have no clue what to think about Texas.  They’ve finally got their offense in gear over the last five quarters. I don’t know if that’s sustainable against a defense that can bring pressure.

We’ll learn a lot in two weeks when they go to Athens.

I want to look forward, but I just can’t.

Let’s get through Mizzou and South Carolina.

Then we can look at the map to Atlanta.

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