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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