I’m not really sure where to begin this analysis.  I’ll also keep it as short as possible.

This game was a total head-scratcher because the score said one thing.  The stat sheet said something completely different.

A 48-20 win seems like a massive beatdown.  Somehow, we outscored Arizona State by 28 points but had 114 fewer yards.  Obviously, turnovers were the big factor in the score difference, but to be outgained by 114 yards is really confusing.

I feel like I’ve seen this game way too many times in the past.  The Aggies have an impressive win, but I walked away with no clue if we’re a good team or not.

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a bad football team.  It’s a good team.  I have no clue how good this team is.  I don’t think it’s a great team, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad team.

I think we’re easily a Top 25 football team.  I think we’re a borderline Top 15 team.  I don’t think we’re a Top 10 team based on what I’ve seen.

Our biggest issue without a doubt is the offense.

We have no running game, and we seem to have an OC who’s clearly learning on the job.

In the first half of the ASU game, I was actually wishing for Collin Klein.  It was clear ASU was running a defense that Wiggins couldn’t figure out how to attack.  They ran a zone defense, and nobody was open.

Couple that with virtually no running game, and this offense was stymied in the first half, much like last week.

We had 130 yards in the first half with 75 yards coming in one drive.  We had 55 yards on 5 other possessions.  That’s 11 yards per possession.  Of those five possessions, three were three-and-outs, so we didn’t even muster a first down.

Just a completely inconsistent offense.  I love the 75-yard drive, but I wish we could have gotten more out of the other five drives.

We got 10 points thanks to special teams on a punt return fumble.  Then the coaching staff did a nice job sniffing out a fake punt that gave us great field position,, and we got a field goal.

Same thing in the second half.  We had 152 yards of offense in the second half.  75 yards on one possession with the other 77 yards on the other six possessions.

Two possessions saw more than half of our offensive yards.  The other 11 possessions averaged 12 yards per possession.

At some point, this offense has to wake up if the Aggies are going to make the playoffs.

The ASU defense was daring us to run the ball while running zone coverage.  It makes sense.  We’ve struggled to establish the run, and Marcel tends to struggle against zone defenses.

This is the recipe defenses will use against us for the rest of the season.  The threat of a rushing attack isn’t there, so play black and clog up passing lanes.

We did exploit the zone, with Horton and Craver scoring touchdowns when they got open because of busted coverage.  There is some hope this offense can figure it out.

Offensive Unit Specifics:

I’ve mentioned it, but we have no running game.  Owens and Morrow ain’t the guys.  KJ Edwards showed off his explosiveness yet again.  I don’t know if you can trust him to handle 20 carries as a true freshman in the SEC.

I fully agree he needs more snaps in the first half.  I think it’s a bit much to expect Edwards to all of a sudden be the focus of our rushing attack.

Elko REALLY should have gone portaling for a running back in the offseason.  I think he’s going to regret that decision.

We have a highly inconsistent quarterback in Marcel Reed.  Sometimes he looks magical, and most of the time he looks lost.  His legs are such a saving grace.

He kept his streak alive by throwing an interception against a P4 opponent.  That’s his fourth straight game and 11th in 13 games since being named the starter.  He’s going to turn the ball over through the air.

But he also threw a beautiful touchdown to a tightly covered Isiah Horton.  That pass was perfect.

Until we see differently, Marcel Reed is exactly who he’s always been as an Aggie quarterback.  He’ll win you more games than he loses you, but he’s not going to win you every game.

The offensive line is totally suspect.  The interior is pretty bad.  Our guards struggle to run and pass block.  You’ll see defenses exploit that.  Our center and right tackle are just okay.  The clear bright spot is Tyree Adams pass blocking at left tackle.  That’s a great bright spot, as it helps Reed not worry about his blindside.

The receiving corps is the receiving corps.  It’s Horton and Craver then I have no clue. Bussey looked much better this week.  I’ll touch on that a bit later.  We’re going to need more yards out of this unit, but they’re limited right now due to coaching and quarterback play.

Offensive Coaching Challenges:

The biggest issue right now is Holmon Wiggins finding his way.  I want to think he’s going to evolve rapidly, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen.  I think he’s going to spend the better part of the game trying to figure out how to attack what he’s seeing from the defense.

His running game and offensive line aren’t helping him, but for the better part of the game, he had no clue how to attack the Arizona defense.  He had two nice drives, but it really seems like feast or famine with him.

This is where Elko really struggles as a head coach.  He offers nothing to the offense.  I think Wiggins would benefit from having someone help him diagnose what the defense is doing in real time, but I don’t think Elko really helps the offense in real time.  He just works the refs on obvious missed calls.

So that leaves an offensive staff that is a cobbled-together unit.

Wiggins is obviously the OC.  Trooper Taylor is the running backs coach.  Adam Cushing is the O-line coach and running game coordinator.  Joey Lynch is the QB coach.  John Perry is the receivers coach, and Derek Shay is the tight ends coach.

Lynch and Perry have experience calling plays but never at an elite level.  In fact, Lynch was let go from Vanderbilt in his last role as OC.

That means this staff has no elite play-calling experience.  Nobody to help guide Wiggins or give feedback.

In addition, this is Lynch and Perry’s first season as actual position coaches for A&M.  They were previously just on staff in analyst roles.

So three people on this offensive staff are working in roles for the first time.  Not much continuity at all.

Ironically, the guys with the most continuity are coaching the two position groups struggling most at running back and offensive line.

Cushing really needs to get this unit squared away and quickly.  We’ve seen offensive lines improve as the season wears on.  Maybe Cushing can get it done.

It’s not all bad with Wiggins as he does have some wrinkles here and there.

He used Terry Bussey well against ASU.  He wasn’t sending Bussey downfield and was using him around the line of scrimmage and underneath the downfield guys.

His use of Bussey on the 4th and 2 was a wonderful play call.

This offense could keep growing, but we’re getting into SEC play.  Even if the offense grows, it’s not going to show up on paper because the defenses get tougher from here.

Just go ahead and expect a consistently inconsistent offense from here on out.

Defense:

From a defensive standpoint, I don’t know what to make of that defensive performance.

First off, that receiver for Arizona State is really good.  He accounted for half of Arizona State’s offensive yards and all of their touchdowns. The problem is, we’re going to see receivers like him again.

We can’t just chalk it up to an elite receiver we won’t see again.

Arizona State rushed for 115 yards, but they didn’t have a rush over 20 yards and no rushing touchdowns.  29 rushes for an average of 4.0 yards per carry.

Sure, I’d like to see a more dominant rushing defense, but their rushing game didn’t really hurt us.

From a passing standpoint, we did a nice job, except for their leading receiver.  He had nine catches for 189 yards and the two scores.  Their next leading receiver had nine receptions for 29 yards.

The most obvious positive thing from our defense was the two interceptions returned for touchdowns.  That was like a boxer just landing two massive punches, putting the opponent on the ground for good.  They weren’t getting up.

I think our defense has some dudes that need to get used to playing with each other.  I’ve got some high hopes for this defensive line as they get more experience individually and together.

The defense has always been Mike Elko’s calling card, and I know that’s a big reason he was hired.  Other than one guy having his way with us, this defense has looked the part in two games.

But it has been Missouri State and Arizona State.  We’ll face much better offenses in the SEC.  This defense is going to see some much bigger tests.

I have no idea if it’s going to hold up. It’ll be good enough to keep us in most games, but there might be holes we haven’t seen an offense exploit.  My biggest concern is safeties in coverage.  It’s been an issue the past two seasons against better offenses.

We should get Daymion Sanford back this week.  He was excellent last season, and he should be a big boost to our defense.

The best defender right now is Dezz Ricks.  He’s got his receivers flat-out locked down.   He’s really developed into a shutdown corner.

The ends, Jones, Saka, and Searcy, have looked great.  Hicks has looked really good at defensive tackle.  Some guys are playing really well.

This defense is going to have some hiccups along the way, but in two games, they’ve played pretty good football other than letting Reed Harris have his way on Saturday.  It appears Kenny Dillingham got a complete steal getting Harris from Boston College via the portal.

I wish we had him.

I know I’m hedging with my defensive analysis, but I just don’t know if I can trust this defense against better SEC offenses. There are a lot of bright spots, but there are just enough holes to make me cautious. Call me a battered Aggie Football fan.

Special Teams:

Other than the Tyler White muffed snap, the special teams have been damn good this season.  We’re 4/4 on field goal attempts.

Quite a bit of change from last season.

Obviously, our recovery of Arizona State’s muffed punt was outstanding.  The best part of that play was the first man down taking out the punt returner so he couldn’t recover his mistake.  That was a real heads-up play and key to us getting the ball.

Bussey had a great punt return.

I was critical of Elko’s timeout on a 4th-down punt attempt against Missouri State, but he wisely used a timeout on a 4th-down punt against Arizona State.

I assumed they picked up something coming out of the timeout; Arizona State attempted the fake punt and got nowhere.  That created a 17-10 lead at half instead of a likely 14-10 halftime lead.

Anytime you use a timeout for points, it’s well spent.

Two games in, the special teams look really improved from last season.  We don’t have Concepcion returning punts, so that’s the only real negative.  That happens though.  Replacing first-round NFL guys isn’t easy.

Looking Forward:

I still stand by this is an 8-4 to 10-2 team.  Based on the first two weeks, LSU and Texas are losses.  Those games are certainly winnable, but I think their offenses will outpace ours.

Alabama seems like a tough one, but I need to see more from them.

Oklahoma took a massive step back with their loss to Michigan.  Our game against them might look like a 1930s game with both offenses struggling to gain yards.

I still need to see more of Tennessee and South Carolina.

I want to think we can beat the rest of our schedule that isn’t any of those teams, but who knows.

We’ll find out more this weekend against Kentucky.