Game Review

Thoughts from the South Carolina Game

That may have been the most depressing win I’ve ever witnessed at Kyle Field. Not because I wanted the Aggies to lose. It’s the exact opposite of that. I want the Aggies to be great.

What I saw on Saturday was depressing because it was more of the same Jimbo Fisher. I fully expected that game to play out exactly how it did.

However, I had hope coming off the bye week with a record of 4-3 there would be a sense of urgency and some wrinkles we hadn’t seen in 6 years of Jimbo as the head coach. I knew better but I still had hope.

The only wrinkle we say was Jimbo using his timeouts before the end of the first half. That decision resulted in a touchdown thanks to an amazing play by Ainias Smith. That was the only thing different we’ve seen from Jimbo this season.

Everything else was the same with 7 games under our belt and an extra week to prepare. Jimbo doing the same thing that hasn’t been effective in almost 3 seasons of football.

We saw an offense come out flat and struggle to do anything on its first three drives.

I suppose this game was better than last year’s South Carolina game coming off a bye where we had two big turnovers on our first two offensive drives. I suppose punting on your first three possessions is better than two turnovers so that’s a positive. Even if our punter is still struggling like before the bye.

It’s still depressing we couldn’t come out and dictate our will to an inferior defense right from the start.

What we saw is a stubborn head coach who refuses to admit his way is an inferior way. Defenses know how to defend what they’re going up against.

Jimbo firmly believes his way is the best and it’s just about player execution. He’ll be damned if he admits his way needs to be adapted.

I’m going to write a longer piece on what to do with Jimbo Fisher later this week. I have some massive concerns like most Aggies and this game didn’t change anything despite the win.

Let’s talk about the South Carolina game.

Offense:

Quarterback:

Max Johnson didn’t have a bad day from a statistical standpoint. He was 20 for 30 which is a 67% completion percentage. He threw for one touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked three times on our second drive and under pressure for much of the first three offensive possessions.

Max looked like Max for much of his career in Aggieland. A pretty solid but not spectacular quarterback.

I think at this point we can just accept Max Johnson as who he is as a player. He’s very capable of manning the helm but he’s not going to carry the team by himself.

I think he’s limited by the scheme and the play calls but he’s going to need the help of the other 10 offensive players along with the coaching staff.

Offensive Line:

Like I’ve talked about all season the real key to this offense is the offensive line. At least the way Jimbo wants to run his offense. He still thinks it’s 2020.

Jimbo refuses to adapt to whatever issues this unit has. I don’t believe it to be one main issue and believe the issues are multiple.

Part of it is scheme, part of it is talent, and part of it is just overall attitude.

For whatever reason, the scheme is confusing this unit. Time and time again this unit is confused on who to block based on what the defense shows before and immediately after the snap. It’s not that complicated but they seem to focus on a single defender before the snap and don’t adjust at all when the ball is snapped. I don’t understand why this keeps happening. We’re eight games into this season and it keeps happening.

There are way too many instances of defenders running wide-open into the backfield because an offensive lineman didn’t pick them up. I suppose you could call this an execution issue which it is but when someone repeatedly fails at execution you have to look at the scheme.

From a talent standpoint, there’s decent enough talent but nobody is dominating. None of these guys are getting drafted based on their current play. I don’t get that because Kam Dewberry, Bryce Foster, and Layden Robinson all have NFL talent. I have no clue why these guys aren’t playing up to their talent but they’re not.

Despite their supposed raw natural talent, I don’t see any of these guys regularly just hammering their opponent. At least if you’re making execution issues go block the hell out of someone. Nobody is even doing that.

Their overall attitude seems to lack confidence. I think they’re so confused schematically they can’t just focus on physically beating their opponent. At some point, you just have to beat up the guy on the other side of the line. When you’re hesitant because of your assignment it’s going to contribute to your lack of physical domination.

Eight games in and this whole unit is struggling. So much so that we’re rotating guys at right tackle and left guard. That’s not something you want to be doing eight games into the season and totally on coaching.

As for the game itself, this unit seemed to improve as the game went on. Sadly, it was going from getting dominated to a stalemate but they did improve. That’s a positive.

They certainly never imposed their will on a defense they could have physically dominated. Two-thirds through the season and we’re just happy with a stalemate.

Yikes.

Running Back:

Le’Veon Moss was a late scratch due to a hamstring issue he suffered in the Tennessee game. I think that was a pretty big loss for us in the running game.

Amari Daniels and Rueben Owens split carries and were decent but not spectacular. They wound up gaining 108 yards on 31 carries which is a 3.5 yard per carry. Those numbers are elevated thanks to a 29-yard carry by Daniels in the 4th quarter.

That run increased the yards per carry by a yard. These two running backs aren’t haven’t been ripping off big runs this season which is why they’re running behind Moss.

Much of that is the offensive line but a good portion is the running backs themselves. Rueben Owens has all the talent in the world but he’s slow to the hole and doesn’t seem to be able to shake defenders.

Daniels is a nice change of pace back but he’s not an every-down back.

It’s just frustrating we have a noticeable drop-off at running back from our main guy. It shouldn’t be this way with the way football is played now. You should be able to plug in a running back with no issues.

Wide Receiver:

There’s no doubt that Ainias Smith is the most talented and dynamic player on the Aggie offense. He certainly showed it on Saturday. His touchdown catch before the end of the half was all him. At one point he was surrounded by three defenders and he somehow wiggled his way to a score.

You can’t coach that. However, what you can do as a coach is figure out a way to get this guy in space and then get him the ball. We probably still win on Saturday without Ainias but he certainly made it a much easier win.

Evan Stewart had a decent game but I expect more out of him. He’s not struggling to do more because of him as a player. It’s because of the coaches and the scheme.

I think the scheme that’s being used isn’t maximizing the talent of Stewart and Ainias. I have to imagine every defensive coordinator goes into each game worried about numbers 1 and 0 on offense. Yet the offensive coaches aren’t maximizing their talent.

I just don’t get it. This could be the best receiving tandem in the SEC but their talent isn’t being used like that. It’s all coaching.

Max Wright got HOSED on a non-touchdown call. It looked pretty clear he did an amazing job of dragging his back foot but he didn’t get the call.

I’m sure in Jimbo’s eyes that ended the narrative the Aggies haven’t scored a touchdown in the second half of four straight games. It’s all on the refs and not Jimbo.

Defense:

Here’s the craziest thing about the Jimbo Fisher era at A&M – while Jimbo has struggled to win games at A&M it hasn’t been because of the defense for the most part. Sure, there’s been hiccups here and there but by and large the defense has been the most consistent unit in almost six seasons of football.

Without this defense, we’re struggling for wins even more than we are. It’s crazy to think Jimbo’s calling card during his six years as the Aggie head coach is his defense. Other than recruiting, Jimbo has had ZERO to do with the defensive performance but it’s his best unit.

Think about that a little more if you will.

Defensive Line:

This is still the heart and soul of the defense. This unit kept South Carolina corralled all game long for the most part.

They forced Spencer Rattler to have three intentional groundings on three consecutive series. I’ve never seen that before. Rattler didn’t want to get hit and was chucking the ball out of bounds. It’s not a bad strategy as if there’s a receiver in the area you can potentially avoid a sack. You also don’t get pounded by fellas bigger and stronger than you. I don’t blame Rattler for trying but it’s a testament to a defense when the quarterback is so quick to give up on a play he’s just throwing the ball away between the tackles due to pressure.

If I have one complaint about this unit it’s that South Carolina’s lead back rushed 16 times for 72 yards. That’s a 4.5-yard-per-carry average.

I think part of this is due to a change in strategy by Durkin. Ever since getting burned by Miami and Alabama through the air while shutting down the run, Durkin is a little more willing to give up yards on the ground while limiting yards through the air.

It would have worked against Tennessee with a little bit of offense and special teams. It might have worked against Bama and Miami. At least one coach can make in-season adjustments.

It makes sense even if that 3-man front is frustrating to see. I care more about limiting points on the scoreboard and the defense has done a good job of that other than Miami and Alabama.

We’ll find out this Saturday against Ole Miss if Durkin can adjust back to stop the running run. Ole Miss is going to run the ball early and often. I’ll be curious to see if Durkin goes back to more 4-man fronts to shut down Ole Miss’ running attack. If he doesn’t it’s going to be a looooooooooong day as Quinshon Judkins will chew up yards against that 3-man front.

Linebacker:

I don’t need to write this as you know it but Edge Cooper is playing like a man possessed. I don’t think we’ve seen this linebacker player since Dat Nguyen. The dude is simply making play after play.

The best was the screen play where Cooper was surrounded by three South Carolina blockers. There wasn’t another Aggie defender in the area. Cooper somehow fought through all three blockers and was able to trip up the ball carrier. It was an amazing play.

Beyond Cooper, Taurean York and Chris Russell, Jr. are playing solid ball.

I don’t have any issues with this unit at all.

Secondary:

This unit seemed to be a hodge podge of players other than Demani Richardson, Bryce Anderson, and Jarred Kerr.

That’s not a bad thing as it worked.

Josh DeBerry seems to be playing more nickel than cornerback which I’m okay with. He doesn’t need to be covering elite outside receivers.

Tyreek Chappell and Deuce Harmon started at corner but rotated quite a bit with Sam McCall and Jayvon Thomas. Chappell appears to be a little banged up which contributed to the rotation at corner it sounds like. Either way, everyone played pretty decent on Saturday keeping Xavier Legette in check.

None of these guys stood out in this game but that’s okay. Give me a unit that’s playing great as a unit over a couple of guys standing out while other guys are blowing assignments.

Your secondary is only as strong as its weakest part. Let’s minimize the weakest parts.

Special Teams:

Nik Constantinou still struggles to punt averaging 34 yards per punt with a long of 37. I don’t know what’s going on but this kid is struggling big time. I have no idea how this kid has regressed so much. Apparently, neither does Jimbo or anyone on his coaching staff.

He came out of the bye week doing the same thing he’s done all year.

Randy Bond finally hit a field goal over 45 yards hitting a 52-yarder. He had another field goal attempt blocked. I don’t put that on Bond but just more of the same when it comes to our kicking game.

Maybe, just maybe, Jimbo could hire a special teams coach…

Looking Forward:

The Aggies have a chance to salvage their season by winning out which would put them at 9-3. Win a bowl game and you’ve got a 10-win season and a Top 25 finish. The Aggies would also be the second-best team in the SEC West with wins over Ole Miss and LSU. That’s a damn good season all things considered.

I just don’t see it happening. I firmly believe this to be a 7-5 finish with losses to Ole Miss and LSU on the road.

I’m going to write a much longer piece on what the Aggies should do with Jimbo Fisher assuming he does what I think he’s going to do.

I hope I’m wrong.

Just win, Jimbo.

Thoughts from the Tennessee Game

I said at the beginning of this season we wouldn’t know what we truly had for the 2023 season until after the Tennessee game.

Well, here we are. We’re 4-3 and on an 8-game road losing streak. We still have Ole Miss and LSU on the road this season. That doesn’t seem ideal to change the streak.

We have South Carolina in a couple of weeks at Kyle which we should win but it’s not a gimme by any stretch. We could easily lose that game if Rattler gets hot. Shane Beamer is up against the wall at 2-4 right now so he’s going to come in ready to gamble. That usually doesn’t work in our favor but I do think we win this game.

I do believe Mississippi State and Abilene Christian are wins so we’re staring down something between 6-6 and 8-4.

7-5 seems like the most likely outcome at this point. We’ll win at Kyle and lose on the road.

In year 6 of Jimbo Fisher with Top 10 recruiting classes we’re likely going to finish 7-5.

If only we had executed better in 3 of those losses we could be 7-0 right now. That’s what Jimbo will tell you. Execute, execute, execute. It’s all about the lack of execution by the players according to Jimbo.

It’s the same excuse over and over and over and over. Lack of execution.

What if Jimbo had coached differently rather than doing the same thing over and over again? Is that not possible? Maybe when your team isn’t executing you should try something different.

We hired Bobby Petrino to run the offense and make things better. You sure as hell wouldn’t know it. Does anything look different about this offense 7 games in? Not to me.

Sure, we’ve been more productive at times this year than last year. I think that’s simply a factor of talent over competition more than the actual scheme. We have better quarterback and receiver play this year than last year.

I don’t think anything about the actual scheme is that much different.

This offense looks exactly the same as the previous two years. There are a few wrinkles like more motion but at the end of the day, it’s the same.

It still takes forever to get plays in and lined up. There’s never any urgency. Players don’t always know assignments. It looks like the same damn offense even though we have an offensive coordinator.

The offensive line is a massive question mark letting defenders through like an amusement park turnstile.

The offense was supposed to be different this year but it’s not. If you’re an opposing defensive coordinator you can take film of any of the Aggie losses going back to 2021 to devise a winning scheme.

Just send pressure off the edges and mix in the occasional blitz in the middle of the line. Don’t even get cute on the edge pressure. Just have your defensive end or outside linebacker run a straight line through the tackle to get to the quarterback. They’ll get there.

If the Aggies need a yard then put a man head up on the center and as soon as the ball is snapped fire straight ahead as fast as possible. You’ll blow the center up.

It’s not a hard offense to defend and Jimbo refuses to admit it making adjustments to cover those deficiencies.

There are no quick passes and very few screens. Motion Ainias into the backfield and do a quick toss to see if he can get outside the edge rusher and juke a second-level defender. At least try and scare the defense they may not know what play is coming.

We don’t pressure the edge at all. It’s all about trying to get downfield with slow-developing plays.

Our motions are terrible as they never set up any plays. It’s like we just put players in motion because someone said it’s a good idea. We don’t use motion to our benefit it seems like.

Either way, Jimbo, just try SOMETHING different than the last 3 years. It’s mind-boggling he keeps running the same offense out there that’s not working.

Even more maddening is his lack of adjustment in the second half. Just the same thing the defense learned to shut down after the first couple of series and Jimbo keeps thinking it’s going to break loose.

We haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in the second half of our last three games against Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee. Three straight games and not a single offensive touchdown in the second half. Jimbo is supposed to be an offensive coach. Bobby Petrino is supposed to be a great offensive mind. The Aggie offense has been kept out of the end zone in the second half for three straight games.

If only we executed better…

That’s garbage. That’s not on player execution. It’s on a coaching staff not adapting to what the defense is doing.

Do you want to know what Jimbo REALLY thinks of his offense? For two weeks in a row, he refused to take timeouts to give his offense more snaps at the end of the first half.

That’s a CRYSTAL CLEAR sign he’s more worried about his offense making a mistake than making a play. A coach confident in his offense to take more snaps. A coach with no confidence in his offense wants to limit the snaps.

He can say what he wants but for two games in a row, he didn’t want his offense to take more snaps than necessary to end the first half. That’s a problem.

That’s just the offense. I haven’t got to special teams yet.

I suppose I should talk about the Tennessee game in a little more detail before I rant too much.

OFFENSE:

Offensive Line:

My greatest concern with this offense has been the offensive line. It’s looked decent at times until defensive coordinators remember the cheat code.

Apply pressure to our tackles. Our right tackle situation is terrible. Neither Bisontis nor Crownover have looked good against better opponents. They both routinely get pushed around or just whiff on slowing down a defender.

This has been a known problem for a couple of seasons now and it’s not been addressed. I know trying to start a true freshman in the SEC is not ideal but that’s what we’re doing. We’re in a bad way if there’s no other tackle on the roster that’s better than what we’re running out there. Just this last week Jimbo was talking about Crownover playing in the NFL. The dude got destroyed in 2 plays against Tennessee and didn’t see another snap. What the hell does Jimbo see?

I get building players up but game film matters more than anything else. I swear Jimbo sees stuff happen in games and just denies it’s happening because he sees it differently in practice.

I know Fatheree is hurt but he wasn’t exactly stellar last season. I’m not sure he’s the answer if he does get healthy.

I just can’t believe Jimbo, Petrino, and Addazio can watch GAME film, and believe those two guys are the absolute two best options. Apparently, they are which speaks to Jimbo’s roster management and player development. It’s year 6 and we don’t have a serviceable right tackle. We have a MASSIVE liability.

I don’t know what’s up with Bryce Foster but this guy has regressed from the 2021 season. He struggles to snap the ball and gets no push when we need it most. He routinely gets blown up when it’s clear we’re trying to run inside for a yard or two.

Same thing – is he truly the best option we have at center right now? I know he looks and talks the part. He probably practices great. His actual game film against better opponents is pretty bad.

I think our guard play is fine. At least relative to right tackle and center. Trey Zuhn has improved from last year but I certainly wouldn’t call him dominant. He struggles from time to time letting pressure get through. He’s not a concern relative to the other glaring issues though.

This offensive line is far and away the greatest liability of this team. Yet Jimbo won’t admit it with his play calling. He thinks this line can hold up giving the quarterback the needed seconds for plays to develop downfield. It’s just not happening.

Wide Receiver:

The use of our receivers is probably the most frustrating thing for me. We have serious talent with Evan, Ainias, Moose, and Noah Thomas.

Noah Thomas made some great catches against Tennessee but the other guys were non-existent for the most part. It’s not their fault.

To me, it’s the scheme. They just line them up and let them run normal routes. There are no bunch formations or bubble screens to see if they can break something loose.

The scheme is to just run them downfield in normal routes hoping they can break open while Max has enough time to get the ball off.

We’ve got some serious horses at receiver that are limited by the offensive line. Rather than give these guys a chance to make plays Jimbo just keeps hoping the offensive line can figure itself out and give the quarterback time.

Running Back:

Unfortunately, there’s not much to say here. Le’Veon Moss does as much as he can considering the offensive line issues. Jimbo seems content to ride him for good reason.

Rueben Owens is still a little green with hesitation in his game at times. Amari Daniels didn’t even see a snap due to his struggles with blocking I believe.

I would like to see more production out of this group but until the offensive line starts to exert any influence at the line of scrimmage there’s not much this unit can do.

Quarterback:

I read a stat that Max was pressured 65% of the plays on Saturday.

That’s 2/3. I don’t know how a quarterback can be successful with that pressure. Even on the 1/3, he’s not pressured he’s bracing himself for it.

Max isn’t perfect and he’s not without fault but he’s tasked with waiting on routes to develop in a pocket that’s routinely collapsing. It also doesn’t help he’s having to deal with an errant snap from time to time.

The fact the right tackle situation is his blind side only compounds the problem.

I’m not sure we’d have beaten Bama or Tennessee with Weigman under center. Weigman is more mobile but he didn’t light up Auburn before he got hurt. Max seems more apt to run than Weigman did. I think we’d have seen the same results if Weigman hadn’t gotten hurt.

I think no matter who’s under center is going to have a tall order in waiting on routes to develop while the pocket quickly disintegrates to nothing. We’ve got a scheme problem and not a talent problem.

Until the scheme changes to allow quicker routes or more rollouts whoever is quarterbacking will struggle.

Defense:

These guys flat-out played their asses off on Saturday.

I think the Tennessee passing game is pretty anemic for the most part so it’s not a dominant offense but this unit only gave up one touchdown and got a crucial turnover.

We went into the game missing Bryce Anderson and lost Edge Cooper at the half. We lost Walter Nolen in the fourth quarter. That’s three MASSIVE talent losses.

Still, the guys who took their spots stepped up in a big way not letting Tennessee make a big play, and got off the field without giving up a touchdown in the final three quarters.

I was a little frustrated by Durkin daring Tennessee to run but after the game it made sense. Milton is a streaky passer but he has a great arm. Our secondary is suspect. We moved DeBerry to a safety position due to the loss of Anderson and put Deuce Harmon in his spot at the corner.

Durkin knew his secondary was a massive man down so he didn’t want a repeat of Bama. He smartly dared Tennessee to run the ball hoping we could get them into stoppable third downs. The plan worked as the defense routinely stuffed the Tennessee offense on 3rd down forcing punts and field goal attempts.

We were even perfect on fourth-down attempts.

I had a bad feeling when Edge Cooper didn’t come out of the locker room after half we would lose. I was correct about us losing but I was wrong the defense would be the reason. Cooper certainly would have improved our defense maybe limiting a field goal or even two but we were always destined to lose that game.

I can’t say enough good things about this defensive unit. Since getting their pants pulled down against Miami this group has played four outstanding games. Certainly good enough for the Aggies to win.

Sure, the Bama game had issues but a better offensive performance in the second half and we probably win that game. Especially considering the defense got crucial turnovers in the second half of the Bama game and the offense did exactly zero with them.

As long as this unit doesn’t fall apart we’ll have a chance to win our remaining games. If for some reason this unit regresses we may struggle to make a bowl game.

I don’t see them regressing though.

Special Teams:

Oh boy. If you’re a regular reader of my blog you know I’ve been worried about our special teams all year.

Well, it killed us on Saturday. In a game where field position mattered, we couldn’t flip the field thanks to our punter.

He had a miserable game. It was pretty windy in the stadium but it was a weird wind. Depending on where you looked the wind was doing different things.

On the field, the flags on the goalposts weren’t going crazy and showed opposite directions at times. I don’t think wind on the field was a factor.

Constantinou averaged 32 yards a kick and his longest was only 38 yards Tennessee’s punter averaged 40 yards a kick with a long of 49. I don’t think you can just blame the wind if the other guy is finding better success.

The dagger was his punt from the end zone. When we got the ball on the goal line I was convinced they’d get a blocked punt for a touchdown. I knew Jimbo wasn’t going to be aggressive offensively so I knew we would likely be punting with as little space as possible.

I was right about where we’d be punting from. I just assumed Tennessee had a punt block dialed up. What I didn’t realize was Tennessee has an elite punt returner. He got the ball with a short field and took it to the house.

Randy Bond missed another field goal attempt over 45 yards. He continues to be perfect at missing field goal attempts longer than 45 yards this season. It could have mattered if the punting and offensive line struggles hadn’t mattered more.

How Jimbo doesn’t have a dedicated special teams coach is beyond me. Our special teams have been a massive liability under Jimbo his entire time at A&M.

The only bright spots have been Achane returning kicks and Ainias returning punts. Just raw talent excelling and not scheme or coaching.

Along the way, our special teams issues have contributed to losses against App State, South Carolina, Miami, and now Tennessee in just the last two years. There’s probably a couple I’m forgetting.

They certainly didn’t help against Alabama with the blocked field goal last week.

I can’t figure out if Jimbo can’t see this or just doesn’t care. The Aggie special teams are costing us games. It’s an absolute liability and Jimbo isn’t doing anything about it.

I assume hiring a dedicated special teams coach would help but who knows? The hire of Petrino hasn’t changed anything about our offense.

It’s extremely frustrating special teams have been a massive liability under Jimbo for two seasons and nothing has changed.

Just add it to the frustration list.

Looking Forward:

I hope that Jimbo takes the bye week to correct some of these issues. History says he won’t.

He’ll just focus on fundamentals and “executing better.” He won’t introduce any wrinkles or take advantage of an extra week to fix the glaring issues. He didn’t do it last season and didn’t do it this offseason. Why would this bye week be any different? It won’t.

Let’s be clear – He still has a path to win 10 games. Bama and Tennessee were the toughest tests for me. There’s ZERO margin for error but as of right now, Jimbo Fisher can still win 10 games this season including a bowl win. What a massive season it would be to close out with 6 straight wins.

Even though it could happen it won’t.

We’ll come out sluggish against South Carolina at home and likely eke out a somewhat convincing win.

Jimbo will think we’re back on track. We’ll march into Oxford and get punked by Lane Kiffin in a close game where Lane has a couple of offensive wrinkles that make the difference for his team.

We’ll come back home and beat Mississippi State convincingly. We’ll follow that up with a snooze win over Abilene Christian.

We’ll go to Baton Rouge the Saturday after Thanksgiving and get clocked by LSU where our defense just finally falls apart and their defense has their best performance of the year.

We’ll be 7-5 gassing up the buses for the drive down to Houston for the Texas Bowl. Ironically the same stadium where the national title game will be held.

It’ll be a fitting ending playing in the same stadium as the national championship game. An obvious reminder of how far we really are from the ultimate goal.

Jimbo will say we just have to work on fundamentals and execute better. We’re that close.

Whatever. It’s a tired act.

Just win, Jimbo.

Thoughts from the Bama Game

Since entering the SEC in 2012 the Aggies have never had a clearer path to Atlanta than what they did last Saturday. It wasn’t an easy path but it was as clear as it’s ever been.

It’s pretty obvious Texas A&M has as much talent as anyone else in the SEC West and was playing a very beatable Alabama football team. Get by Alabama and you can lose one game the rest of the way and still win the West getting to Atlanta. I’m assuming Ole Miss loses another game this year since they have Georgia on the schedule. Not an easy task for the Aggies but very doable.

Unfortunately, Jimbo Fisher is not cut of the same cloth as General William Sherman during the Civil War.

Jimbo had the opportunity to make a statement things truly “ain’t like they used to be”. However, the only statement Jimbo made is that things are just like they used to be. How far back “ain’t like they used to be” is open to interpretation but you can go back to 1998 if you want.

Sure, there were some blips in 2010 and 2012 but the Aggies still haven’t played for a conference championship since 1998. It makes planning for the first weekend of December much easier but that’s not what Aggie fans want.

Jimbo Fisher had the Fightin’ Texas Aggies poised to show everyone things are different now. All of the top-notch recruiting was finally going to prove differently. The Aggies finally had a clear path to march to Atlanta like General Sherman in the late Fall of 1864.

Unfortunately for Jimbo, Nick Saban stood in the way not ready to relinquish the crown of the SEC West.

You can’t tell me Alabama has a better receiving unit than Texas A&M.
You can’t tell me Alabama has better running backs than Texas A&M.
You can’t tell me that Jalen Milroe is a better quarterback than Max Johnson.
You can’t tell me Alabama has a better offensive line than Texas A&M.
You can’t tell me Alabama has a better defensive line than Texas A&M.
You can’t tell me Alabama has better linebackers than Texas A&M.
You can’t tell me Alabama has better safeties than Texas A&M.

I’m leaving the corners off that list above which I’ll get to later. Of all the things I’ve listed you can’t honestly say Alabama has more talent at any of those groups. You can certainly argue there might be a draw or a slight advantage to Alabama in a couple of those areas but for the most part, the team Jimbo Fisher put out on Kyle Field on Saturday had as much talent as Alabama.

He had the team to beat Nick Saban. He just didn’t have the ability as head coach.

I listened to a little bit of his post-game comments but it’s still the same thing. A little here and there and we win the game. The problem is it’s the same damn thing over and over again.

He added an offensive coordinator but he’s not changed how he manages games.

He took a 7-point lead into the half and came out flat yet again. The Aggie offense was essentially shut out for the entire second half while the defense played their ass off for the most part even getting two crucial turnovers.

We’ve seen this at Kyle way too many times in the last couple of years where the offense does NOTHING in the 3rd quarter letting a team slip back in or even worse give the game away:

2021 Mississippi State
2021 Alabama
2021 Auburn
2022 App State
2022 Ole Miss
2022 Florida
2022 LSU
2023 Alabama

Not in any of those games did the Aggie offense score a touchdown in the third quarter. Not a single touchdown. We had special teams and defensive touchdowns in the third quarter of those games but not an offensive touchdown.

AT KYLE FIELD THE CROWD IS NOT A FACTOR TO YOUR OFFENSE.

How is Jimbo so damn bad at getting his offense into gear in the third quarter of SEC home games over the last couple of seasons? We won 3 of those games but it’s a bit concerning the Aggie offense seems to struggle so badly in the third quarter of big games at Kyle. If not for touchdowns by special teams and defense we might have lost the 2021 Bama and 2022 LSU games. Thank goodness the 2021 Auburn team had a more inept offense than we did

That’s as concerning as his road record where he’s never beaten a team that finished the season with a record of 8-4 or better.

He’s showing some massive deficiencies he can’t seem to fix against good teams.

Teams are coming out of halftime AT KYLE FIELD and proving his offense inept. It’s frustrating as hell.

You know what? Screw this. I can’t type anymore about the Alabama game and why we lost. You watched the game if you’re reading this. You know why we lost. I’m not going into deep analysis because it’s obvious.

Jimbo Fisher did what Jimbo Fisher does which is fail to adapt to the opponent during the game. He sticks to his plan ignoring what’s changed as the game has progressed. He believes he’s smarter than everyone else and it’s other people to blame for the Aggie struggles.

Nick Saban took Jimbo to school all because Jimbo didn’t learn or adapt. My guess is Saban watched the Miami film and said to his staff let’s try that. It worked. Alabama did the EXACT same thing Miami did and it worked beautifully.

Jimbo either didn’t see it or didn’t know how to adjust. Likely a combination of the two.

Saban likely told his defensive line to just destroy our offensive line. Then he decided to let Milroe pick apart our secondary because Jimbo and Durkin thought they could confuse him with coverage and pulling pressure.

Meanwhile, all Alabama did was mostly go after our weakest link on defense. I’m not going to name who it is but you know who it is if you read this blog. It was a glaring weakness and we did nothing to mask it.

What Jimbo and Durkin should have done was EXACTLY what they did to Auburn and Arkansas. Apply pressure like crazy and do not let Milroe get comfortable. They thought they could confuse Milroe but they just gave him time to execute a plan that Saban had planned for all because he saw it on film earlier this year.

Jimbo and Durkin got too cute and it burned them. Jalen Milroe threw 33 passes completing 21 of them for 321 yards. He’s never come close to that effort in any other game but Saban was smart enough to know that was the only way to beat the Aggies on offense.

Strangely, it wasn’t the defense that truly lost the game. It was an inept offense in the second half that couldn’t score a single touchdown and mustered one successful field goal for 3 total points in the second half. The defense while not without fault did more than the other units to try and win the game. Coaching failed them.

Along the way, special teams also hurt the Aggies all because Jimbo doesn’t believe in wasting time on it. It’s annoying it even happens and it’s even more annoying that opposing coaches see it as an opportunity to gain an advantage. Stupid special teams.

We all know about the clock and timeout issues he has so no need to go over those. He just never has a sense of urgency believing timeouts are for deliberating as opposed to making sure his team has the most amount of time in crucial moments.

In Monday’s press conference, Jimbo was still blaming the ref on the Evan Stewart play. This is Jimbo’s problem – it’s always everyone else’s fault but his. THAT WAS ONE FLIPPING PLAY THAT WASN’T GOING FOR A TOUCHDOWN AND THE REF WASN’T EVEN REALLY OUT OF POSITION. THAT SINGLE PLAY WAS NOT WHY THE AGGIES LOST!!!! STOP USING IT AS A DAMN EXCUSE!

How stubborn and stupid can this man be? Damn, it’s frustrating.

Looking Forward:

I still firmly believe there’s enough talent to win out going 10-2 and being the sole team in second place in the SEC West. At this point that would be a FANTASTIC finish all things considered.

I just don’t see it happening. I don’t see how we beat Tennessee this weekend since Saban just basically confirmed how to beat this Aggie team. I thought we’d win at Ole Miss but I believe that feels like a loss right now. Call LSU a coin flip at this point and I think this is an 8-4 team at best.

South Carolina won’t be easy either as Rattler could get hot and you know Beamer is going to try a thing or two on special teams. I don’t think this is a 6-6 team but Jimbo can do fascinating things.

Jimbo had a chance to change the narrative on Saturday and didn’t do it. He still has the chance to change the narrative by running the table and winning a bowl game. He won’t do it.

He’ll stubbornly ignore an opposing coach implementing a game plan he’s seen before on how to beat the Aggies. Jimbo will blame the referees and the lack of execution on a few plays thinking if only those things would fix themselves the Aggies could win.

Meanwhile, everyone else will shake their head wondering why a man who was given everything from a program standpoint can’t see what everyone else sees.

Just win, Jimbo.

Thoughts from the Arkansas Game

Sometimes the final score of a game doesn’t indicate what happened. 34-22 in Arlington last weekend is certainly the case here.

If you didn’t watch the game you would have thought Arkansas put up a pretty good fight. The reality is Arkansas didn’t put up much of a fight at all. Especially after their first two offensive possessions. Sure, they got a couple of big plays to keep the game close but it was more about A&M shooting themselves in the foot more than anything else on those two scores.

Arkansas scored 10 direct points off turnovers and had a touchdown late in the game when the game was well in hand. That touchdown came off an Aggie turnover. The Aggie defense allowed zero touchdowns on Arkansas possessions that weren’t the result of an Aggie offense turnover.

In addition to those Arkansas points off turnovers, Texas A&M missed two field goals. That’s a potential 22-point swing. Arkansas went for 2 on that late touchdown and didn’t make it which is why it’s 22 and not 23.

Let’s say we take 16 points away from Arkansas and add 6 to the Aggies. That’s a 40-6 beatdown. We weren’t far from that score happening. There are another 7 potential points the Aggies missed out on but I’m not even counting those. It reasonably could have been 47-6.

A&M played a game with a decent amount of errors on offense and missed two field goals. Even with that, they walked away with a convincing 34-22 win. That’s pretty impressive when you can shoot yourself in the foot a few times and keep walking like nothing happened.

Let’s get to the game and I’m starting with the defense.

Defense:

For anyone calling D.J. Durkin by the name of D.J. Urkin, you can stop that for now. The defense stubbed their toe against Miami but his body of work so far as a defensive coordinator has been really solid to date. I don’t know if it keeps up but the Aggie defense has had more good games than bad games in his 17 games as Aggie Defensive Coordinator.

Right now, I would put Ole Miss, Florida, and Miami as outliers in his time in Aggieland. What the defense has done over the last three weeks has been dominant. They didn’t allow a touchdown in 11 straight quarters and the touchdown they did finally give up was off a turnover late in the game due to a defensive back brain fart.

I understand the opponents didn’t have the most dominant offenses but that’s the first game Arkansas essentially didn’t score a touchdown all season and Auburn scored two touchdowns on Georgia’s defense last weekend. The Aggies kept Auburn out of the end zone and basically did the same to Arkansas.

I don’t know how you can say that’s not damn impressive.

Defensive Line:

If you didn’t watch every snap of the Arkansas game you have no real clue how dominant the defensive line was. Sure, you can see the 7 sacks and 15 tackles for losses but if you didn’t watch every snap you don’t realize just how dominant it was.

These weren’t individual sacks as much as they were “swarm sacks”. What I mean by that is the ENTIRE defensive line was collapsing the pocket on pretty much every play. K.J. Jefferson is an outstanding runner which we’ve seen in the past.

However, on this day, he had nowhere to run because there was nowhere to run. All he could do was pull the ball down and wait to see which defender would take him down. Often it was more than one person taking him down. He couldn’t get away because the pocket had just collapsed and there were no lanes for him to run out of pressure. He just had to pull the ball and wait to be tackled.

That’s VERY rare in the game of modern football with a guy like Jefferson. Usually, an offensive line like Arkansas will keep the pocket as spread as possible so if Jefferson needs to take off there’s some kind of lane. There were no lanes on Saturday. Especially after the second possession.

The Aggie defensive line simply pushed or found their way into the Arkansas backfield while limiting space for Jefferson to get loose. The Arkansas offensive line is a little suspect but they couldn’t do anything against this Aggie defensive line. They just got dominated from the second possession on.

It was really impressive.

Individually, Walter Nolen and McKinnley Jackson were the most impressive. Those guys just collapsed the interior by brute force or contorting themselves past the interior of the Arkansas offensive line. I think these two guys are the best defensive tackles in college football. They’re certainly playing like it.

Shemar Turner also flashed at times.

The rest of the defensive line was impressive but these three guys are the core of this unit and allow the rest of the defense to make plays when they’re not making plays themselves.

The most impressive thing about the performance of these guys is the Arkansas coach said in his post-game press conference they prepared all week for the pressure. They KNEW it was coming but couldn’t do anything about it. That’s when you know you’re dominating.

Linebackers:

I bet Edge Cooper, Chris Russel, Jr., and Taurean York are just giggling at each other watching film right now. It looks like all these guys are doing is filling what gaps the defensive line creates. These guys are racking up tackles because all they have to do is fill the little gaps the defensive line creates.

They’re doing an outstanding job of it but it’s MUCH easier to fill a smaller gap than a larger gap.

I think this is the biggest difference in the defense right now. I don’t know who finally figured it but screw gap integrity. Let the defensive line just fire off the ball creating havoc and the linebackers just wait to see what gaps are created and then fill them with violent force before they get any bigger.

Our linebackers are pretty talented but it’s SO much easier to play linebacker when you don’t have to worry about big gaps or blockers teeing off on you.

I’m not taking anything away from our linebackers as they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. Keep supporting the defensive line and have fun making plays thanks to the guys in front of you.

Our linebackers are essentially the number 1 and 2 batters hitting in front of Barry Bonds in his prime steroids years. They saw pitches to hit and our guys are gonna have plays to make so just have fun benefitting by the dominating play of those around you.

Secondary:

Thanks to all the pressure by the lineman and linebackers the secondary didn’t have much to do this game. Arkansas only completed 9 of 17 passes. Jefferson was 6 for 9 on the first two possessions. That’s a 66% completion rate so that’s pretty good.

All of those passes were in the first quarter. That’s right. The majority of Jefferson’s pass attempts came in the first quarter.

Jefferson only attempted 8 passes the rest of the game for 3 completions. That’s a 38% completion rate. That’s not good. One of those was the botched coverage on the touchdown throw so he really should have been 2 for 8 which is a 25% completion rate. That’s terrible for 3 quarters of football in which you’re trailing.

Our front pressure shortened the time and field that our secondary had to defend which helped immensely.

If I have one concern coming out of this game it’s our ability to defend the deep ball with decent receivers. Specifically, Josh DeBerry. He’s been burned a couple of times now in the Miami and Arkansas games. If I’m an opposing offensive coordinator I’m trying to figure out a way to isolate him on a deep ball.

You need time to throw the ball but I would say the deep ball against #28 seems to be the Achilles Heel of this defense.

I hope I’m wrong but it’s the biggest concern I have about this defense right now. Assuming our defensive line keeps wreaking havoc we should be fine but if we start struggling to apply pressure I do believe there are components of this secondary that are vulnerable.

We’ll find out on Saturday because if there’s one man who can identify and take advantage of weaknesses it’s Nick Saban.

Offense:

Quarterback:

I’ll start with Max Johnson. There’s no bigger fan of Max Johnson than me. I’ve been banging his drum for two seasons. He’s a damn fine quarterback.

However, I don’t think he played that great of a game on Saturday. He was 17 of 28 for 210 yards so that’s not terrible but it’s just a 60% completion. Jahdae Walker had a few drops which certainly would have helped Max but Max kind of tailed off after the first two possessions.

He threw a BEAUTIFUL touchdown pass to Evan Stewart and was carving up the Arkansas defense. He completed his first 7 passes and it should have been 8 for a second score but Jahdae Walker stuttered on his route for some strange reason and missed the ball.

Similar to K.J. Jefferson, Max was 7 for 9 to start the game. After that, he was 10 for 21.

He went from a 78% passer on his first two drives to a not-even 50% passer the rest of the game.

I can’t explain why he tailed off but there was certainly a difference between Max on his first two possessions and Max the rest of the game.

Running wise Max is a damn fine scrambler. He’s way more athletic than you would think. He had some beautiful scrambles to get yards but he needs to avoid contact and hold onto the ball. Hopefully, Saturday was a big learning event for avoiding contact and holding onto the ball.

Max’s biggest failure in this game was pulling the ball from Le’Veon Moss on three occasions. I don’t know the play design but three times in the game Max put the ball in Moss’ belly and pulled it. Moss had a hole to run through and Max got tackled by backside pressure.

Even Jimbo was visibly upset about why Max kept the ball on a couple of those plays he should have let Moss take it.

I’m still behind Max Johnson. It’s impressive that we can still be so strong on offense when Max has kind of a Jekyll and Hyde day.

If he eliminates his mental and physical errors we’re going to roll opponents even more from an offensive standpoint.

Running Back:

A big issue I’ve had with Jimbo the last two years is his use of running backs. He seemed to have had a set rotation rather than adjust in the game to who was the most productive.

Not sure what happened on Saturday but Jimbo appeared to ride Le’Veon Moss in the running game which I’m okay with. He was producing more than any other back so he got the most carries. That makes sense.

Moss carried 17 times for 108 yards which is a 6.3-yard-per-carry average. That’s damn good.

Amari Daniels carried 10 times for 37 yards and Rueben Owens only saw 2 carries for 7 yards. That’s a 3.6 and 3.5 yards per carry average respectively.

Moss has kind of separated himself from Daniels and Owens as far as production goes. Owens is the most talented but he’s still a true freshman learning his way. Daniels is the most explosive but can’t do much if a hole isn’t there.

Moss seems to be the most aware of knowing what’s going to happen in front of him and exploiting it. Good to see Jimbo recognize it and give him the majority of the carries.

Offensive Line:

I thought the offensive line did fine for the most part. They gave Max time to throw and we rushed for 204 yards on 39 carries averaging 5.2 yards a carry.

I can’t complain about that.

If I have one concern about this group they cannot exert their dominance early in the game. I’m all about wearing a defense down over four quarters but it would be nice to see this offensive line come out and blow defenders off the ball early in the game.

Moss had runs of 15 and 30 yards on our final possession which were the longest runs of the day for Moss. It would be nice to see runs like that in the first half.

I do believe this line seems to be improving each game which is a great sign. They’re doing much better handling pressure and wearing down the defensive line late in games.

Playing ahead score-wise thanks to a dominant defense has helped that.

Just paints me a bit concerned if this team has to play from behind because this unit takes a while to exert some dominance on the defense.

Wide Receiver:

Because of the defensive effort, we weren’t forced to pass and Jimbo smartly played to protect the lead for the most part.

Ainias led the receivers with 4 catches for 71 yards. That’s a nice day but it’s certainly not dominant.

Evan Stewart had two BEAUTIFUL catches on his touchdown and play on the sideline. Both were just picture-perfect. He missed a good portion of the game for some reason but the fact he came out in the 4th quarter was a good sign. We’re going to need him for Alabama.

Jahdae Walker filled in for Stewart and had a TERRIBLE game. He stuttered on a route that had he kept going he would have walked in for the second touchdown of the game. He missed a couple of other balls where he was somewhat defended but very makeable plays.

Walker has looked good at times in his first four games but he didn’t do anything against Arkansas. He could have made a couple of big plays with one being for a score and the other a big first down. He did neither. Hopefully, it was a blip and he keeps developing.

Moose didn’t seem to see the field much as we ran a lot of tight ends and fullbacks this game.

Tight-end wise they weren’t dominant but Jake and Max each had a couple of nice catches to extend drives. They looked good blocking at times as well.

This unit still looks like it’s trying to find its identity. The talent is there but with the way the defense is playing I get limiting the desire for big plays and just keep moving the ball downfield in small chunks.

As long as Ainias keeps producing while Max and Evan hook up for beautiful touchdown passes I’m good where things are for now.

Special Teams:

What a day for Ainias. He had two beautiful punt returns taking one to the house. He had more all-purpose yards than Arkansas had offense. A nice statement game for him after ending his season in the same game last year.

Constantinou had a good day booting two punts over 50 yards inside the 20-yard line. I’m not complaining about that after the Auburn game.

Randy Bond seems to have an issue with any field goal over 45 yards. He missed his two attempts at 49 and 48. I don’t think he’s completed a field goal over 45 yards this season. He’s got to figure that out as there will likely come a game where we need 3 or 6 points from those distances. This is the SEC after all.

I still worry about this unit because we had an offside on a punt return and had a breakdown on a couple of kickoffs. Why we don’t just boot the ball through the end zone every kickoff I have no idea. We struggle to defend kickoffs and have been burned in the South Carolina game last year and the Miami game this year with kickoff returns for touchdowns.

With our defense just let the offense start at their own 25 and not give the other team’s special teams a chance to gain better field position or even score.

Kick the damn ball in the endzone and be done with it.

Let’s Talk About Bama, Baby:

I get it. You’re over the Arkansas game and focused solely on the Bama game.

On paper, I think things favor the Aggies. Bama can’t block and the Aggie defensive line can destroy offensive lines. One has to think those trends continue on Saturday.

My biggest problem is we’re still going up against Nick Saban and he’s not ready to give up the SEC West to anyone. Certainly not Jimbo Fisher.

I think this is going to be a pretty low-scoring game. I think both Saban and Jimbo are going to coach very conservatively hoping the other team makes a mistake. Rather than be a turnover offensively or a botched defensive assignment for a big play, I think Saban and Jimbo are going to hope the other team makes a fatal mistake.

They certainly don’t want to be the team making the fatal mistake.

For me, this game is going to come down to the Aggie defense against Jalen Milroe. If Milroe gets lanes to run or the Aggies let a Bama receiver get deep Bama will win the game. Milroe is one of the best running quarterbacks in football and you have to keep him contained.

Along with that, I think Bama is going to see if they can isolate one of their talented receivers on Josh DeBerry and burn him deep.

For the Aggies offensively, I think we’re going to see if we can establish the run so we can leverage some play action. Because of the nature of the game, I don’t think the Aggies try to get greedy early on believing their defense will limit the Bama offense.

Throw some quick punches and see what you can land before trying to land something big. I feel confident our offense will move the ball and score some points but I have no clue how many.

What I can’t figure out right now is if this is 2020 Jimbo or 2021 Jimbo that spit the bit in games that mattered and were winnable. This wouldn’t be a shocking win by any stretch to those who have watched these two teams this season and not relying on past performance.

Can Jimbo make a statement it’s not like it used to be? I don’t know.

What I’m REALLY hoping is this 2023 defensive line is the equivalent of the 2020 offensive line and running game. The 2020 running game would impart its will against the opponent. There’s no reason the 2023 defensive line can’t do the same against opponents because it has the talent and has shown it knows how to do it.

I just don’t know if we can establish defensive pressure when it matters most. I still have concerns about Jimbo and his coaching in a game like this.

With that, I’m going with Bama in a VERY close game. Tide 23 and the Aggies 20.

Just win, Jimbo.

Thoughts On The Miami Game

R.C. Slocum once famously said that half the teams in college football lose every week. That comment infuriated me at the time but now in Year 6 of Jimbo Fisher I realize how prophetic R.C. was.

The Aggies are just going to lose important games here and there. Stop thinking things are going to change.

Silly me. Here I was thinking yet again that things would FINALLY change with Aggie Football. In Week 2 of Jimbo Fisher’s sixth season, we all got a dose of reality. Some of the names associated with Jimbo’s time in Aggieland may change but the results are going to continue.

I mean, half the teams in college football lose every week. Sometimes it’s going to be the Aggies.

As for the game itself, I don’t know where to start.

I’ll start with the fact if you told me the Aggies would score 33 points while limiting Miami to under 100 yards rushing with no rushing touchdowns I would have been certain the Aggies won. I wouldn’t have even questioned it.

That’s what happened and somehow the Aggies lost.

I’m not going to do my usual breakdown of groups on both sides of the ball because the issue on Saturday afternoon was coaching. Sure, there were certainly miscues by players at times but by and large coaching lost the game on Saturday.

HC Jimbo didn’t do anything different than OC Jimbo. Jimbo didn’t see what Miami was doing and made enough adjustments on both sides of the ball. We’ve seen this same movie several times now. It just has a different title and names from time to time.

Miami did two things on Saturday that Jimbo and his staff refused to address during the game:
1) Apply pressure off the edges on defense.
2) Attack the Aggie defense through the air.

Miami’s Defensive Pressure:

Miami did an obvious job of watching film from last year and even last week. The Aggies are susceptible to pressure from the edge. It was the Achilles Heel last season and even against New Mexico, we struggled to pick up pressure via the blitz.

The Miami staff likely realized they have much better athletes than New Mexico and they could apply pressure. They were right. Time and time again Miami brought pressure from the edge where Conner could never get comfortable.

I thought Conner played a decent enough game but he was barely a 60% passer. He could have been a much more effective passer if the coaching staff had addressed the pressure off the edges.

Most importantly, the backside pressure that Miami applied all night long. There were several times we let a Miami defender run untouched from the left side of our line. We weren’t even chipping him with our running back. The running back was flaring out into the flat as a safety valve but Conner never hit him.

I don’t know why Conner never hit the running back right out of the backfield to see if they could slow down that backside pressure. It seemed obvious when that pressure was coming and that defender was allowed to run free. We never took advantage of the space they were leaving even though it seemed obvious they were coming. We hit that back flaring out a couple of times for decent gains and that pressure likely goes away. At least slow it down some.

I was also hoping Conner would have stared that pressure down giving him a juke to buy more time. He never did that. I think Conner can juke a blitzer and buy more time but for some reason, he never tried it.
Instead, all he did was let that pressure dictate how quickly he got rid of the ball. That edge pressure never let our offense settle in and make the plays we wanted. We simply passed the ball sooner than we wanted to.

At least that’s what it looked like. Way too many Miami defenders running untouched and unaccounted for in the backfield.

Some of why Conner went from an 80% passer to a 60% passer in one week is because of the Miami athletes but a big part of it was Miami’s scheme. The Miami defense simply did what other defenses did against us last year. Make the Aggie quarterback throw before they want to.

Jimbo and Petrino have to address this pressure off the edges and cause teams to stop doing it. That happens through scheme and coaching.

Lack of Aggie Defensive Pressure:

Conversely, because A&M under D.J. Durkin rarely blitzes or applies pressure the Miami coaching staff smartly realized they could attack downfield because Van Dyke would have more time.

The ironic thing about all of this is Miami is a running team at heart. Durkin got ripped last season for not stopping the run. The Aggie team did a REMARKABLE job of stopping the run against Miami.
It was clear the Aggie defense was committed to not letting Miami run the ball. They succeeded in doing that.

The problem is Miami adapted by attacking the Aggie defense through the air. Jimbo and Durkin never adapted to that threat.

The Aggies had two sacks but had exactly ZERO quarterback hurries. Not a single one. At least according to the stat sheet on the A&M website.

Van Dyke attempted 30 passes and wasn’t hurried on a single one.

Durkin was so focused on stopping the run he had NOTHING in his arsenal to apply pressure or confuse the Miami offense to make mistakes in the passing game. A lot of that is on Durkin but at some point, Jimbo needs to ask on the headset if Durkin has any unique blitzes he can call.

Don’t forget Durkin works for Jimbo and Jimbo needs to be held accountable for what happens on defense as well. Jimbo has a set of eyes and can question the in-game planning.

All the Aggie defense did was send their four down linemen upfield while the linebackers waited to see where the ball was going. I feel like we sent a linebacker a time or two but we sure as hell didn’t disguise anything with our secondary at the line of scrimmage to make it look like we might blitz.

We just had our four down linemen and two linebackers in position all game long while the secondary stood back waiting to see what happened. We did nothing to confuse or pressure the Miami passing attack.

We have a TON of defensive line talent and I thought Cooper and York were fine at linebacker on Saturday. However, you have to scheme against good teams to give them looks they’re not prepared for. I didn’t see any of that on Saturday.

I simply saw a defense that thought they could be very basic and out talent the opponent. It didn’t work. Miami has enough talent to overcome a basic defensive plan.

Coaching Mattered:

Miami did the exact opposite of Jimbo and his staff by scheming and adjusting during the game. Cristobal got the best of Jimbo.

I know that’s not a lot of analysis on the game but if you watched the game it was the Same Old Jimbo that’s stubborn as hell at in-game adjustments. I don’t know if he can’t see it or just isn’t prepared for it.

I’ll give Jimbo and his staff credit the original game plan worked. We moved the ball for a quarter and a half and shut down the Miami run. The problem is Miami realized that and adjusted.

It’s like Jimbo walks into a game with a set plan and if it’s not working or stops working then he’ll be damned because he’s going to force it to work. Yet time and time again it doesn’t.

Saturday was no different. There are now at least 10 games in the last three seasons where Jimbo could have made a few adjustments to win a game but he didn’t. He just comes in with a plan and keeps repeating it hoping it’ll work rather than adjust it.

Meanwhile, the coaching staff on the other side of the field is making adjustments to their plan of attack.
It’s getting really old.

Looking Forward:

I had this Aggie team at 9-3 in 2023. I think that’s a little ambitious at this point. There are probably three to four more losses based on what we saw on Saturday. That will put us at 7-5 or 8-4. It’ll be better than last year but it’ll still be a VERY frustrating season.

The good news is the SEC and especially the SEC West looks down this season. The Aggies have the talent to run the table. I’m not kidding. This team has enough talent and there’s not a team the Aggies can’t beat.

I said earlier this year that until we were done with Tennessee we won’t truly know what we have for the 2023 season. I still feel that way but what I saw on Saturday doesn’t make me feel any better.

Jimbo and his crew will decide how many games the Aggies win for the rest of the year.

This is still a VERY talented team. Talent isn’t the issue at all. It’s all coaching and it starts with the man with the title of Head Coach.

It’s up to you, Jimbo. Aggie fans will just be here sitting on our hands hoping you can figure out something that’s different than the last two seasons and what we saw on Saturday.

A few names have changed on your staff but the product on the field hasn’t changed much.
It’s getting old, buddy.

Just Win, Jimbo.

Thoughts From the New Mexico Game

Overall:

I’m beginning with the most obvious thing from Saturday night – For the first time in a long time, it seemed like an Aggie football team was prepared for their first opponent of the season.

I know it’s just New Mexico who’s not that great but this Aggie team came out with a plan and executed it to damn near perfection. It was refreshing to see.

In addition to the overall execution, it seemed Jimbo may have changed as a coach. The most telling of this was at the end of the first half when he was calling preserved timeouts to get the ball back with less than a minute to go in the game.

I feel like “OC Jimbo” would have let New Mexico run out the clock and get to halftime. “HC Jimbo” was wanting the ball back for another possession already up 35-7. Those timeouts resulted in a blocked field goal but that was a smart use of timeouts. It gave us an extra field goal attempt in a game situation. You can’t simulate that in practice.

The kick got blocked so we obviously needed the practice.

The worst part of the game was the opening possession of the second half. The Aggies got the ball to start the second half and immediately got a substitution penalty before they ever took a snap. How the hell does that happen coming out of halftime? The Aggie offense then had a 3 and out resulting in a punt. I saw flashes of 2022 Aggie Football all over again.

They got the ship righted and scored 17 points in the second half so that drive seemed like just a blip. I was worried for a moment. Decades of Aggie Football will cause trauma to a person.

It’s only one game against New Mexico but I felt Jimbo managed this game as a true head coach. Of course, it’s easy to manage when your units are having their way for the most part. However, Jimbo seemed to be a true head coach and not just an offensive coordinator moonlighting as a head coach as well.

Offense:

Play Calling:

The main thing I remember about great Bobby Petrino’s offenses is his ability to not complicate things and attack obvious opportunities. That’s exactly what he did on Saturday night. New Mexico was essentially daring the Aggies to pass by loading up the box and committing to the run. They weren’t giving their defensive backs any help so Bobby decided to just go at them. No need to complicate it.

If they’re going to give you something then take it.

If I have one complaint about the playcalling on Saturday night it’s that I didn’t see any creative play designs. They weren’t needed so I do agree with why call them if they’re not needed.

As we face tougher teams I hope we have unique playcalls that haven’t been seen before to surprise a defense.

One game at a time…

Quarterback:

Not much to say about Conner Weigman other than he looked OUTSTANDING. I was SHOCKED to learn he only threw for 236 yards. It felt like he was constantly lighting up the New Mexico defense. That’s a testament to our defense for the field position our offense started with.

He was 18 for 23 passing which is almost 80%. I know it’s New Mexico but he was accurate as hell.

His best pass by far was his final touchdown pass to Evan Stewart. He hit Stewart in perfect stride running away from his defender in the end zone. It wasn’t an easy pass but Conner put it right on the money. That’s the photo above so you can see the perfect placement.

You can critique some of his throws as he probably should have let them go a little sooner but by and large, he threw passes only his receivers could catch and defenders couldn’t defend. Once again, I know it’s New Mexico but it’s always good to see a quarterback not only make smart decisions but execute on those decisions. Conner saw the obvious plays early and executed them quickly.

From a running standpoint, he had a nice scramble but it seems the plan for Weigman is to use his arm over his legs. I’m good with that.

I know a lot of Aggies want to compare him to Johnny but I think he’s more of a Patrick Mahomes-type quarterback. He has elite decision-making and accuracy with above-average scrambling ability. If we get the second coming of Patrick Mahomes in college I’m not going to complain about it one bit.

He’s likely not going to put up gaudy numbers like some quarterbacks but he’s making smart decisions leading his offense to points. That’s WAY more important than gaudy numbers.

Zero complaints about number 15 on Saturday night.

Running Backs:

The running backs split carries about as equally as you can on Saturday night. New Mexico was focused on not letting the Aggies get loose on the ground containing the Aggie running game for the most part.

The Aggies still managed to gain 102 yards on 20 carries with their three running backs which is 5 yards a carry. That’s not a bad yards per carry at all.

Individually they all look different. Amari Daniels looks like the most explosive back by far. His issue is that he doesn’t seem to have much patience to watch holes develop. If there’s a hole he’s going to get a chunk of yards but if there’s not a hole he’s getting stopped.

Laveon Moss looks like he’s lost a little weight but is definitely the physical back of the three. He converted a nice 3rd and 1 at the 2-yard line for a touchdown. He looks like the short yardage back. His problem is he seems to get banged up quite a bit. He limped off the field a couple of times and even went to the locker room once. He seemed to be fine though as he kept going back out.

Rueben Owens got 7 carries for 26 yards which isn’t spectacular but he is a true freshman playing in his first college game. He’s got the most talent but just needs to get some experience.

It’ll be interesting to see how things develop. It seems like Petrino is willing to use all three until a hot hand emerges.

Receivers:

The night at receiver belonged to Evan Stewart and Noah Thomas. We all know about Stewart’s talent and Thomas came on strong last year.

They both had a night scoring 5 touchdowns between them. Much like Weigman it’s a little shocking to learn Stewart only had 115 yards receiving and Thomas 74 yards. It seemed like they had 300 yards between them.

As mentioned earlier New Mexico dared the Aggies to beat them one-on-one and that’s exactly what Wiegman and his pass catchers did. These guys are dialed into one another when it comes to throwing and catching.

Ainias had a couple of nice catches as did Moose late in the game.

The surprise of the night was Jahdae Walker. I heard he had a good camp but he made a couple of nice catches to show he can carry practice over to a game. He looks like he’s going to add some solid depth to our receiving group.

All of these guys are going to get used differently week to week depending on what the defense does. When it’s man you’re likely going to see Stewart and Thomas shine. When it’s zone coverage I think we’ll see a lot of Ainias, Moose, and the tight ends.

Just let the defense decide how they should be attacked.

Offensive Line:

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GROUP WAS NO FALSE STARTS AND NO HOLDING PENALTIES.

These guys looked like an actual unit on Saturday night. They weren’t dominant by any stretch as the running game couldn’t quite get going and Weigman had pressure from time to time. That was mainly due to numbers but there were a couple of snafus so they weren’t perfect.

However, for the most part, they played like an actual unit which was a far cry from last year when they were flat out lost at times.

They’ll have a big test against Miami this weekend but this was a good first step for this unit.

Defense:

Overall:

This unit wasn’t completely dominant as they gave up 255 yards but they looked impressive for most of the night save for a few passes and one run. They seemed to play better as the night wore on.

A lot of guys got significant playing time so looks like we might have legit depth across the whole defense. Hope I didn’t say that too early…

I did see us in a 3-man front a few times. It’s obvious Durkin doesn’t read Aggie message boards. Or maybe he does…

All in all, it was a good night.

If I have one complaint it’s the lack of pressure resulting in sacks but the New Mexico quarterback wasn’t holding the ball very long. He didn’t seem comfortable and was letting the ball fly. Their starting quarterback was a 60% passer for 115 yards. He was just letting the ball fly as soon as he could so not a lot of sack opportunities.

Defensive Line:

This group played a TON of guys on Saturday night just like you would have guessed.

Walter Nolen looks like he’s ready to take that next step. McKinley Jackson looked solid.

Everyone who played had moments where they looked great. It’s hard to single out everyone’s play because so many guys played and looked great together. You want to see these guys playing as one on every snap and that’s basically what they did.

The most impressive play of the night was when Shermar Stewart ran down New Mexico’s running back for a 7-yard loss. He unfortunately grabbed the running back’s facemask but his display of speed for a man his size was unreal. If he misses his facemask it’s a total highlight reel play.

We know what this group is capable of. On Saturday they showed they have a ton of depth and talent and it’s going to be hard on offensive units going up against this group.

They’ll get tested in a big way on Saturday as Miami is going to want to impose their will. We’ll find out real quick if they’re up for the challenge.

Linebackers:

Ladies and gentlemen, the Fightin’ Texas Aggies may have a rotation of linebackers for the first time in I can’t remember when.

Edge Cooper, Taurean York, JD Davis, and Chris Russell all got snaps at linebacker. Cooper looked like his 2021 self making a lot of plays. Davis seemed to be around the ball quite a bit.

A little hard to fully judge this group on Saturday night due to the opponent but it looks like we do have depth and talent at the linebacker position for the first time in a long time. Damn. That feels good to say.

I’m interested to see if two guys separate themselves from the rest of the group. I think Cooper is on his way but curious if Davis or York start getting the majority of the snaps next to Cooper.

We’ll also find out more about these guys in Miami. They’re going to have to step up and stop the run. They can’t blow assignments or Miami will gash us on the ground.

Secondary:

I’m repeating myself but I’m not sure what else to say about this group. These guys showed up spending most of the night in the right places.

They too played a ton of people and they all looked really good.

The safety trio of Demani Richardson, Bryce Anderson, and Jardin Gilbert looked as expected. These guys are legit.

Tyreek Chappell was solid as usual.

For me, the surprise of the night was Josh DeBerry. We’ve been wondering who was going to take the other corner across from Chappell. If Saturday night was any indicator that question has been answered by Josh DeBerry.

He’s a fifth-year senior from Boston College but he was all over the place on Saturday night. He leads the team with 7 solo tackles, a sack, an interception, a pass breakup, AND a quarterback hurry.

It’s just one game but it was a hell of a performance.

True freshman Dalton Brooks even flashed on a couple of plays.

Like the rest of the defensive unit, I feel good about this group based on what happened on Saturday night.

Special Teams:

You saw it. We botched a field goal attempt and nailed the other attempt. Our punter only punted twice. Not much to talk about with field goals and punting.

Ainias looks like he’s still fearless on punts which isn’t a bad thing.

We covered kicks and punts well.

Looking Ahead to Miami:

I watched a good portion of “The Battle of Miamis” on Friday night.

The U didn’t do anything special and just leaned on the Ohio Miami. Their quarterback, Van Pelt, looked decent but he didn’t look spectacular by any stretch. He looked like he did last year. He’s a decent enough quarterback but I don’t think he’s going to light the world on fire.

I think we’re going to see a similar Miami from last year with a little more talent. They going to try and establish the line of scrimmage and keep our offense off the field.

Defensively they’re going to see if they can expose our offensive line by shutting down the running game and applying pressure to Weigman. I have no idea if they can.

If this is a close game then I think Miami wins it simply because that’s the kind of game they want. I think HC Jimbo is going to want to apply pressure from a scoring standpoint early and often looking to make a statement. I don’t think HC Jimbo will want to grind this one out as it’ll work in Miami’s favor.

If we can grab an early lead I think the Aggies cruise to a victory.

If it’s a slugfest I think Jimbo’s second game struggles in Aggieland continue with a loss.

Either way, I can’t wait until Saturday at 2:30 so we can learn more about HC Jimbo.

College football is back, y’all.

Random Musings on the South Carolina Game

Before I get going on more stuff from the South Carolina game there’s a couple things to address.

Rumored OC Hire:

There’s strong rumors Jimbo is going to hire a legit offensive coordinator at the end of this season.  It’s so blatantly obvious at this point he needs to do it.  I’m glad he’s doing it but I’m still frustrated it’s coming to this.

For Jimbo’s first three years here (2018-2020) I really felt like he saw the whole football program.  What I mean by that is I felt he was a head coach that understood what was going on with the offense, defense, special teams, talent, development, and recruiting.

There were four games in 2019 I wish he would have managed differently but all four of those teams were ranked Number 1 in the country at one point that season.  I chalked those four games up to never having a chance so Jimbo was just building for the future sticking to a plan.

In 2020 it appeared to all come together during the Florida game.  From then on we rolled that season and never lost another game.  We finished #4 in the country with an Orange Bowl win.

I had the utmost confidence in Jimbo because we truly looked like a complete football team and he was recruiting well.  When he spoke, he spoke about football and not just jibberish like some other head coaches had done.  He sounded like an actual football coach.

In 2021 Haynes King went down in the Colorado game.  I chalked up that nail biter to a quarterback that was wildly inaccurate with no experience.  In the Arkansas game I saw coach that still looked confused on what plays to call but also saw a left tackle and quarterback that were getting beat by an Arkansas defense that just wanted it more.  Those two guys looked scared.  I felt that loss was more players than coaching.

We lost to Mississippi State the next weekend and I chalked it up to our defense having a bad game.

Then we beat Bama and rolled over Missouri and South Carolina.  We beat Auburn with an amazing defensive effort without scoring an offensive touchdown.  I thought it was just Jimbo seeing the whole game and not letting an erratic quarterback make errors that could lead to a loss.

The Ole Miss game last year was the first game I really realized there might be issues with Jimbo’s overall coaching ability.  Ole Miss came out and handed it to us both offensively and defensively in the first half.  We even had a safety on a running play in the first half.  A safety on a running play.  That’s virtually impossible if you know your team.  We went into half only down 15-0 but clearly getting out played.

In the third quarter we shut down their offense and Devon Achane was moving the ball at will.  It was 15-10 at the end of the third quarter so the game was well within our reach and momentum clearly on our side.

We closed it to 15-13 and got the ball back deep in our own territory at our 12-yard line.  We still had 7 minutes to go in the 4th quarter.  Plenty of time to mount a drive and then some.  I would have leaned on Achane but Jimbo called two pass plays.  The first goes incomplete and the second is intercepted.

I was always confused why Jimbo was passing there when Achane was gaining yards on the ground by the bunches.

Thanks to the interception Ole Miss only had to go 14 yards to score and they did.

We get the ball back down 22-13 with 6:32 left on the clock.  We need two scores but still plenty of time.

Achane isn’t even in the game.  This is not a knock on Isiah Spiller but Devon Achane was clearly the hot offensive hand and Jimbo sent Spiller in.  For whatever reason he didn’t recognize Achane was what was moving the offense in the second half.

We run a couple check down passes to Spiller with a false start (sound familiar) mixed in.  On 3rd and 10 Calzada throws an interception Ole Miss returns for a touchdown and puts the game away.

That was the first game that I really questioned Jimbo’s true ability as a head coach.  He clearly didn’t see what was happening on the field and ride the momentum.  He went back to what he thought he needed to do and didn’t adjust.

The LSU game last year was a little different but pretty similar.  I won’t bore you with details on that one but on a 3rd and 2 with a little over 2 minutes left trying to salt away a lead Jimbo called for Calzada to roll left asking him to complete a pass he had no business attempting.  Spiller had been moving the ball but Jimbo felt he needed Calzada to make a play when he hadn’t all year.

LSU totally blew up the play and we didn’t convert the first down.  We had to punt and wound up losing.  I give the ball to Spiller in that moment as he had been chewing up yards for most of the game and the LSU defense looked worn out.  For whatever reason Jimbo felt Calzada could execute a play he had no business attempting.

Both of those games I questioned his head coaching decisions late in the game.  I’ve seen those issues in the App State, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Alabama, and South Carolina games this year. He seems to miss key parts of those games where he’s not adjusting to what’s going on in the game.

I say all of this because I’m not sure how much hiring an offensive coordinator is going to matter.  We’ll certainly score more points which will be nice but if Jimbo can’t see the whole game and guide his team and coordinators then it won’t really matter.  He’ll get out coached and continue to lose games he shouldn’t.

Maybe the struggles of the offense have him buried in his play sheet but he needs to realize he’s the head coach responsible for the entire game.  It’s his job to guide the players and the coaching staff based on how things are going with the game.

You go in with a gameplan ready to adjust based on what you see on the field.  That’s not currently happening and that’s my biggest concern with Jimbo Fisher right now.

Hopefully he does more as a head coach with the addition of an OC.  I suppose it can’t be any worse than what we have now.

Player Issus/Suspensions:

News broke late on Monday night we have some potential suspensions and even potential dismissals with a few guys based on something that happened in South Carolina.

Rumor is some players were smoking weed in the locker room before or after the game.  It’s not crystal clear what the issue was but it’s something that’s not good.

Not sure if these are just a couple of boneheads or indications of a program in trouble.  Based on the names I’ve seen I think it’s just a couple of boneheads that need to be tossed out despite their immense talent.  No reason to let a couple of guys bring down a locker room of 85 scholarship guys.

We’ll look back on this South Carolina game as a turning moment for good or bad.

EDIT (10/27/22 8:27 a.m.) – As more details come out it looks like a few of the freshman were vaping in the locker room after the game. I have no idea what was in the vape but it doesn’t seem like the guys were smoking joints or hitting a bong. It sounds like they’ll be suspended for a game. Obviously not a good look and we don’t know all the details but maybe things aren’t as bad as it was initially made out to be.

Winning cures EVERYTHING so we’ll see if this team can win.

South Carolina Game:

Let’s get to a few things that frustrated me from the South Carolina game.

First Offensive Play:

The Aggies came into this game coming off a bye week.  We kicked the ball off and South Carolina returned the kick 100 yards to take a 7-0 lead.  Not the way you want to start but still in decent enough shape.

We get the ball on the 25-yard line after a touchback.  Before we even snap the ball we get a false start.  Down 7-0 after a bye week we can’t even snap the first ball without a false start.  That is a CLEAR sign for lack of preparation.

You would have thought our offense was fired up to have a big play after not playing football for two weeks.  You would have thought they were looking to make a statement.  Turns out they were making a statement.  Nothing evolved with a week off.

We move back 5 yards and run our first play.  It’s a short pass to Max Wright that’s incomplete.  I love the grit and the guts of Max Wright but there is absolutely ZERO reason why he should be receiving the first play down 7-0 coming off the bye week.  This is a play we had run before.

I don’t blame Max as much as I blame Jimbo.  Two weeks off and for his first play he calls a play that’s been called before to a guy that’s not our best offensive threat.  I couldn’t believe it.

Jimbo didn’t have a wrinkle there?  At least let the defense think for a play they may not be prepared for what’s coming.  I bet the whole South Carolina defensive coaching staff laughed out loud that Jimbo called a play they’d seen before and were ready to defend.

In Max’s defense he’d later score an impressive touchdown but he’s not the guy that should have seen the first ball coming off two weeks of no football and down 7-0.

That’s 100% on the “offensive mastermind” Jimbo Fisher.

False Starts:

As most of you know we had 8 false starts.  I believe two were on special teams but 8 is at least 6 too many.  I know the South Carolina crowd was pretty loud but it wasn’t any worse than what they experienced in Tuscaloosa.  There is ZERO reason for 8 false starts in a football game.

ZERO.

That’s on coaching.

Blockers Standing Around:

I’ve noticed it a lot this season but I saw two or three times in addition to the final plays where offensive lineman weren’t blocking anyone and just standing around.  Offensive linemen’s SOLE purpose is to block people.  They can’t legally catch balls and you don’t want them running balls.

Since there’s 11 people on offense and 11 people on defense that means if an offensive lineman isn’t blocking someone the defense has gained a massive advantage.  That means at minimum there’s two defenders running free looking for the ball since the ball carrier can’t block people.

Once again this is squarely on coaching.

Even if you blow your assignment you should always be looking to block someone.  The last thing an offensive lineman wants is to be on film not blocking someone.  Yet we had multiple moments where our offensive linemen were standing around not blocking anyone.

It’s as if the offensive linemen say to themselves, “Well, the guy I’m supposed to block is not here so not sure what I should do.  I guess I’ll stand here to see if a defender comes along that needs blocking.”

GO FIND SOMEONE TO BLOCK!!!!!

Lack of Commitment to the Run:

This is what’s so confusing to me about Jimbo’s play calling.  In 2020 we committed to the run in the Florida game and had massive success.  We have one of the most underrated running backs in the country with plenty of talent behind him.

For whatever reason Jimbo won’t even try to commit to the run early in the game.  The South Carolina game seemed PERFECT for it.  You have a banged-up quarterback, a line that struggles to pass block, and a defense that’s suspect to the run.

What do you do?  You don’t give your running back the ball until the third play of the third series after turning the ball over the previous two series.

Your best offensive weapon didn’t touch the ball until the third snap of your third possession.  How in the hell does that happen?

It ain’t that complicated, Jimbo.

Run.  The.  Dang.  Ball.

Opposing Defensive Strategy:

The opposing defensive strategy has become crystal clear.  We’ve seen it in EVERY game since the App State game and Jimbo refuses to adjust.

The opposing defensive ends are simply going to fire straight off at the outside shoulder of our offensive tackles.  No moves or anything.  Just fire right off at their outside shoulder.  They’ll either run around them or push them back to the quarterback who for some reason keeps dropping back even though he’s in shotgun formation.

Seriously.  Our quarterback takes the snap in the shotgun formation and if it’s a pass his first move is to step backwards.  I think it’s a massive key that defenses have picked up on.

While the defensive ends are racing to meet up in the backfield the defensive tackles are moving laterally to confuse the guard and center.  They change it up quite a bit but they almost make some lateral movement before heading up field.

As that’s happening the linebackers are looking for the gaps that are getting created and then rushing through them.

It’s the same damn defense over and over again.  It doesn’t change because we won’t do anything about it.  We just let it happen while we try and execute the perfect play.

South Carolina is not a stellar defense but they played great defense based solely on film study.  They learned the cheat code to beat our offensive based on the fact Jimbo would likely trot out the same pile of offensive garbage.

It’s maddening.

Aggie Defensive Turnovers:

I see a lot of complaints about our defense but let’s be clear – If it wasn’t for the defense getting 6 turnovers in the last two games we’re not even in the position to have a play at the end to win.

Without the key turnover in the Arkansas game we lose that game.

This defense isn’t without fault but I’d love for this defense to play with a lead just like they did in the Miami game.  Ideally I’d love for this defense to play a with a two score game to see what they can do.  I think it would do wonders for this whole team.

Unfortunately, we can’t because Jimbo keeps trotting out that same old pile of offensive garbage.

Don’t hate on this defense because there’s only so much they can do with an offensive that can’t score points.  Even worse the offense turns the ball over with a certain quarterback under center.

Yelling At Players:

I’m tired of Jimbo yelling at his players.  He thinks he’s coaching but he’s not.  I’ll give him credit he’s not berating his guys but he’s treating them like they’re inferior.  It’s an old act because his scheme ain’t working.

I have ZERO issue with a coach yelling at a player when it’s warranted.  ZERO issue.  In fact, I want to see someone getting yelled out when they make a mistake so they can learn from it.

We’re not seeing that.  For two years now all we’ve seen is Jimbo yelling at his players because they didn’t execute the play correctly.

If you’re yelling at your subordinates after every single thing they do that’s a massive failure on your part as a leader.  You either recruited the wrong talent for what you want to do, aren’t clear in your teachings, or your teachings are flat wrong.

In this instance it’s Jimbo’s teaching’s are flat wrong.  He can’t see the defense has already diagnosed what’s coming and blowing it up.  Jimbo can only see his precious offense isn’t working so it must be on his players.

I’m not saying the players aren’t botching assignments from time to time.  If you’re constantly yelling at failure you need to look in the mirror as you’re part of the failure.

Jimbo ain’t doing that.

Lack of Quarterback Runs:

One thing that really opened Jimbo’s offense up was Kellen Mond’s legs.  Jimbo openly talked about how he wished Kellen Mond would run more.

It wasn’t designed runs but simply when a hole opened in front of you then tuck the ball and run.  It worked wonderfully as Kellen’s ability to just take off and gain yards changed how defenses had to defend us. 

Kellen wasn’t even the deadliest runner.  He had decent speed but he wasn’t super elusive.  He just simply took off and ran when he saw space and green grass.

For whatever reason Jimbo doesn’t have Haynes King doing that.  I know King isn’t all the elusive as a runner but it’s like he doesn’t even know it’s an option.

I feel like King only runs in these two instances:

  1. Designed run
  2. Running for his life

I know there’s a lot of the running for his life but if Jimbo is going to keep running King out as his quarterback he needs to tell him to tuck the ball and run the second he sees space and green.  Stop going backwards and go forwards the moment you see any gap to go.

Weigman:

Building on the last one I hope Jimbo rolls Weigman out as quarterback the rest of the way.  I have no clue if Weigman is the guy but I know for certain it ain’t King.  Let Weigman develop a rapport with some of these receivers in actual SEC play.

If Haynes King and Max Johnson have confirmed anything it’s that a Jimbo Fisher designed offensive practice is not indicative of SEC play.

Let’s get game film on Conner in at least five games and hopefully six.  The six would be a bowl game.

This notion it’ll stunt his growth is complete BS.  He’ll make mistakes but as most people know the only way to learn from mistakes is to make them in the first place.

Time to let Weigman make some plays and mistakes while hopefully showing those 5 stars were well warranted.

I have no clue what to make of the rest of the season.  I lean to us not going bowling or barely getting eligible at 6-6 with wins over Florida, Auburn, and UMass.

I do believe we can beat Ole Miss.  They’re not as good as their record shows which LSU exposed and we’re not as bad as our record shows.  At least not talent wise.

If Jimbo is willing to do things a little different we can win on Saturday night.  I just don’t think he will because he’s so damn stubborn.

What a season…

Thoughts on the Alabama Game

Mond Alabama Getting tackled

Where I saw the Clemson game as validation of something different in our coaching staff this Alabama game was certainly a moral victory.  Moral victories aren’t good but they’re better than a straight beatdown where there’s no positives.  We held Bama below 50 points, scored more than 20 points, and covered the 27 point spread.  I don’t like moral victories but that was a moral victory.  For a lot of fans that haven’t seen Bama play this year they didn’t realize the Alabama offense is a different beast with Tua Tagovailoa as quarterback.  My comparison is Saban has had a nice V6 Honda Accord at quarterback since he got to Bama and got a Ferrari this season.  This Bama offense is different than anything he’s had before.  There’s a reason Vegas put a 27-point spread on this game.  They weren’t far off.

I don’t know that A&M beats a Jalen Hurts quarterbacked offense but there’s no doubt in my mind A&M would lose that game by less than 2 touchdowns and likely single digits.  Tua is that much of a difference maker for the Bama offense.  It’s likely Bama loses a game this season but in my mind this is the best Bama team Nick Saban has coached.  When you see that 45-23 score just know this is a different Bama offense than you’ve ever seen.

Overall I like what I saw in this game from a relative talent standpoint.  Bama is loaded with talent and the Aggies have holes.  Bama exposed those holes in a major way but the Aggie players and coaching staff never quit.  This could have been a similar game to 59-0 but the players and coaching staff weren’t going to let that happen.  A lot of teams would have quit after giving up an interception on their first offensive possession and then giving up a touchdown on the first play by the opposing offense.  When you’re on the road in Tuscaloosa and Bama gets an interception and then scores on their first play to go up 7-0 in less than a minute that can be REALLY demoralizing.  This Aggie team didn’t quit though.  Credit the Aggie players and coaches for that.  If an Aggie fan tells you they didn’t have thoughts of 59-0 dancing through their head check to see if their nose is growing.  Luckily this is a different Aggie team than in the past.

I still believe while not as talented as teams in the past few years this is a better Aggie football team than the last few years.  I like what I see on the field even if I don’t like what I see on the scoreboard and stat sheet.  I’ve said since Jimbo got here that 2020 would be the season where the Aggies finally push through to the elite teams of college football.  There’s no doubt Jimbo is trying to win today but there’s holes he can’t plug until his recruiting classes get on campus and get some experience.  This could have been a blowout but it didn’t happen.  Don’t discount what could have been when you see that 45-23 score.

Offense:

Offensive Line:

I’m starting with the worst part of the offense for the game.  I’ve consistently said this is the weakest part of the offense by far.  Saturday that showed up.  Mond was sacked 7 times as the offensive line continually whiffed at slowing down Bama defenders.  It was partially due to talent deficiencies but it was also due to blown assignments.  Those talent deficiencies might have lead to the mental issues but either way the offensive line was exposed for needing serious help from a talent standpoint.  We just don’t have the talent we need at offensive line to compete as an elite team.  They do have their moments where they can create plays thanks to the play design but for the most part this line struggles against more athletic defensive lines.

Tray Williams is not a bruiser running back but there was nothing between the tackles at all.  They weren’t getting blown back on running plays but they weren’t getting any push or creating holes to run through.  I suppose creating a stalemate on running plays against the Bama defense is a positive thing but that’s got to get better.  The offensive line has got to get backwards movement if they’re not going to create holes.

From a pass blocking standpoint they were pretty bad continually blowing assignments when Bama blitzed.  I’m afraid Bama just gave teams a blueprint on how to slow down our offense with blitzes.  I don’t recall Clemson blitzing like Bama did.  Bama had great success running blitzes against our offensive line so I expect to see more of that from defensive opponents going forward.  Our offensive line must get that cleaned up or Mond is not going to have a lot of time to throw.  Sure, Bama has superior talent but there were plays where our offensive line couldn’t read the blitz at all.  That is really disappointing.

If we need to shuffle our offensive line personnel to get experience for the future I’m fine with it.  I’m not saying this line is a steaming pile of junk as they do execute some plays well but this offensive line has issues.  A&M won’t be dominant until their offensive line is dominant.  Like getting a truckload of Coors from Texarkana to Atlanta we’ve got a long ways to get there.

Skill Positions:

We knew it was going to be tough sledding for Tray Williams coming into this game and it was.  He carried the ball 8 times for 32 yards.  He had two nice runs outside but other than those two runs there wasn’t anything there for him.  That’s not his fault as he’s not designed to run behind our offensive line against that Bama defense.  Just a total mis-match.  At least we didn’t continually run between the tackles and just tested it from time to time.

At receiver no one dominated at all.  The unit had some nice catches but were wildly inconsistent getting open and catching balls.  Kendrick Rogers is looking like Mond’s safety blanket but they failed to connect on a couple passes where the ball should have been thrown better or Rogers should have caught it.  This unit isn’t wildly talented but they seem to be a little more disciplined than receiving corps of the past.

Against teams not named Alabama I think there’s enough weapons here to move the ball through the air with more work.  Getting 263 yards through the air using 9 receivers against Alabama is a decent sign even with their mistakes.  I’m happy with the development I’m seeing here.  It’s shorter on talent than we’ve had the past few years but they seem to have some promise as a complete unit.  We’ll see if they keep developing as there’s definitely work to do but they seem up to the task.  At least they did make a few plays rather than be completely afraid of a team like Bama.  I think a lot of that has to do with the next part of our offense.

Kellen Mond:

I can’t say enough about Kellen Mond on Saturday.  He’s the reason this team didn’t quit.  He threw 2 interceptions and had some missed passes but it wasn’t from lack of effort.  The dude was under pressure all day long and never backed down from the best team in the country.  He used his head, arm, and legs all game long.

I can’t believe this is the same Kellen Mond from last season.  It’s completely night and day.  The dude keeps developing every game and it bodes well for Aggie Football over the next few years.  In 2020 Kellen Mond will be a senior and I think he’ll be the key reason A&M breaks through to the elite level of college football.  He’s not as talented as a Tua but he’s young and pretty complete right now on decision making.  He just needs more experience executing plays so it becomes second nature.  I don’t see any reason why he won’t continue to get better.  I’m pleasantly shocked at what I’ve seen from Kellen Mond through 4 games this season.  Maybe one day we’ll send Kevin Sumlin a flower bouquet for recruiting Mond over Jarret Stidham.  We’ll just need to make sure we get his address correct because there’s no telling where Sumlin will be at the end of 2020.  Yes, Kevin Sumlin ineptitude jokes are still fun.  He cost us millions so I’m going to keep making them.

Play Design/Calling:

My favorite part of the game was the play design and execution at times.  Any good offensive coach will have 5-10 plays a game that give the defense a different look either before snap or post snap.  Sometimes both.  This is the result of watching film and designing plays that look to exploit a matchup or counter reads a defense tends to make.  We haven’t seen that in the past because we’ve had offenses that keep the same design and try to react to the opposing defense.  Defenses tend to figure those out over time.

We did it some against Clemson and continued it against Bama.  My favorite play from a design, call, and execution standpoint was the pitch out to Tray Williams on 3rd down in the middle of the second quarter.  It was 3rd and 3 on the Bama 34.  We gave Bama a look we hadn’t shown before with our receivers stacked on the right side.  Tray was to the left of Mond.  On the snap Mond did a quick pitch to Tray.  Tray had a linebacker on him who he was able to avoid (barely) and got outside for a 16 yard gain to the Bama 18.  Everything about that play was beautiful.  I mean just beautiful from a design, timing, and execution standpoint.  That is not something you would have seen with Aggie offensive coordinators since 2013.

There were some other plays but that was the best example where it’s clear we have an offensive staff that is adjusting and scheming to each week’s opponent.  The best thing you can do as an offense is have the defense worried about plays they’ve never seen.  When a defensive staff has to worry about plays they’ve never seen you have a strong advantage.  I absolutely love the fact it appears Jimbo and the offensive staff really study film and design plays each week that look to take advantage of the defense.  When you become predictable as an offense you get beat.  Through 4 games Jimbo is showing his offense will adapt each week.  It’s so refreshing to see.

Overall:

Despite the issues with our offensive line and lack of a power back I like what I see from this offense.  It’s certainly not as powerful as I would like it to be but I feel the staff is getting the most out of what they can from the talent at their disposal.  This is an offense that appears to be able to put up at least 20 points in every game from here on out.  It’s also designed to chew up time of possession which is a big key for our defense.  We once again won time of possession on Saturday which is a bigger factor than most people think.

Defense:

Front Seven:

I can’t say enough about the defensive line and linebackers.  They weren’t dominant by any stretch but they held their own against a powerful Alabama offense.  Alabama’s running backs got 106 yards on 21 carries.  That’s about 5 yards a carry.  Half of those yards were on 2 carries.  Take away those two runs and that’s a respectable 2.7 yards a carry for the other 19 carries by Bama running backs.  Not many teams in the country can do what the Aggie Front 7 did.  Alabama is going to run the ball and they’re going to rip off long runs against you unless you’re Georgia.  Even with Tua at quarterback Alabama is still going to attempt to establish the run to wear down defenses.  The Aggie defense did all they could against one of the best running teams in the country.  You might not have thought it was a dominant effort by our Front 7 against the run, but it was as good as it gets for a team not named Georgia.

The Front 7 didn’t get any sacks but this defense isn’t really equipped to get sacks.  Especially against Tua.  We have no edge rushers and that’s what you need against a guy like Tua.  What we did was collapse the pocket as much as possible causing Tua to throw before he wanted for the most part.  Tua torched us through the air but it wasn’t because our front 7 wasn’t completely getting to him.  In my mind our Front 7 did everything they could.  Alabama tried to establish the run and really couldn’t but did carve us up where we’re weak.  Kudos to the Aggie Front 7 for holding their own against a powerful Alabama offense.

The Secondary:

The Aggie secondary was terrible on Saturday.  There is NOTHING positive to take from it in my book.  We couldn’t cover and we couldn’t tackle.  Coming into the season I thought our safeties would be serviceable but our corners would really struggle.  So far this season the entire secondary has struggled.

I thought Derrick Tucker and Donavan Wilson would be decent but the reality is they’re not the same player when they’re not playing next to Armani Watts and Justin Evans.  Watts and Evans really helped covered up Tucker and Wilson’s issues.  For you Aggie fans that can remember back to 2011 this is basically like Garrick Williams at linebacker when he lost Cody Hodges.  Williams had all the talent in the world to play linebacker but he was lost without the direction of Hodges.

Time and time again on Saturday the secondary was struggling in coverage and tackling.  While the Front 7 was looking like a legit SEC defense the secondary was looking like a Pop Warner team.  They seemed confused by routes and didn’t like wrapping up on tackles.  They’re not disciplined at all.  They’re short on talent other than Tucker for the most part.

If you’re an offensive coordinator that has watched the Aggie defense through 4 games there’s no doubt you’re going to look to light it up through the air.  There’s no point in trying to establish the run against A&M if Bama and Clemson struggled.  The Aggies should be ready for offenses that want to exploit their secondary.  A somewhat competent head coach and offensive coordinator should realize the Aggies can be passed on.

How to fix it other than to repeatedly work on tackling drills I’m not really sure.  Outside of Leon O’Neal I don’t think you have the talent in the younger guys from a coverage standpoint.  I do think it’s okay to get O’Neal more playing time now.  Sure, he struggled against Bama but he’s a true freshman being thrown to the wolves.  Hopefully his struggles on Saturday drive him to be a contributor in year one.  I don’t think he could do much worse than Tucker and Wilson at this point.  I know Carper (safety) and Chattman (corner) are supposed to be coming back but I don’t think they’re the answers either.  Maybe they can improve on what’s out there now but until the 2019 signing class gets on campus and seasoned our secondary is going to be vulnerable without much hope for improving.

Michael Clemons coming back might help some as he and Durham can team up to provide more pressure in passing situations.  It’s just without true pass rushing pressure from the edge this secondary is going to be prone to big plays.  We simply have a talent issue in the secondary and no Von Miller or Myles Garrett to mask it.

Overall:

It’s amazing how different the Front 7 and secondary can be.  The Front 7 I’d put up against any team in the country.  We’ve now slowed down the running games of Bama and Clemson.  Other than LSU we won’t see a team on the schedule the rest of the way that has a true power running attack like Bama.  The defensive staff has their work cut out for them in trying to improve this secondary so we’ll see how good this staff is.  Even if they started just wrapping up that would be a major improvement as you could basically play bend but don’t break football.  Getting to red zone situations would help as you’ve got less area to cover and your Front 7 has shown they can hold their own against anyone in the country.  We’ve got Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina coming up to find out if we can have some improvement.

Special Teams:

A lot of Aggies were worried about losing Jeff Banks.  As you saw on Saturday unless your name is Frank Beamer the quality of the players matter way more than the special teams coach.  The Aggie special teams were better than Bama’s.  We’re fine without Jeff Banks.  Braden Mann is an absolute weapon.  I mean absolute WEAPON.  He had 5 punts and averaged 60.8 yards.  That is insane.  He’s a junior so he’s been on the roster for two years.  Why he hasn’t been punting until this year I have no idea.  I know Shane Tripucka was pretty good the last two years but what Mann is doing this year is unbelievable.  He’s flipping the field and that’s a huge weapon to have.

Seth Small filled in for the injured Daniel LaCamera and was remarkable going 3 for 3 on field goals.  He hit on a 52 yarder along with a 32 and 25 yarder.  He’s a true freshman so to be perfect in your first game in Tuscaloosa with a 52 yarder being your first attempt bodes well.  I suppose you give LaCamera his job back when he’s healthy but he better be on a short leash if you have a guy that can boot 50+ yards with no fear against Alabama.  Having him as your backup is a serious luxury to have.

There was one minor issue on special teams and it was the return early in the game by Jaylen Waddle.  Whoever was running down didn’t flare out to keep contain on Waddle.  Waddle is a guy we recruited and has absolute jets.  As a special teamer on punt coverage you have to keep contain if you’re alone.  You let a guy like that get around you and he’ll burn you like he did.  We got bailed out by a block in the back but that was a big mistake not keeping contain on a guy with Waddle’s speed.  With Mann booming punts, getting downfield and keeping contain is going to be crucial to limit return yards.

 

Looking Forward:

I think Jimbo can mask our offensive line issues enough to get us to 8 wins.  He’s scored 20 plus points against two great defenses so it seems we’ll be able to move the ball and score points the rest of the way.  I don’t think we’ll have any games where our offense completely goes in the tank like we’ve had in the past.  We have two more really good defenses on the schedule in Auburn and LSU.  They’ll test our offense.  Auburn struggles to run the ball and LSU struggles to pass the ball although LSU has looked better throwing than in years past.  I like to think we can get one win of Auburn and LSU to get us to 9 wins.  I’m not sure which is more likely at this point though.

The key is we’ve got some tough games on the schedule that don’t look like tough games.  Jimbo has to win those.  Kentucky has an all-world running back so it’ll be interesting to see if we can slow him down with our Front 7.  South Carolina hasn’t looked as good as I expected but that’s a road game so it could be a challenge.  Mississippi State was shut down by Kentucky so why can’t the Aggies do the same?  However, if that’s an 11:00 a.m. game in StarkVegas then all bets are off.  The Aggies haven’t won in StarkVegas when we kicked at 11:00 a.m.  Let’s hope for a night game there.

Right now I have to think Arkansas, Ole Miss, and UAB are sure wins.  We’ll find out this weekend when we head to JerryWorld.  That’s been a back and forth contest in the past but I think with our respective new coaching staffs that’s finally a game the Aggies control from start to finish.  I’m hoping for a 35-10 type showing.

It’s entirely possible this team wins out but we’ve got a LOT of work to do to get there.  If we can get through Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina in convincing fashion from start to finish then I’ll feel like we have a real chance.  I’m ready to make some maroon Kool-Aid and start serving it around.  I’ve got the water and jug ready.  I just need Jimbo to give me the powder over the next three weeks so I can start mixing.

#MAFGA

 

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Thoughts on U.L.M. and Alabama

Alabama Texas A&M NCAA Football

I chose not to go to the game last weekend as I had a customer event at noon on Sunday.  Don’t worry, Good Ags sat in my seats.  Had it been a Power 5 school I would have made it in a heartbeat but I took Saturday easy so Sunday was easy as well.  I did watch the game on TV along with a lot of other games.

I won’t do my normal breakdown of offensive and defensive positions because it was ULM and there’s more important things to talk about.  Mainly Bama and some other things about the SEC.

Louisiana Monroe:

Negatives:

I’ll start with the negatives here.  Obviously we got off to a slow start in this game.  That’s kind of to be expected being the third game sandwiched between Clemson and Bama.  Doesn’t make it right but it’s reality.  Kind of seems like we thought we could show up and have our way with ULM but that wasn’t the case.  At least not in the first half.  The team was mostly uninspired and not executing well.

Coming into the season I said our biggest weakness on defense was the secondary.  It really showed in the first half on Saturday night.  In the second quarter they gave up passes of 44, 34, and 36 yards.  This was against ULM.  That’s not good.  The 34 and 36 yarders were back to back which allowed ULM to get a touchdown.  Wilson and Tucker at safety are our most talented and experienced guys but they’re not playing good football.  Our corners struggle to cover for an extended period so if a team can buy time their receivers can likely get open against our cornerbacks.  I’ve said we need to be prepared to give up big pass plays but I didn’t expect that repeatedly against ULM.  It sure happened though.

Our other weakness coming into this season is our offensive line.  They didn’t look good at all in the first half.  Just like Northwestern St. it was pretty clear we wanted to establish the run.  Trayveon had a couple nice runs around 20 yards each but we never got him sprung for anything really long or consistently long.  Seems like he was always running in some kind of traffic.  You would hope our offensive line could blow up some big holes against ULM for him to use his speed and wiggle for some consistent long runs.  Pass blocking was suspect too as Kellen seemed to be a little rushed and took off a few times when I think he would have rather passed.  We also gave up a sack in the first half as well.  It wasn’t a terrible effort by our offensive line but it wasn’t even close to dominating which is what you would have like to have seen.

We had five holding penalties against ULM.  That’s pathetic.  As an offensive line you can control holding penalties.  One or two is allowable but five against ULM is inexcusable.  That’s just lack of focus and preparation.  If it’s pure talent related we’re in bigger trouble than I thought.  We’re not in that big of trouble so I’m just exaggerating but five holding penalties against ULM is damn embarrassing for this offensive line.  Yes, the tight end is an offensive lineman as they go through the same blocking drills the offensive lineman do.  Tight ends know better than to hold.

We still went in with a 24-10 lead at half time but you hope for better considering the opponent.

Positives:

The most positive thing about that game was the effort in the second half.  It was clear the team and staff weren’t happy with a 24-10 lead against a much inferior opponent.  They seemed to come out more focused and executed better in the second half.  The offense stalled on the first possession of the second half but then a quick 3 and out by the defense.  The offense then took the ball 54 yards for a touchdown.  They followed that up with a field goal and then a touchdown before completely giving away to the second stringers for the most part.  A holding penalty caused the offense to likely trade a touchdown for that field goal but most of that drive was impressive with 9 plays covering 61 yards and eating 3:36 of clock.  Penalties will cost you.

The other positive thing was Kellen Mond.  The dude showed this is his team.  He may be in his third game of his second season but he knows he’s a leader.  This is a great sign as everyone will rally behind a quarterback that wants to lead them.  That’s just how football works.  When your quarterback is willing to lead and can back it up with results on the field a team is always better off.  Mond still has some development to do but this guy is completely different from the Mond of last year.  Jimbo has done wonders with this kid.  We all scratched our heads a little when Mond was named the starter prior to the season but three games in it’s clear Jimbo knew what he was doing.

Overall:

I would have certainly liked to have seen a stronger showing to start the game but the effort in the second half makes me feel good.  I have a feeling teams in the past wouldn’t have put their foot down in the second half and let more of the same continue over from the first half.  It would have been easy to blame a Clemson hangover or Alabama look ahead but the coaching staff and players didn’t let it happen.  That’s a good sign overall.

Alabama:

The Aggies are a 27-point underdog to Alabama.  That sounds like a lot of points but if you’ve watched both teams play this season it sounds about right.  This Alabama offense is unlike any Alabama offense you’ve seen under Nick Saban.  The Alabama defense is, well, the Alabama defense.  I have a feeling Alabama is going to exploit our two weaknesses which are our secondary and offensive line.  If we cover 27 points in Tuscaloosa that will be a serious moral victory.  This game could get out of hand in Bama’s favor.  I don’t expect a 59-0 beat down but a 35 to 40 point difference wouldn’t shock me.  If we can’t move the ball and Tua lights up our secondary it won’t take much to see that kind of point differential.  Ask Louisville and Ole Miss.

I do think the Aggies can keep the game close but they’re going to have to go against conventional wisdom.  For whatever reason teams like to play Alabama conservative trying to establish the run and not bringing pressure defensively.  I think the whole mindset of that game plan is to run as much clock as possible on offense and keep the Alabama offense in front of you from a defensive standpoint.  The problem with this is unless you’re LSU you can’t establish the run on offense.  It’s not possible.  On defense if you don’t bring pressure then Alabama will pick you apart on methodical drives with the occasional big play of 40 yards or so.  Next thing you know you look up and you’re down by 21 headed into half.

In order to beat Alabama you have to do two things:

  1. Bring pressure defensively to slow down the run and force them to pass before they want to.
  2. Offensively you have to get the ball to receivers in space with plays they haven’t seen before. You can’t run the ball against them and if you think your read and react Run Pass Options will work against Bama think again.  They can defend the run and RPOs in their sleep.

For number one above this seems scary as hell because if you don’t get to the Bama quarterback he can burn you.  Here’s the deal – you’re not getting to Tua or Hurts with normal pressure.  Their offensive line will handle whatever defense you throw at them.  Tua or Hurts will sit back and wait for a play to develop.  Tua will either burn you with his arm and legs or Hurts will burn you with his legs.  In order to slow down Bama’s offense you better have a big package of blitzes that you’ve never shown before.  Go look at Wade Phillips’ designed blitzes and employ as many of those as you can.  Even if you do it’s likely a long shot as you probably don’t have the athletes to execute them.  You might as well try though.  You need an edge rushing linebacker like Von Miller you can line up all over the line of scrimmage and bring pressure from the outside.  Even a Myles Garrett isn’t a huge help against Bama if you’re going to line him up on a tackle.  I don’t know if the Aggies have a guy that can bring pressure from the outside linebacker position but if do they better be ready to turn him loose.

That must be done to force Bama to throw before they want to.  If not, they’ll eat you alive waiting for something to develop.  The other thing you obviously must do is slow down the run and keep containment with their quarterbacks.  Both Tua and Hurts can run and if they get into space they’ll burn you.  The Aggie defense needs to bring pressure but it has to be containing those guys from getting outside.  It’s a tall order but it’s the only way.  Pressure and contain.  You sit back defensively and you’ll get run over.

Offensively we don’ have the offensive line and running back to establish any kind of running game against Bama.  I love Tray Williams as a running back but he’s not designed to run between the tackles against Bama.  He’s fine being in the game but I would keep him split out and never behind or near Mond.  For Williams to have any kind of effect on the game he’s going to have to get the ball in some kind of space or on well timed screens.  I’m fine giving him the ball between the tackles a few times early on or even later to see what happens but if we run the ball between the tackles with Tray Williams more than 5 times we’ll lose.

My ideal offensive set would be two tight ends and two receivers split evenly about 50% of the time.  Give Bama the same look but have multiple variations of plays where Bama can’t really read who’s likely getting the ball.  Have Tray lined up in multiple spots so he’s the wildcard on what’s going on.  With this set you can run Mond and most importantly get your tight ends involved between blocking and running routes.  It’s amazing what can happen with a good tight end and quarterback that can read how aggressive a defense is playing.  A good chip block and release is an amazing tool that doesn’t get used a lot anymore.  It seems boring but it’s usually effective.  I think the Aggies have a couple tight ends that can execute this.

On occasion you can run bunch formations with the wide receivers and tight ends that can hopefully spring one guy free.  The key is have a few different looks but don’t become predictable based on what you’re doing before you ever snap the ball.  The Bama defense is way too talented and smart.  They know the play you’re running if you’ve run it before.  You must show them something they’ve never seen the entire game.  Trying to run between the tackles or running the same systematic offense will just make Nick Saban smile.  His defense can defend those things in their sleep.

I put the Aggies wining at about 15%.  Mond will have to have the game of his life which is entirely possible but the defense will have to step up which is my major question.  We don’t have the secondary or guys that can apply a lot of pressure so I think Bama keeps rolling.  If we keep them under 50 and score more than 20 that’s going to be a major win for Jimbo.  This team just isn’t ready to compete with Alabama just yet.  Believe it or not losing by less than 27 points will be an encouraging showing.

Rest of the Season/Other Games:

Season Prediction Update:

After watching LSU and Auburn on Saturday I’m leaving my prediction at 8-4.  I think it’s possible we beat one of those teams but they’re both damn good football teams.  They’re still more talented than A&M as a whole team.  I can see us winning one of LSU and Auburn but losing to South Carolina or Mississippi State.  8-4 just still feels right based on what I’ve seen.  Hell, it’s entirely possible we go 6-6 this season due to our issues on the offensive line and secondary.  I don’t think that will happen though.  I think Jimbo will get us to 8-4 which will be solid considering our issues and this schedule.

Speaking of schedules how about that 2019 Aggie Football schedule?  I’ve said all along 2020 would be the Aggies year and seeing that schedule for next season confirms it even more.  Welcome to the SEC West and big boy football.

Auburn/LSU – This was exactly the game these teams have had the last 2 years.  Close game for four quarters and the team that makes the play at the end wins.  Why people expected this game to be different surprised me.  Everybody wants to write these two programs off for some reason.  They both have tremendous talent on defense with sporadic offenses.  When you have a stout defense you’re going to win more than you lose.

A lot of people don’t think highly of Coach O and Malzahn but I think they’re really good coaches.  They’re not elite level coaches but at their current program they’re easily in the Top 25% of coaches in college football if not in the Top 10%.  Outside of Malzahn’s first season where he caught lightening in a bottle with fluke wins over Georgia and Bama along with a questionable win over A&M he’s exactly who he is.  He’s going to win 8-10 games a year and pull off some upsets.  He’s not Nick Saban but who is?  Worst thing he ever did was play for the national title in his first season as head coach and win a national championship as the offensive coordinator.  That’s not really who he is but it doesn’t mean he’s an overrated coach.  Auburn could do much worse than Gus Malzahn.

As for Eddie O he seems to have grown as a head coach since Ole Miss.  He was pretty solid in his interim gig at USC and hasn’t been bad at LSU at all.  Take away the Troy loss last season and he’s been REALLY respectable in his tenure at LSU.  He’s not Nick Saban either but he’s like Les Miles which ain’t bad.  I swear critics blow up one or two losses writing someone off rather than looking at their full body of work.  The full body of work by Malzahn and Eddie O at their current school is not bad at all.  I don’t see that changing anytime soon so expect Top 15 programs that can beat anyone as long as they’re head coach.  They may not win a national title but that list of coaches is short.

OU/ISU – Speaking of underrated coaches, one day Matt Campbell at ISU is going to get a gig at a big-time program.  Every program that has hired a head coach not named Jimbo Fisher since December of 2017 will wonder why they didn’t hire him.  He took a back up quarterback and moved the ball on OU never giving up.  OU has another juggernaut at offense but ISU exposed their passing defense.  ISU might go 7-5 this season but Matt Campbell is a stud head coach.  The dude just knows how to coach football.  As for OU they’ll probably run the table this season.  Odds say they’ll lose a game somewhere but I think they’re a lock for the CFP at this point.  They’re not being talked about from a playoff standpoint right now but their path to the CFP is the easiest of anyone in college football.

Michigan/Notre Dame – Both of these teams won their games but I expected bigger margins based on their opponents and playing at home.  Maybe their game on Week 1 wasn’t the marquee matchup some people thought it was.  I thought Notre Dame was better than how they played Vandy in South Bend.

Bama/Ole Miss – Ole Miss scored on their first offensive possession and then didn’t score again.  Bama then scored 49 points in the first half.  Ole Miss doesn’t have a defense but I’m telling you this Bama offense is unlike anything we’ve seen in the past.  Get ready for Saturday, Ags.

USC/Texas – This game was U.G.L.Y.  It’s amazing USC won the Rose Bowl two years ago and won the Pac 12 last season.  This isn’t even close to the same team.  I know they lost Darnold but that was just one guy.  Make no mistake this is a great win for Texas but I don’t think it’s a measuring stick at all.  There’s a good chance Texas reels off 8 or 9 wins this season but they still have some major talent and coaching issues.  They can certainly improve from here but that game against USC shows there’s still more questions than answers.

OhSU/TCU – TCU is one of the best coached teams in the country but this game shows they don’t have the elite talent to be a consistent major player in college football.  I love Gary Patterson as a coach but until he starts getting 4 and 5 star talent on campus TCU will be a second tier program at best.  Without some major luck I don’t see Gary Patterson ever playing for or winning a national championship.  He’ll beat a lot of teams in his time at TCU but I don’t think TCU is a nationally elite program.  At some point you have to have the big horses.

As for OhSU they’re now in the same boat as OU.  Their path to the CFP seems clear as well.  Based on the way the B10 looks all they must do is get by Penn State and they’ll roll into the CFP.  They’ll trip up a game but they’ll be 12-1 with a Big 10 Conference Championship I have a feeling.  They’re a good football team in a down conference.  Now they get their memory challenged head coach back which made me throw up in my mouth.

If I had to predict the CFP based on what games I’ve seen and paths to get there I’m predicting Bama, Clemson, OU, and OhSU all with 12-1 records and conference titles.  The CFP will have an easy choice as that Auburn win over Washington in Week 1 will keep them out of the playoff discussion.

I’ll even go so far as to pick each team’s one loss:

Clemson – South Carolina
Alabama – LSU
Oklahoma – West Virginia (which they’ll then turn around and beat them in the title game to win the conference)
OhSU – Maryland

Same old teams as always which is boring but it’s all about coaching in college football.  You either have a great coach or you don’t.

#MAFGA

 

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Thoughts From The Clemson Game

NCAAF 2018 Texas A&M vs Clemson Sept 8

It’s kind of hard to define what happened at Kyle Field on Saturday night.  It certainly wasn’t a win on the scoreboard and it really didn’t feel like a moral victory either.  Sure, the Aggies never quit but the fact of the matter is they ran out of time 2 points shy of Clemson.  It was a loss.  For me, the definition of what happened was validation.  Validation this era of Aggie football is going to be different.  Validation the Aggies finally got the right coach and staff.  Validation we have a team that will learn how to win big.  Validation that Kyle Field is one of the best venues for college football anywhere in the world.  Validation we’re on our way to Make Aggie Football Great Again.

Coming into this season I wasn’t too worried about wins and losses.  If Jimbo gets us to at least 8 wins the long-term plan would be on track.  I don’t want the fool’s gold of 2012 where we had an amazing season but that was just it.  One season.  Nothing more.  I want Jimbo’s first year to be about a different look for Aggie football.  What we saw on Saturday sure makes it look like things will be different this time.  I saw a team that never quit but most importantly I saw a coaching staff that schemed to have a chance to beat a more talented team.  That Clemson team on Saturday night was more talented than A&M which is the difference for why Clemson won.  Coaching and execution had the Aggie team looking for a two-point conversion at the end of the game to send it overtime.  The Aggies fell short but there’s a LOT of positives to take away from this game.

For the first time since Alabama in 2013 something happened at Kyle Field.  The stadium fed off the team.  No doubt there were plenty of moments where the team fed off the fans, but this Aggie team didn’t quit.  If they didn’t believe in themselves Kyle Field would have been deflated.  The 64-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-3 had a lot of Aggie fans wondering if it was more of the same from the last 4 years.  Even worse was when the Aggies went down 21-6 late in the third quarter.  You could feel the excitement escaping from Kyle Field like we’d felt so many times in recent memory.  The excitement didn’t escape though.  The Aggie team fought back and Kyle Field roared back to life.  Man did it roar back to life.  For the final quarter of football the team and the stadium were willing each other to a win.  The 12th Man had been waiting on this moment.  The team was leading the way back and the 12th Man was ready to follow.

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.  I don’t see any reason why it’s not.  That was a team that learned to fight and most importantly learned it can compete with the best college football has to offer.  Maybe it’s a blip but this feels different.  This was coaching and playing.  This was a staff devising plays against a great team and players executing believing they’d come back.  No quit.  Just a clock that ran out of time.

Before I get to the breakdowns of units and players I can’t say enough about what Jimbo and the staff did on Saturday night.  They took a less talented team and went to the final second against the #2 team in the country.  Maybe Clemson isn’t the second-best team in the country but there’s no doubt they’re a Top 5 team.  That’s the best college football has to offer.  Defensively we held our own for most of the game other than a few big plays.  Offensively the play design and execution was something I hadn’t seen since 2012.  Our offensive staff had a very good idea of what Clemson was capable of and schemed against them.  What happened in the second half wasn’t luck.  It was awareness and preparation.  It was confidence too.  Coaches leading players and players following because they believed.  It sure feels like validation Aggie Football finally got it right when it came to hiring a coach.

Offense:

Kellen Mond:

This was no doubt a team effort but Kellen Mond deserves MAJOR props for what he did on Saturday night.  At the end of last year I wondered if Mond would ever see another snap at Texas A&M.  He seemed destined to transfer like some other Aggie quarterbacks that lost their job.  Turns out we all forgot Kellen was a highly recruited 4 star quarterback and coaching really matters.  If you don’t believe me ask Kahlil Tate in Arizona how his Heisman chances are looking after his first two games.  Ask Deondre Francois at Florida State if he misses Jimbo.

I never expected Mond to have the game he did.  Statistically he was 23/40 for 430 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.  That’s a damn fine game considering he’s a true sophomore still getting his feel in a new system.  What impressed me most was not anything that shows up in the statistics.  What impressed me most was his awareness and confidence.  I’ll get to the receivers and line in a little bit as they deserve major props as well but Kellen Mond made some damn big throws in that game.  Anyone that says his receivers bailed him out didn’t really watch that game.  Mond let the ball fly and gave his receivers a chance to make big plays.  Don’t underestimate Mond’s willingness to let the ball go and throw passes in a game like that.

Mond has the ability to run but unlike some quarterbacks with the ability to run Mond did it as a last resort.  He used his legs to avoid pressure and buy time but he kept his eyes down the field looking to make a pass.  A lot of young guys would have tucked the ball and ran for what they could get against that Clemson defense.  Not Mond.  He hung behind the line of scrimmage for as long as he could hoping something would develop downfield and when he saw it he let the ball go.

The most impressive play of the game and defines what I’m talking about was the pass to Quartney Davis to make it a 28-20 game.  Clemson brought a linebacker blitz from the outside.  Kellen IMMEDIATELY notices it and prepares for it.  He times his spin out to the left perfectly to avoid the pressure but is still running for his life.  They key here is he never drops his hands below his waist and is looking to get his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage.  He’s running for his life but he’s still looking to make a throw.  He had a lot of green in front of him.  The easy play would have been to get the 5-15 yards by tucking the ball.  He was looking to make a play with his arm rather than his legs though.  He doesn’t have the speed of Johnny or Kyler Murray but he did have the athleticism and most importantly the awareness to make a BIG play.

Here’s the play.  Watch this thing over and over if you want.  Start and stop it during the play to process everything.  He picks up the blitz right away.  He waits to bail.  He spins at the right depth away from the defender.  He’s looking downfield.  His hands never drop below his waist and always has both hands on the ball.  He’s squaring his shoulders.  He sees Davis going back to an open spot.  He releases the ball right when he’s getting hit.  As Dave South once eloquently said, “He got a touchdown.”  That was a well-coached and confident quarterback that knew his limitations.  That wasn’t all luck.  I guarantee you Jimbo ran that play back and forth 10 times on Sunday in film telling Kellen what a great play it was.  And it was great.

I couldn’t get the video to embed at the right spot but fast forward to about the 2:02 mark and watch the play.  You can also click the link below it which will take you right to the play.  Sorry my Internetting is lacking where I can’t get the YouTubes and WordPress to sync up right.  You get what you pay for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=napBx4gMovI&feature=youtu.be&t=122

It was a total team effort but Kellen deserves major props.  This is his team and he owned it on Saturday night.  I’m sure there will be some hiccups along the way but this isn’t last year’s Kellen Mond at all.  This is a well-coached quarterback with some great natural talent.  If you want to know why Kellen Mond won the quarterback battle go back and watch that play again.  The perfect combination of awareness, poise, and athleticism.

Wide Receivers:

Um, Kendrick Rogers, where have you been?  Right behind the effort of Kellen Mond is no doubt Kendrick Rogers.  I NEVER expected to see the production we saw out of that guy on Saturday night.  He caught 7 balls just outjumping Clemson defenders.  His two touchdown catches were beautiful with athleticism and concentration.  I had no idea he had that ability but I sure hope this is more than a one game deal from him.  He has the size and athleticism so there’s no reason to think there’s not more there from him.  7 catches for 120 yards and two pretty damn amazing touchdown catches sure doesn’t seem like a fluke.  Next to Mond he’s no doubt the offensive MVP.

Outside of Rogers the rest of the receiving corps was solid.  Buckley, Ausbon, Sternberger, Trayveon, and Davis all had key catches at time.  That was really the difference in the game as Clemson couldn’t shut down the whole receiving corps.  Mond made Clemson pay by finding and hitting the open guys.  The receivers did their job but catching the ball and getting yards after reception.

Through 2 games this receiving corps looks completely different than last year.  They seem more aware and ready for the ball looking to make a play.  Last week they were blocking really well in the ground game and this week they were going after balls.  This doesn’t seem like a receiving corps that’s waiting on the play or ball to find them like last season.  They want to go make the play.  This only helps Mond when he knows if he puts the ball up his guys are going to fight for it.  It’s only one game but this receiving corps looks MUCH deeper than I ever imagined.  And what’s crazy is we have some true freshman on the bench that likely won’t see the field based on what we saw Saturday night.  I’m totally okay with that.

Offensive Line:

I have to put them at third on this list but the offensive line was tremendous on Saturday night all things considered.  We really couldn’t establish the ground game for the most part.  We only gained 57 yards on the ground other than Mond’s runs.  I’m really surprised by this as I expected our ground attack to do better than our pass blocking.  That wasn’t the case but the offensive line did a fine job for what was there.

Kellen didn’t have a ton of time to throw but thanks to the offensive line he had enough time to throw all night for the most part.  Coaching also helped here as Jimbo and Dickey started moving Kellen around as well as started using Trayveon Williams out of the backfield.  The few times we ran screens they were well timed and well executed.  Mond was sacked three times but that was all in the first half I think.  They adjusted in the second half nicely giving Mond enough time to throw the ball.  Great job by the coaches and offensive line.

Probably the biggest compliment to pay this offensive line is you completely forgot they were playing the best defensive line in college football.  They still have some room to develop since we got stuffed on short yardage situations a couple of times.  I’m not complaining though as last year’s line would have been embarrassed.  This unit is still growing but they held their own against the best defensive line in college football for most of the night.

Running Game:

It seemed pretty clear Clemson’s goal coming into this game was to shut down the run.  That’s what they did with their defensive line.  Trayveon only averaged 1.8 yards per rush.  He’s not built for this type of defensive line because he needs to get to the second level to use his speed and wiggle.  This isn’t on Trayveon because the matchup never really favored us here.  Our offensive line couldn’t get him to the second level.  Great job by Jimbo and Staff recognizing it wasn’t there for the most part and adapting.  The Aggies never truly went away from the run so Clemson always had to think about it, but it was clear we weren’t running our way to yards and scores against that line.  They’re just too good.

Tray Williams is a great back but we did miss having someone like a Keith Ford or Tra Carson that could pound the ball a little more between the tackles.  It likely wouldn’t have made too much of a difference but we do miss that threat.  Just not much you can do against a defensive line where all four of their guys will be drafted in the first two rounds.  Just admit your deficiencies and try something else which Jimbo did and it worked for the most part.

Defense:

Defensive Line:

I thought the defensive line played really well.  147 yards on the ground isn’t ideal but Clemson has a very mobile quarterback.  That makes it hard to key in on the running back.  We didn’t give up any long touchdown runs.  We kept Travis Etienne corralled for the most part other than one 28-yard scamper.  He’s a very underrated back as if he gets to the second level he can flat out burn you.  Elko did a good job moving people in and out.  Kingsley Keke had his usual good game along with Landis Durham.  It didn’t show up on the stat sheet but Daylon Mack had a couple plays where he was completely disruptive blowing the center and guard off their blocks.  I don’t know if it’s scheme or want but it’s amazing how Mack can be so dominating at times and then get blocked other times.  I’m sure it’s a little of both.  Justin Madubuike really showed up in this game bringing pressure all game long.  He spent a lot of time in the backfield getting a sack and a quarterback hurry.  He’s only a sophomore but he seems like he keeps developing better and better every game.  Our defensive line isn’t as good Clemson’s defensive line but there’s no doubt this is a solid unit.  They just show up every game and do their job.

Linebacker:

Thanks to our defensive line Dodson and Alaka were freed up to make plays.  That’s the way it’s supposed to be.  Not sure what else what to write here as these guys did their job plain and simple.  Dodson is probably the most underrated linebacker in the SEC and maybe even the country.  He led the team in solo tackles and even had a nice pass break up on the wide receiver reverse pass to their quarterback.  Was hoping he would come down with it but it was pretty good awareness.  He knocked the ball away so there was no chance of a completion.  Saw Anthony Hines in there a couple of times late in the game but don’t recall him doing much.  We still need to add some depth here but Dodson and Alaka just show up every week and clean up what the defensive line doesn’t take care of.  I’m totally okay with that as that’s how the front 7 is supposed to work.

Seems Donovan Wilson is kind of our third linebacker as Elko technically runs a 4-2-5.  This makes the third linebacker and safety situational.  Wilson fits in with Dodson and Alaka.  He may not seem all that dominant, but Wilson is as dependable as they get.  Whatever comes their way Dodson, Alaka, and Wilson are going to handle.  We could be MUCH worse than these three guys manning the middle of the play.

Secondary:

Coming into the season the position that concerned me the most beyond the offensive line was our cornerbacks.  I don’t think we have amazing talent at corner.  Certainly not upper level college football talent.  That showed up on Saturday night as we gave up two long 64 yard passes with one being for a touchdown.  We also gave up another 50 yard pass which set up a touchdown.  That’s 178 yards through the air on three plays which is over half their passing offense.  That’s too much.  I get giving up a big play here and there but our cornerback coverage is definitely the weakest part of our defense by far.  Clemson knew it and attacked it on several occasions.

I feel good about our chances against the run but if we’re going up against an offense that has strong deep threats and a quarterback that can get it to them we’re going t be susceptible to the deep ball.  We just don’t have the talent at corner to compete with great deep threats.  Along with depth at linebacker we must get more talented corners on campus and get them up to speed.  This won’t be the last time you see an opponent get a long touchdown against us.  It’s our Achilles heel and it’ll continue to get tested until we prove we can slow it down.

Safety wise the guys not named Donavan Wilson did okay.  I like Derrick Tucker’s long-term potential but he still makes some goofs from time to time.  Deshawn Capers-Smith doesn’t have Tucker’s talent but he doesn’t make the mistakes Tucker does.  We’ve got a lot of young talent at the safety position so we’ll be fine long term, but this really feels like a transition year from having Evans, Watts, and Wilson roaming the secondary like we’ve had the last few years.

 

Overall:

Clemson was 4 of 13 on third down conversions and failed on their only 4th down attempt.  They also held the ball for only 26 minutes.  Those two stats are all because of our front 7 doing what they do.  All in all this defense is starting to remind me of the 2012 unit but with a worse secondary.  It’s a really good unit with the front 7.  Much better than most people realize.  So far Elko looks to be an upgrade over Chavis as the front 7 is more fundamentally sound.  It doesn’t seem as prone to the goofs the Chavis defense would have at times and especially late in games.  We’re just going to give up big pass plays from time to time so get used to that.  At least against the teams that have fast receivers and quarterbacks with big enough arms.

Special Teams:

Obviously we know about LaCamera with his miss and block.  Obviously that makes Clemson feel like 2012 Florida and LSU.  Not sure it’ll come to that where we’re looking back at a missed field goal away from a potential national championship but I’m fine if so.  That will be a much better season than most expected.  He still hit two 40 yarders so he’s not terrible.  Kickers are going to miss so you’re better off being in a position where you don’t rely on them.  Even Alabama had a kicker a while back that routinely missed field goals which drove Saban wild.

No doubt the special teamer of the game was Braden Mann.  I can’t recall seeing a punter just driving a ball with no trajectory like he was.  He was knocking it low and deep all night.  I don’t know if he was doing it by design but it was working perfectly.  The way he was hitting it wouldn’t allow the return guy to set up underneath it so he was having to chase it like a center fielder on a deep line drive.  Clemson only had 9 yards of punt returns so whatever it was needs to keep happening.  Anytime you have a punter averaging 55 yards a punt and hits a 73 yarder with 9 return yards you’re doing something right.  Mann was tremendous.

On returns we didn’t really have anything spectacular but I thought Roshauud Paul did a nice job of knowing when to fair catch and return.  He had two returns off 14 and 11 yards which isn’t that long but shows he appears to have pretty good awareness.  Last thing you want on a punt return is to try and make a return when nothing is there.  That’s how fumbles happen.  If you don’t feel there’s anything to be gained get your arm up and call for the fair catch.  Make the catch and move on down the road.  Fumbled punts can really turn the momentum.  I like Paul’s apparent awareness in fielding punts.

 

Going Forward:

It’s hard not to like what happened at Kyle Field on Saturday night even though the Aggies are now 1-1 on the season.  Alabama is in two weeks and that’s the biggest test of the season.  Based on what I’ve seen this season Alabama is a better football team than Clemson.  The Aggies have to get through Louisiana Monroe this weekend but I don’t see that being an issue.  At least I hope not.

Right now I’m leaving my season prediction at 8-4.  The SEC West is still looking strong with Mississippi State being better than I originally thought.  South Carolina might be a little worse but that Georgia game could be a wake up call for them.  Arkansas looks like an easier game and Ole Miss apparently has all offense and no defense.  LSU is still so far away it’s hard to predict that one.  Kentucky doesn’t look like the easy win either after they beat Florida in Gainesville.  Still a lot of football to be played only 2 games in.  I want to make sure that Clemson game wasn’t a blip before I chug all of my maroon Kool-Aid.  What I had on Saturday night sure tasted good though.

I will say after Saturday night this team might be closer to the 2012 team than I originally thought.  That team that played at Kyle Field can beat anybody left on their schedule not named Alabama.  I think there’s at least one more loss in there but I feel much better about Auburn and LSU right now than I did coming into the season.  Let’s see what we look like against Alabama and then we can figure out what could happen the rest of the way.  I said a realistic dream season was going 9-3 winning the bowl game finishing at 10-3.  That seems really possible right now.

If we play the rest of the season like we played Clemson there’s no doubt we’ll Make Aggie Football Great Again well ahead of schedule.

#MAFGA

 

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