Last week was a rollercoaster of emotions for Texax A&M fans. On Tuesday, the Playoff Selection Committee decided to shock most people outside of College Station and place Kevin Sumlin's 7-1 squad over the undefeated Washington Huskies. On Saturday, The Aggies traveled to Starkville to play a bad Missippi State team. While the game kicked off at 11am, it seemed like Texas A&M never showed up. Mississippi State dominated on both sides of the ball for the entire game, showing a fire and passion that the Aggies simply could not match. Looking back, red flags did pop up throughout the week but many Aggies fans brushed them aside and expected the team to cruise to an easy victory. Quarterbacks Trevor Knight, Jake Hubenak, and Connor McQueen, dressed up during their weekly press conference and pretended to be running for president instead of focusing on football. While it seemed like harmless fun at the time, now we can see that perhaps Knight, the unquestioned leader of the team, was overlooking the Bulldogs. He badly missed his first five passes on the way to producing an atrocious stat line, going 5/14 for 43 yards before leaving the game with an injured shoulder. The offensive line was routinely beaten, surrendering pressure on passing plays and failing to open up any holes in the running game. Star running back Trayveon Williams only gained 28 yards on 10 carries. As bad as the offense played, the defense was significantly worse. On their first play from scrimmage, Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald kept the ball on a read option around the left side and raced completely untouched 74 yards for a touchdown. The Aggies' adjustments throughout the game didn't seem to matter either. After pulling within seven points at the start of the 4th quarter and desperately needing a stop, Texas A&M's toothless defense gave up a 14 play, 73-yard touchdown drive that took over seven minutes and put the game out of reach. It was a truly shocking performance especially considering that tough defense was supposed to be this team's calling card.
The loss brought up a lot of questions, mostly because it felt sickeningly familiar to Aggies fans. For the past several years, the Aggies have started out the season on fire before collapsing late. After the 2016/2017 team spent the first 8 weeks convincing fans and the media that this year would finally be different, the loss looked strikingly similar to previous years. Will a listless, directionless offense and a bad defense once again cause this team to fall apart? Why hasn't the defense improved in the second year under elite defensive coordinator John Chavis? What happens when most of the playmakers on offense and defense either graduate or leave for the NFL after this year? Can Kevin Sumlin ever sustain success across a whole season on the way to winning over 10 games?
Those are all good questions and valid concerns, and many need to be addressed over the offseason. I know it hurts to see what looked like an 11 win season and a chance at the playoffs go up in smoke. However, this season isn't close to being over, and with a few changes on offense and defense, and the Aggies can still win 10 games on the way to the Sugar Bowl.
Kevin Sumlin announced in his press conference on Tuesday that Trevor Knight will miss the rest of the regular season with the shoulder injury he suffered in Starkville. Knight's backup Jake Hubenak has performed admirably when thrown into the action. Last year against Louisville in the Music City Bowl, he threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, and he threw for over 200 yards and another pair of scores on Saturday. While Knight is a running threat, Hubenak is more of a traditional pocket passer and Aggies offense really struggled when he tried to run the read option. Since Hubenak 's legs are not going to scare a defense, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone needs to rip up any and all of his zone read and run/pass option plays. Instead, he should take advantage of the fact that Hubenak is a more accurate passer than Knight. TAMU has plenty of dangerous weapons, so Mazzone needs to use them to spread out the defense, and incorporate short, efficient passes in the final three games of the season. Mazzone should give Trayveon Williams and Keith Ford chances to make plays, but now using traditional handoffs, power runs, trap plays, and sweeps. Starting right guard Connor Lanfear is also out for the season with a knee injury, so quick passes and a simple ground attack would make things easier on a young, patchwork offensive line.
On defense, injuries to future top 5 pick Myles Garrett and starting cornerback Priest Willis have wreaked havoc. Both of their backups were repeatedly exposed against Mississippi State. The good news for the Aggies this week is that Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly tore his ACL last weekend against Georgia Southern, and the Rebels are yet to decide on his replacement. John Chavis should be able to simplify things for his backups and let them rely on their athleticism and football instinct instead of overthinking the game and hesitating to make a play. The defense, in general, has struggled with tackling ever since the Tennessee game a few weeks ago. It's hard to say if that is because of fatugie that has built up throughout the season, a lack or effort, or players trying to do too much and attempting to strip the ball instead of wrapping up the ball carrier. What is clear that there's a night and day difference between the swarming defense that stifled a powerful Arkansas running game earlier in the season and whatever embarrassing mess trotted onto the field against Mississippi State. Chavis and Sumlin need to do whatever it takes to reenergize the defense and get them to play with the intensity that made many TAMU fans believe the fabled "Wrecking Crew" had returned.
With a pass heavy offense more suited to the personnel, and a simplified but impassioned defense there is plenty of reason to believe that Texas A&M can beat a hobbled Ole Miss, UTSA, and an improved but not infallible LSU in the friendly confines of Kyle Field.
