Aggies sloppy, but explosive in opener
A mixed bag from A&M in their season opening win over Sam Houston.
By: The Hammer
Photo via Meredith Seaver, The Eagle
Texas A&M kicked off the 2022 season this past Saturday with a sleepy 31-0 victory over Sam Houston. The execution wasn't particularly crisp from either team, and there was a multiple hour weather delay after the first half, throwing off any sort of rhythm. Several Aggie players remarked it was like playing two different games. It’s just week one, so any major reaction, positive or negative, is likely premature. In fact, I can recall some week one performances from the Aggies that in no way signified how the rest for the season would play out. How about the 2014 win against South Carolina? Or the 2015 win over Arizona State? The narrow victory over Vanderbilt in 2020? Point being, everyone take a collective deep breath and let’s wait and see how this team matures. Are there things to work on? Of course. There were also a ton of positives to take away.
Starting with the positives, the defense looked unstoppable. Yes, that’s how this defense should look against a team like Sam Houston, but it’s great to see that play out on gameday, especially when breaking in a new system under first year defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. The Bearkats only managed 198 total yards on offensive and A&M forced two turnovers. A key to this defensive performance was getting off the field on third down. The Aggies held Sam Houston to just one third down conversion on twelve tries. Coming into the year, the A&M secondary was expected to be elite and they played very well as a unit, but the Bearkat’s QB wasn't able to test them much. Jury is still out after week one.
The biggest unknown on the defense is the defensive line given how much production left for the NFL after 2021. We got our first look at this new unit on Saturday, and they showed out. As a group, they were in the backfield all day and putting pressure on the opposing quarterback, totaling six tackles for loss, three sacks and six additional QB hurries. Even more encouraging was to see how many young players saw the field and made plays. True freshman Lebbeus Overton had a sack, and fellow freshman Walter Nolen recorded multiple tackles. Shemar Turner, Tunmise Adeleye and Shemar Turner all looked good as well. It’ll be interesting to see how this rotation changes as the season progresses, but so far it doesn't look like there will be much of a drop off in defensive line play this year. Nothing negative to report about the defense after game one.
On the offensive side, all eyes were on Hayseed Haynes King. After missing all but five quarters of the 2021 season after breaking his leg, King won the starting job again this year, edging out LSU transfer Max Johnson. On the positive side, King completed 20/31 pass attempts for 364 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions. Overall, I was fine with King’s performance, mostly because he pushed the ball downfield. The interceptions are a concern, don't get me wrong. He’s now thrown five picks in his two starts and that’s an issue he has to get cleaned up. However, I loved seeing him take shots. If he’s a gunslinger that is prone to interceptions, I could live with that if he’s throwing for multiple touchdowns and 300+ yards per game. We’ve been dying for an explosive offense since Jimbo arrived, and hopefully it's arrived. The talent at wideout is there, so maybe this is the year Jimbo gets aggressive.
King has the potential, and if he can just clean up some mistakes, should have a great season. He was chosen as the starter over Max Johnson for a reason, give him some time to figure it out. The run game is another concern. The offensive line was decent in pass protection, but struggled mightily in the run game. Devon Achane, who led the SEC in yards per carry in 2021, only mustered 42 yards on 18 carries, with his longest run being 12 yards. Starting center Bryce Foster was out due to an illness, and veteran RG Layden Robinson missed about half the game due to an injury, so the most experienced players returning weren’t really out there. However, we don’t know when those guys will be back, and there’s no time to be figuring stuff out on the fly. We did that last year, and the offensive line struggles were the main issue in the loss to Arkansas. Steve Addazio and the offensive staff need to find a group that works on the offensive line. I trust this staff, and the offensive line has always improved as the season progresses under Jimbo. But the improvement needs to come quick because Appalachian State and Miami are too good to beat with a one dimensional offense.
Looking ahead, I think these issues and mistakes are very correctable. But they have to be corrected if this team wants to get where it’s expected to. Appalachian State just gave up 567 yards and 63 points to North Carolina last week, so the Mountaineers defense seems like a good team to find a groove against. Hopefully the Aggies are the next team to exploit that defense and can move to 2-0.