Texas A&M vs Arkansas Recap
Arkansas takes down the Aggies for the first time since 2011. Texas A&M 10
Arkansas 20
By: The Hammer
Well, well, well. How the turn tables. Arkansas finally got the elusive victory over Texas A&M for the first time since 2011. And damn it stings. Since we started this blog, Texas A&M has only lost one game, so this feels weird. I got used to winning and unfortunately the Aggies were beat soundly on Saturday. I’m going to break down a few things that went wrong, most of which are pretty obvious, air some grievances, and then finish on some potential remedies while trying to find reasons for optimism moving forward.
So how did we end up with a 20-10 loss to Arkansas? What exactly went wrong? In short, a lot. The first glaring issue is the offensive line. I’m on record before the season saying I did not think the offensive line would be too big of an issue. I knew there would be a step back but I felt like this unit could be a middle tier SEC offensive line at worst. Unfortunately, that has not been the case at all. They have played like one of the worst units in the conference up to this point. Saturday was no different.
KJ Jefferson didn’t throw often, but he made his attempts count. Photo by Michael Miller, The Eagle.
We knew the line would need to show improvement to beat Arkansas and it just wasn’t there. Obviously injuries play a part in this with Luke Matthews and Layden Robinson both out. Couple that with Jahmir Johnson leaving the game and you end up with a hodgepodge of inexperience and lack of chemistry. All American Kenyon Green played three different positions on Saturday for crying out loud. He started at right guard and then saw time at both right and left tackle. So of course that group looked lost. I don’t want to sound like I am making excuses because they absolutely have to play better, but it’s understandable why they look so out of sync. I’m no offensive line guru, but I hope moving forward we keep guys in the same positions. If someone goes down with an injury, so be it. Plug in the next guy and roll. That way it's just one new face but the others still know their role and responsibility, rather than both new faces and guys moving into new positions simultaneously.
Coupled with the poor offensive line play, you have Zach Calzada. The two go hand in hand because Calzada was facing pressure all day, but he still played terribly. On the day Calzada finished 20/36 for just 151 yards and an interception that he threw off his own offensive lineman’s helmet. He was never able to find any rhythm and looked uncomfortable in the pocket all day. Partially because the Hogs were able to pressure him and partially because he’s simply not comfortable in the pocket. Often even when the protection held, he bailed out way too soon and started to scramble instead of stepping up in the pocket. I think it would help Calzada out a ton if Jimbo would simplify some things, but we’ll get to that later. The bottom line is you can’t beat a team like Arkansas with a QB playing like that. And there are plenty of other SEC teams that we won’t beat if he doesn’t improve.
The wide receivers and tight ends play was poor as well. The Aggies have struggled to get consistent separation dating all the way back to last year, but maybe more egregious in this game was the blocking on the outside. Again, injuries don’t help here with Caleb Chapman, Hez Jones, and Chase Lane all sidelined, but Jimbo has recruited well enough that it shouldn't be as big of an issue as it was. Either Jimbo and his staff are missing on these guys, or they aren’t being developed properly. Or maybe the offense is too complex and no one knows what they are doing. I really don’t know anymore because the offense looks so out of sorts that you can’t just point to one thing. It’s probably a combination of execution issues along with underlying scheme issues, but something has got to change if we want to win ball games. If it’s execution, then put players in that know what the hell they are doing. If it’s scheme, play calling, development, or something else, Jimbo and the staff need to figure it out. Quickly.
Demarvin Leal and this defense did enough to win this game. Photo by Michael Miller, The Eagle
Defensively, there is only one thing that can be criticized in my opinion: the slow start. The defense came out a little sluggish and gave up two big plays. The 85 yard touchdown to Burks was brutal, but I can live with that. Treylon Burks will be making plays in the NFL soon and we all knew the game plan was to make KJ Jefferson beat us through the air. Well, on that play he did. When you play man coverage on the outside, you are going to get beat now and then. Tip your cap to Arkansas for taking advantage with a great throw and catch. On the other hand, the second touchdown was pitiful. Poor, inexcusable tackling. But outside of those two plays, the Aggie defense played quite well. If you had told me A&M would hold Arkansas to 20 points and 4 yards per carry in this game, I’d have bet we pulled out a win. The defense is not the issue and does not concern me at all moving forward.
We’ve touched on what went wrong, and it was a lot, but outside of injuries what could be causing this and how can it be improved? I don’t want to play armchair coach here but I think this stuff is worth mentioning because Jimbo and his staff were out coached on Saturday. I know Jimbo is a good coach and the staff around him is good, too. But when you make over 9 million dollars a year, you open yourself up to criticism and there is no excuse for being out coached unless the other coach is Nick Saban.
Isaiah Spiller was the lone bright spot offensively on Saturday. Photo by Michael Miller, The Eagle
First, Spiller and Achane have to carry the rock more. Even with the offensive line struggles, giving those two the ball gives A&M the best chance to win. We know what Calzada is right now. He showed it in the Colorado and Arkansas games - he isn’t going to win us games throwing the ball. We should not be throwing the ball 36 times while Spiller and Achane combine for 17 carries. It’s inexcusable. I understand we were down 17-0 early, so the desire to make up that deficit quickly with the passing game makes sense, but you have to know your personnel. Anyone with eyes knew that Calzada was not going to throw the Aggies back into that game. Plus, the rushing attack wasn’t that bad. Texas A&M averaged 5.3 yards per carry. A bunch of that came on Spiller’s 67 yard touchdown, but guess what, Spiller and Achane have that big play potential every time they touch the ball. So quit throwing it so much and let those guys go to work. The blocking won't be perfect but those two can make guys miss and get a few yards at a time, and the more you push on an opponent's front seven, the more you wear them down, the more likely it becomes that those guys rip off a big one just like Spiller did.
Going along with running the ball more, I’ll take it a step further. Why didn’t we try some heavy personnel? I’m talking about more 12, 13, 21, 22 personnel groupings. Show some more looks with two, even three tight ends, or run Spiller at fullback a few plays - he’s done it before. Just try something different, man! We have to be able to adjust in the game and take what a defense is giving us. Barry Odom and Arkansas want to rush three and drop eight into coverage? Great, then try bringing in some big boys and force them to bring more guys into the box. Make them stop the run and beat us physically over 60 minutes rather than just abandoning it all together. Oh, and when they do roll 8 or 9 guys down into the box to stop that rushing attack and heavy personnel, check to a deep ball or seam route off a play action and take a shot downfield. Whether it’s complete or not, just showing the safeties that threat makes an impact on how they play.
Those personnel groupings would help in pass protection too. If you’ve got big bodies and running backs in there to chip defensive ends, your offensive line will look a hell of a lot better. Instead though, Jimbo kept trying to run the same stuff when it was obvious it was not working. The line could not protect Calzada and even when they did, Calzada was not playing well enough to take advantage or the receivers were not open. One more thing Jimbo could have done to help out his struggling offensive line is move the damn pocket. Run some sprint outs, bootlegs, etc. It’s pop warner stuff, man. If your offensive line can’t provide a clean pocket, then move it - ADJUST. ADAPT.
The last thing I think might help out the offense is running some zone reads. Calzada has shown he can scramble. When you can’t block or throw well, a zone read is a good alternative because you let their pass rusher on the edge go unblocked. Take that responsibility off your offensive tackle cause he’s getting beat anyways. Maybe Jimbo is worried about Calzada getting injured? I’m really not sure why we haven't seen that at all since Haynes went down.
Photo by Smiley N. Pool, The Dallas Morning News
To Jimbo’s credit, he did try to get Spiller and Achane the ball in the passing game, which I felt like we needed to do more coming into the game, especially with the downfield passing game being nonexistent. They combined for 11 catches, so Jimbo was trying to find creative ways to get them the ball, but unfortunately Calzada was either late delivering the ball, or the blocking was terrible and there was no room once they did catch it. In this case, it was definitely an execution issue rather than play calling or game plan.
Okay so I’m ranting here and throwing stuff at the wall that might not work at all. I realize that. I just get so sick of watching Jimbo try and force the same stuff over and over when it’s painfully clear that it is not working. I’m sure most of it is execution issues (and penalties - the Aggies had 11 on Saturday) but I keep returning to the word adjust because I really think in this game, and the Colorado game, Jimbo has done a bad job of adjusting to what is happening. There are ways to at least try and combat your offensive line and quarterback shortcomings that I have not seen Jimbo even attempt, and it’s frustrating.
I know Jimbo’s offense can score points. We saw it last year. I’m not a hater of his offensive style or scheme. When it’s clicking, it’s hard to stop and the Aggies play fantastic complementary football that helps win games. But when it isn’t clicking, and it sure as hell hasn't been this season, you just have to try something else. Adjust. Adapt. Please! Alright, rant over. Maybe I’m just crazy and none of that stuff would work, but I’d rather see the Aggies try some of that than roll out the same pile of garbage we have seen so far.
What, if anything, is a reason to be optimistic moving forward? Obviously the defense gives me optimism. They remain one of the best defenses in the country and will keep the Aggies in every game. Seeing a 17-10 score in the 4th quarter after how poorly the team played all afternoon is a good sign. I also like how this team fought. It was 17-0 early on and I’ve seen plenty of A&M teams in that situation fold like a cheap lawn chair in similar situations. That tells me the mentality of this team is there, they just need to improve execution and the coaches need to do a better job of putting them in the best position to succeed. This won’t be an easy fix but it can be done. I know the coaching staff and players can do better.
Beyond that, look around the country. Nearly every team is struggling at something. Other than Alabama and Ole Miss, the rest of the teams on A&M’s schedule have shown major warts. We have too, and improvement is desperately needed, but I can look at our remaining schedule and see a lot of wins. The season is not over just because Arkansas beat Texas A&M.
Only thing left to do now is get back to work. Practice hard. Improve. Get creative offensively. Keep that nose to the grindstone. We saw this team drastically improve after two weeks in 2020, hopefully they can do something similar this year.
#BTHOMISSISSIPPISTATE
