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Jimbo 2021: Meemaw's Got a Brand New Bag


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18 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

What in the Sam Fuck is wrong with this Olin idiot?  I suppose it's aggy-ish to think a tweet like that is a good idea.

Living in that bubble makes one think racist/sexist things are funny and acceptable.  It's the 1950s in there.  Note the women's football clinic from a few years ago:

 

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https://footballscoop.com/news/suspends-two-assistants-following-sexist-womens-clinic-presentation/ 

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Olin's pumping out the Kool-Aid today 😂 Sadly, this joker has a Heisman vote and it's pretty obvious he's going to leave Ehlinger off his ballot.

Olin Buchanan: Big 12 already in danger of missing out on 2020 playoff

Quote

The Big 12 is magic. Two games into the season and — presto! — it’s College Football Playoff hopes appear to have vanished. Even the most staunch Big 12 supporter/apologist would have a hard time arguing that point. Only three of the conference’s 10 teams — Texas, Oklahoma State and Baylor — have not have suffered a loss. Those teams haven’t been impressive. Oklahoma State was precariously close to losing to Tulsa. Texas escaped Texas Tech only because the Red Raiders botched an on-side kick. A couple of weeks earlier those same Red Raiders held on to defeat Houston Baptist, 35-33.

Yet, what’s really crippled the Big 12’s playoff hopes was Oklahoma’s 38-35 loss to Kansas State. You know, the team that lost 35-31 to Arkansas State at home. That was one of three Big 12 losses to Sun Belt Conference opponents. A Big 12 team would have to go unbeaten to get into the playoff.

Texas would appear the most likely team to go undefeated. However, the Longhorns’ porous defense and its own history suggest that’s a long shot. A competent offensive team like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Iowa State and perhaps Baylor will be threats. History says the Longhorns won’t get through unscathed. The same goes for Oklahoma State.

Imagine trying to argue the merits of a one-loss Big 12 champion to the CFP committee. That is, if one of those teams finishes with just one loss. It would seem futile when comparing them to a one-loss team from the ACC, SEC and Big Ten. The ACC has three Top 10 ranked teams. The SEC has four —three in the top four. The Big Ten has two and hasn’t even played yet.

Indeed, an argument could be made that the American Athletic Conference is stronger than the Big 12. The AAC has three teams — No. 11 UCF, No. 15 Cincinnati and No. 25 Memphis — ranked among the current Top 25. The same amount as the Big 12. Memphis, by the way, has a 37-24 victory over Arkansas State. You know, the team that beat Kansas State, which beat Oklahoma.

Heisman watch (If my ballot was due today)

1. Trevor Lawrence, Clemson, QB: The Tigers were idle last week. In two victories, Lawrence has passed for 519 yards and 4 touchdowns. He’s completing 81.1 percent of his passing attempts. He’s also rushed for 3 TDs.

2. D’Eriq King, Miami, QB: King passed for 267 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 65 in a 52-10 blowout of Florida State. Through three games he’s accumulated 893 total yards and has accounted for 7 touchdowns.

3. K.J. Costello, Mississippi State, QB: True, LSU’s defense was without star cornerback Derek Stingley, who missed the opener because of illness. And true it’s only one game. But WHAT a game. Making his Mississippi State debut, Costello set a Southeastern Conference record with 623 passing yards and threw for five touchdowns in a 44-34 victory over LSU.

4. Kyle Trask, Florida, QB: Once a high school backup to Miami’s King, Trask has emerged as perhaps the SEC’s top quarterback. He followed up a strong showing in 2019 by throwing for 416 yards and 6 TDs in a 51-35 victory over Ole Miss.

5. Jaylen Waddle, Alabama, WR: Perhaps the country’s most explosive big-play threat, Waddle caught 8 passes for 134 yards and 2 TDs in a 38-19 victory over Missouri. Waddle’s touchdowns covered 18 and 23 yards.

Predicted playoff participants

1. Clemson: Despite the rise of Miami and the threat of Notre Dame, Clemson still projects as the ACC’s best bet to go unbeaten.

2. Alabama: Quarterback Mac Jones looked sharp in an opening blowout of Missouri. That showing erases any reason to doubt Alabama.

3. Ohio State: The Buckeyes project to be the class of the Big Ten. Once they actually start playing, quarterback Justin Fields will contend for the Heisman.

4. Florida: The Big 12’s futility will open up opportunities for a second SEC team to get in the playoff. Florida looks to have the best chance among East Division teams to finish the season with one loss or less.

Games to watch

No. 7 Auburn at No. 4 Georgia: A Top 10 matchup of longtime geographical rivals with playoff aspirations coming off opening victories. What’s better than that?

No. 13 Texas A&M at No 2 Alabama: Alabama might not be challenged often. The Aggies could mount a challenge but obviously must be much better than last week.

No. 18 Oklahoma at Iowa State: OU must bounce back from a stunning loss to Kansas State. Iowa State also has a stunning loss on its resume’. But remember, the Cyclones upset the Sooners in 2017.

South Carolina at No. 3 Florida: A boneheaded mistake in the final minutes prevented South Carolina from possibly launching a game-winning drive against Tennessee. That suggests the Gamecocks could be a threat if Florida takes them lightly.

Tulsa at No. 11 UCF: UCF has an outside shot at crashing the CFP party. Tulsa can’t be taken lightly after nearly defeating Oklahoma State.

 

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I can’t really disagree with olin’s thoughts/wishes about the big 12 not looking great and maybe missing out on the playoffs, or Texas being unlikely to go undefeated. 
 

that also means that their heads would explode even more so if we do manage to somehow go 10-1 or 11-0 and get in the playoffs. 

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5 hours ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

LSU will get better, but so will aggy. I think they beat Joey Fresh as that season gets away from him. Give me 5-5 with wins against Vandy, Ark, SCar, Miss, and......nope. Give me 4-6. 

What's most likely is they beat Florida and lose to Mississippi or South Carolina to reach 4-6.

If aggy gets garroted the next two weeks as expected,  Mond is going to catch so much grief of the ugliest kind that he may opt out.  If that happens there is no floor to how bad their season may end.

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2 hours ago, Orange&White said:

The deletion and apology tour are in full force.

 

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“Some found offensive” “I did not mean to be insulting” he’s really checking off the boxes for a non-apology apology. I’d have more respect for him if he’s just come out and say what he actually thinks. “I don’t see anything wrong with my racist joke. Stop getting offended, you stupid snowflakes.”

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Some of y’all are really overreacting to this week’s games. aggy didn’t look good by any means, but they’ll play better in future games. They had 3 lost fumbles, which likely won’t happen again. They also significantly outgained them in YPP (7.02 v.   3.81).

As for some of the teams they’ll face, MSU won, but they still have a lot of issues LSU failed to expose, and I could easily see aggy beating them. Bo Pelini did Leach a huge favor by acting like it was 1999 and he had never seen an air raid offense before. That LSU team is really bad right now. They’ll improve, but I don’t think either of their coordinators are good at all, and their QB is meh. That game could also be a win for aggy. Auburn looked fine, not much different than last year. They’re getting a huge bump just because they beat a poor Kentucky team that never should’ve been in the top 25. 
 

They’re still going to be favorites in about 5 of their next 9 games.  I’d say 4-6 is the floor with 7-3 being the absolute ceiling, but 5-5 or 6-4 are much more likely. 

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9 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Some of y’all are really overreacting to this week’s games. aggy didn’t look good by any means, but they’ll play better in future games. They had 3 lost fumbles, which likely won’t happen again. They also significantly outgained them in YPP (7.02 v.   3.81).

 

You're forgetting they played Vandy. 

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7 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

They had 3 lost fumbles, which likely won’t happen again. They also significantly outgained them in YPP (7.02 v.   3.81).

They may not have the same turnover issues every week, true. They also never established offensive rhythm, not because of Mond or the fumbles, but because the Vandy d-line outworked the aggy line. The easy solution is to increase the RB and WR screen game, but their line is too unathletic to add any value there. I'm not going to do the math, but take out those chunk runs and their YPP drops significantly. Vanderbilt doesn't have anyone that can catch Smith, everyone else does. 

We had no business losing some of the games we lost last year, but when the losses start coming, they get easier. Starting 1-2, which is almost a certainty to me with the state of aggy's secondary and lack of straight line speed, makes 5 or 6 losses much more likely, imo. 

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2 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

Some of y’all are really overreacting to this week’s games. aggy didn’t look good by any means, but they’ll play better in future games. They had 3 lost fumbles, which likely won’t happen again. They also significantly outgained them in YPP (7.02 v.   3.81).

As for some of the teams they’ll face, MSU won, but they still have a lot of issues LSU failed to expose, and I could easily see aggy beating them. Bo Pelini did Leach a huge favor by acting like it was 1999 and he had never seen an air raid offense before. That LSU team is really bad right now. They’ll improve, but I don’t think either of their coordinators are good at all, and their QB is meh. That game could also be a win for aggy. Auburn looked fine, not much different than last year. They’re getting a huge bump just because they beat a poor Kentucky team that never should’ve been in the top 25. 
 

They’re still going to be favorites in about 5 of their next 9 games.  I’d say 4-6 is the floor with 7-3 being the absolute ceiling, but 5-5 or 6-4 are much more likely. 

If I am them, I would be very concerned with having to deal with Leach, Kiffin, and Florida.  Their turn a safety into a corner and putting fatbodies on the DL works great to stop traditional run, run, pass SEC pro style offenses.  It does not work good at all against spread teams.  They had a "good" defense last year until they faced spread teams.  LSU could have put 80 on them.

I don't see how they win more than 5.

Florida, Alabama, Ole Miss, and MSU should light their asses up.  LSU will be better in November than they are in September.

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HammLite has a thread about how many h2h recruits there are in the Alabama v. aggy matchup -- of course it delivers. I really enjoyed this comment. 

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Christian Harris. The dude that started at Alabama as a true FR and was an FR All American wouldn't be starting WLB at aggy because *checks notes* Anthony Hines Aaron Hansford is starting at Will. 

Excuse Me What GIF by Naughty Dog

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1 hour ago, Scholz said:

Living in that bubble makes one think racist/sexist things are funny and acceptable.  It's the 1950s in there.  Note the women's football clinic from a few years ago:

 

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https://footballscoop.com/news/suspends-two-assistants-following-sexist-womens-clinic-presentation/ 

I'd seen the other pics from that clinic, but not this one.  Wow, aggy gon' aggy.

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3 hours ago, Deej said:

You're forgetting they played Vandy. 

Vandy's DL graded as best in the country in Week 4.  You can either believe the Vandy DL is that dominant...or the A&M OL is bad enough to make the Vandy DL look like the best DL in the nation.

(interesting to see Iowa St graded as 4th, having played TCU)

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Spoiler

Will Kellen Mond start every remaining game on the schedule?

There are way too many variables here to answer that question. I don’t think ‘benching’ him is something being considered at this time, if that’s what you’re asking.

He’s obviously got to play better and, more than anything else, protect the football or there will come a time when the Ags’ record and lack of offensive production (assuming Mond is playing poorly because if he’s playing well, Fisher won’t sit him ‘to prepare for the future’) converge to force a change.

Number of snaps for Demas? Achane?

No idea on the number of snaps, but I think we’ll see at least Demas in the first half of this one.

Snaps will depend on how well the young guys do when they’re in there, especially in a game like Bama on the road and against that defense. They’ll both eventually be legitimate offensive weapons for the Ags (as in this year, and early this year), but I think Demas’ path is clearer because things are so wide open at the receiver position.

Any indication from Bright yesterday/today of how concerned or disappointed coaches are regarding the offense?

Nothing earth-shattering other than they were indeed pretty disappointed because the unit had looked much better during camp. And try — at least make an effort here, guys — to understand what that means rather than just saying, “Well, it’s practice.”

These coaches are professionals that have done this their entire lives. They understand the difference better than anyone on this board (including any of the TA staff), so yes, when they feel good about how practices and camp have gone, they are basing it on the comparison to past camps (both as a unit and as far as individuals go), knowing what the units are going up against on the other side of the ball (in this case, a solid SEC defense) and generally as it pertains to how ready they think either side of the ball is to play well on Saturday against conference opposition. Based on all of that, the expectations for the A&M offense and Kellen were higher than what was shown on Saturday night.

There’s a lot of work to do, obviously, but hopefully, the read folks on the inside had turns out to be a more accurate representation throughout this 10-game season than we saw in Game One.

Did you see any improvement in the offensive line compared to the end of last season?

Go check out the OIR segment. Yes, I saw some improvement. I’d recommend listening to Hunter on this week’s Liucciast, as well.

There was some improvement, but I don’t think they were dominant by any means. I’m concerned heading into Saturday’s date with Bama for apparent reasons, but particularly on the inside. If there are any changes in the short-term future to the front five, I think you’d see it happen on the interior. They were not good enough for what the Ags have coming up in terms of SEC opposition.

If Mond were to miss any time (whatever the reason), do you have any feel as to which backup QB would get the nod at this point? Any feedback from insiders at practice?

I think — if for any reason that happened — you’d go with the veteran to start with (Calzada), but he’d have a very short leash. I think it would be more of “let the young guys play and see who rises to the occasion” type of thing. If Mond struggled enough to where there had to be a change or if he were injured, I think you’d really want to find out what both guys could do, and then make the decision.

My answer: There isn’t a clear No. 2, and I don’t think there will be until either this spring (at which time I guess it would be No. 1) or if both see the field later this fall. It could also very well depend on the circumstances in the game or what have you. Maybe if it’s a tight game, it’s King, or if it’s the second half or something on Saturday or in a couple of weeks, it’s Calzada. I think that’s still TBD.

Bigger picture... How much stock do you put in week 1? Do believe Mike Leach is taking over the SEC, or do you need to see more?

Need to see a LOT more.

LSU LIVED in man coverage and did so without Stingley. They also returned THREE starters on defense and one on offense. How good was that LSU offense (or bad) because Brennan and the Tigers did score in the 30s against the State defense.

What about the Ole Miss/Florida game? How bad is Ole Miss defensively, and how good (or average) are they on offense because they put up 600 yards on UF’s defense? A lot still to be determined.

For example (and I know what the Aggies looked like on offense against Vandy, and it’s a REAL concern), how about the retooled Auburn defense? They’ll play a BAD UGA offense one week after playing Terry Wilson and UK, where it looks like Wilson still can’t pass the football. We won’t know much about the Tigers’ defense, but I do think we’ll learn a lot more about their offense this Saturday against the Dawgs. A lot still to sort out.

Does Mond’s lack of success with the deep ball thus far have a negative impact on the run game, or is that more on the offensive line?

I think it certainly hurts it, along with some issues in the trenches. Still, if he were able to complete some shots down the field (and if the Ags would take a few more), it would help back the safeties up and (eventually) maybe open some things up not only for the running game but for the shallow to intermediate stuff over the middle (which he typically does a nice job of throwing).

Billy, on a scale of 1 - 10, what is your level of confidence the Ags can go into Tuscaloosa and not only compete, but come out with a win? Or is Bama just that much better, and we have no chance?

Low confidence on the win. I’ve actually liked the matchup more in previous years than this one.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t ‘liked’ it as in thought it was favorable since about 2013, but I’ve liked it better than this particular one multiple times in the past. If they show up as the team I think they are, give the Ags a puncher’s chance. If last week’s team shows up, I put the odds at zero. I absolutely believe they’re better than they looked on Saturday night at Kyle Field.

Think Clemons can break eight sacks this season?

Possibly, but I also think we’re jumping ahead based on what he did against Oklahoma State and Vandy. Two pretty bad o-lines.

I’ve been the one saying Micheal Clemons has made a significant improvement. Seeing him in the range of a half dozen sacks wouldn’t surprise me at all. With two already in the opener, I guess eight is in play. Man, if he could come out and play impactful football this weekend — win or lose — how freaking good would you feel about the Aggie defensive line the rest of the way? Especially as guys like McKinnley Jackson, Donell Harris and Fadil Diggs continue to work their way in and add juice while Clemons, DeMarvin Leal, Jayden Peevy, Bobby Brown and Co. continue to progress as upper-classmen and future NFLers.

Most talented starting defensive unit since...?

Great question. Probably the best since the Ags have been in the SEC, but there might have been one under Sumlin that had close to as much on the first team at least.

Myles Garrett, Daeshon Hall, Armani Watts, Justin Evans, Brandon Williams, Donovan Wilson and Otaro Alaka as some of the names in 2016? Nah, this one has more across the board in the starting lineup and terms of depth. There might not be a No. 1 pick among the group, but I do think you’re going to see several of these guys go in Rounds 1-3. You probably have to go back to the Slocum days.

Another one-off might have actually been under Fran when guys like Melvin Bullitt, Kellen Heard, Jordan Pugh, Michael Bennett, Johnny Jolly and Red Bryant led the charge. Whatever the answer, by next year, I’d confidently say, “Not since Slocum and probably going back before the turn of the century.” (That’s 1999 or further, but ‘turn of the century’ is much more dramatic).

Who would you say are the “heart and soul” leaders of this team? With the senior captain opting out, it feels like that mantle has passed to Ainias Smith and Leon O’Neal.

I think guys like Buddy Johnson, Ainias and DeMarvin are the first ones that come to mind. I like what I’ve seen and heard from Peevy and Clemons as having a role there, as well. Leon has undoubtedly impressed and could become one of those guys if he’s able to prove himself as an on-field alpha in the coming three weeks. He’ll be tested as much as anyone on the field by the passing attacks in these upcoming games.

Any feedback from Bryce Foster‍ after he attended the game against Vandy?

Brauny had some. He had a great time, as he always does when he comes here. I said on the ‘In-Home Visit’ podcast, at the end of the day, it’s the Aggie Network and the entire ‘Aggieland experience’ that might be A&M’s most significant advantage in this thing. That doesn’t mean the Ags are going to win out (could absolutely still go either way), but it’s certainly one of the biggest pluses on the Maroon & White’s side of the ledger. Who knows, maybe OU continues to struggle and, man, that vaunted OL didn’t look very good at all against a K-State defensive front that got pushed around by Arkansas State.

How dominant is Bama’s defensive line this year?

Not nearly as dominant as past Bama d-lines, but their linebacking corps is filthy. That defensive front still might be the best that Texas A&M faces this season, so keep in mind that it’s all relative when talking about the Tide.

Will we be told which, if any, players test positive for COVID, or would such information breach health privacy rules?

I don’t think you’ll be hearing that. What’s interesting is that you’ll just see guys not play and probably wonder why. Then, they’ll be back out there in a game or two. You might hear the coach say, “He was out with COVID, so we’re happy to have him back,” but I doubt it.

There have been plenty of guys with it this summer, and none of that has ever come out in the way of specifics, right? The good news so far this week is that there doesn’t seem to have been any sort of spike following the weekend after the first game action. I haven’t heard anything concerning out of Vandy, either. Usually, it’s the Tuesday test though (as opposed to Sunday) that will start causing alarms to sound in terms of potential rising cases. I haven’t heard any of that, so that’s encouraging on that front.

Any chance Jimbo hands over play-calling one day?

I wouldn’t expect that, no. I don’t think that means he won’t, can’t or doesn’t want to adapt the scheme, however. I just think he’s always going to be the play-caller.

Which player has the hottest seat to lose their starting job?

Well, I think it goes without saying that Kellen cannot continue to turn the ball over. Beyond that, I don’t think his seat is as hot as many believe. Sure, another game with some bad turnovers on Saturday or in any of the coming games could force Fisher’s hand, but I think that’s about it at this juncture of the season.

As far as other spots, I still think we could see something along the offensive line if things don’t go well this weekend. The reason why is that someone like Layden Robinson might be close enough to where you might decide to give him a look to at least see how he responds.

Do you think the offensive gameplan for Vandy was an aberration? Not controlling the LOS and pass on first down was weird to see.

I do think the Ags kept things pretty simple, and I do think you’ll see them attempt to establish the run earlier in SEC games moving forward, as it seems to be A&M’s best chance (at least to me). Shortening the game against other opponents will be more necessary than you thought it might be versus Vandy. On Saturday, it was actually the other way around.

Everyone keeps talking about getting Demas, Moose and Achane involved, but one big takeaway for me is the lack of focus on trying to get Wydermyer the ball. I loved how Mullen focused on their TE in the Florida/Ole Miss game. Do you think we can see him get that kind of attention in games going forward?

Yeah, I definitely think we’ll see Jalen get the ball more moving forward. Look, he dropped two passes.

Since everyone likes to point to last year (Ainias) as proof that there is reason to meltdown and crucify the head coach over Demas not playing, let’s apply that same logic here. Look at Wydermyer last year and Jace the year before. I’d expect 85 to see his workload increase each week moving forward, but he also has to catch the ball, which he didn’t do on Saturday night.

A key against Alabama would be the run game. Give your confidence meter on if that O line can get the run game going?

I think for it to really get going, Jimbo and the offensive staff will have to craft an incredible game plan, and it’s going to have to revolve around #11.

QB draws. Options to Smith on the perimeter or Kellen keeping it and turning up into the teeth of that frightening LB corps. Spiller inside or Kellen pulling it on zone reads. Improvised scrambles by the QB when he’s in trouble.

I think it absolutely has to start there, and then, things can evolve off of that. You’re not going to be able to line up and pound away at them for first down after first down. That’s just not a realistic option, but as you said, they HAVE to be able to run the football. This isn’t Georgia last year, where you can hold that Bama offense to 16 points and hang around without having a positive net rushing total for the game.

How much of the playbook was kept on under wraps on the Vandy game?

Oh, they didn’t open it up by any stretch, especially considering that they barely topped 50 snaps.

Can we expect to spread the field more with deeper routes to allow Ainias room underneath? Give him some space to make some plays?

I think you absolutely have to. This isn’t going to work without stressing the defense vertically on at least some level.

Impact of losing Cupp, Ausbon, and Hines?

It’s significant, but I continue to say it’s the Baylor Cupp/Blake Smith loss that really hurts because I think either would have given the A&M offense a pretty lethal 1-2 punch at tight end. Smith was going to be a very effective blocker, and he’s an elite pass-catching weapon. As for Cupp, we know what he could bring to the table as a receiving threat. The fastest tight end on the roster by a longshot.

Jhamon Ausbon was clearly a significant loss, but not one the team can’t overcome, especially if Demas develops. The runway has been cleared to some degree to allow that to happen sooner.

As for Anthony Hines, it’s a depth hit. He may have started, and if not, he would have played a ton. You could have used him in T-Town this weekend and over the next three weeks from an experience standpoint along with Buddy and Aaron Hansford. Really though, the issue is the aggregate of what A&M lost. 

Are there any teams on the schedule you feel/better worse about now after opening weekend?

Better (and this doesn’t mean I’m predicting wins or losses on any of these): LSU, Tennessee

Worse: Mississippi State

That’s based on how those particular teams looked. I’m not ready to go all-in with my judgment on what I saw from the Ags as of yet. I really don’t think I’m going to do that until Florida in terms of how I see the rest of the season playing out.

Is there a December signing day this year?

As of now: Yes, there still is.

I actually think it’s going to remain that way, though I kept expecting it to change. Now we’re close enough that I don’t see how they’d adjust. I’ll be more interested to see what they do with the late signing period. With no visits until at least the start of 2021, what would it hurt to move the February signing date back a month? Would have no bearing on the 2022 cycle whatsoever (well, very minimal). It’s absolutely what they should do.

If A&M blew a 15-point lead to t.u. with 3 minutes left, AT HOME, how many days after would it take you to post the following week’s “Ask Liucci” thread?

I feel like I’ve seen that movie before. Maybe not to Texas, but quite possibly to Tech. Auburn wasn’t much different. Then again, I saw it shake out in the Ags’ favor back in ‘98.

But, no, that was really, really bad. As bad as I’ve ever seen. The perfect meltdown from a disgracefully bad Tech team. Texas and their fans are running around like they’re a bona fide top-five program. They just went to OT and needed a MIRACLE to beat the team that gave up 600 yards and held off a two-point conversion to beat HBU the week before. Some buffoons (not all) in the media are buying that the team or QB have accomplished anything to date. And next up? Another awful team in TCU.

But, yeah, we’d probably have to cancel the question thread for a while. Good thing it wasn’t around in 2011.

Where would this team finish with Trevor Knight at QB?

Interesting question. When healthy — and he had a shoulder issue ENTERING the 2016 season — Knight always seemed to find a way to get it done. With this A&M defense and the fact that Trevor did get to where he was an effective deep-ball thrower, I’d feel decent about this team reaching that 7-3 plateau or even 8-2.

The problem is that it’s tough to sit here and compare a lot of receivers who have literally never played with Josh Reynolds, Christian Kirk, Ricky Seals-Jones and even Damion Ratley, all four of whom are still in the NFL and two who are starting. Throw in Trayveon and Keith Ford (I think Spiller and Ainias could definitely prove comparable). I would say the OLs were similar, though I think Knight’s may have had London, Sutherland, McCoy and Gennessy if I’m not mistaken. That’s actually significantly better.

This would be fun to do with all of the recent QBs.

Billy, I’ll pray for you to have patience this week!

I initially thought you said you’d ‘pay for you to have patience,’ and it was instantly my favorite question on this thread! I would say the same for everyone else (including myself!).

Were you shocked at how awful the LSU defense was?

Yes, but I was also very impressed by MSU’s receiving corps. Not at all surprised with Costello and Kylin Hill. Those two are going to be a problem, and I expected as much. It will be really interesting to see things exactly how good is the State offense, and how bad is the LSU defense? Is the UF offense that good or is the Ole Miss defense that bad? What about a Gator D that gave up nearly 600 yards or whatever it was to Ole Miss?

Only time will tell, but I’ve maintained throughout the off-season that LSU’s fall-off was going to be significant.

Have the cliff-jumpers been around from the very beginning, or is this a recent phenomenon? Do you think it’s just a percentage of humans that have that personality?

I think Gabe stole this one. It’s in the audio answers. He and Dalton crossed wires here. They’ve been around from the beginning. Twitter has only made things exponentially worse.

 

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9 minutes ago, Lobwedgephil said:
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Will Kellen Mond start every remaining game on the schedule?

There are way too many variables here to answer that question. I don’t think ‘benching’ him is something being considered at this time, if that’s what you’re asking.

He’s obviously got to play better and, more than anything else, protect the football or there will come a time when the Ags’ record and lack of offensive production (assuming Mond is playing poorly because if he’s playing well, Fisher won’t sit him ‘to prepare for the future’) converge to force a change.

Number of snaps for Demas? Achane?

No idea on the number of snaps, but I think we’ll see at least Demas in the first half of this one.

Snaps will depend on how well the young guys do when they’re in there, especially in a game like Bama on the road and against that defense. They’ll both eventually be legitimate offensive weapons for the Ags (as in this year, and early this year), but I think Demas’ path is clearer because things are so wide open at the receiver position.

Any indication from Bright yesterday/today of how concerned or disappointed coaches are regarding the offense?

Nothing earth-shattering other than they were indeed pretty disappointed because the unit had looked much better during camp. And try — at least make an effort here, guys — to understand what that means rather than just saying, “Well, it’s practice.”

These coaches are professionals that have done this their entire lives. They understand the difference better than anyone on this board (including any of the TA staff), so yes, when they feel good about how practices and camp have gone, they are basing it on the comparison to past camps (both as a unit and as far as individuals go), knowing what the units are going up against on the other side of the ball (in this case, a solid SEC defense) and generally as it pertains to how ready they think either side of the ball is to play well on Saturday against conference opposition. Based on all of that, the expectations for the A&M offense and Kellen were higher than what was shown on Saturday night.

There’s a lot of work to do, obviously, but hopefully, the read folks on the inside had turns out to be a more accurate representation throughout this 10-game season than we saw in Game One.

Did you see any improvement in the offensive line compared to the end of last season?

Go check out the OIR segment. Yes, I saw some improvement. I’d recommend listening to Hunter on this week’s Liucciast, as well.

There was some improvement, but I don’t think they were dominant by any means. I’m concerned heading into Saturday’s date with Bama for apparent reasons, but particularly on the inside. If there are any changes in the short-term future to the front five, I think you’d see it happen on the interior. They were not good enough for what the Ags have coming up in terms of SEC opposition.

If Mond were to miss any time (whatever the reason), do you have any feel as to which backup QB would get the nod at this point? Any feedback from insiders at practice?

I think — if for any reason that happened — you’d go with the veteran to start with (Calzada), but he’d have a very short leash. I think it would be more of “let the young guys play and see who rises to the occasion” type of thing. If Mond struggled enough to where there had to be a change or if he were injured, I think you’d really want to find out what both guys could do, and then make the decision.

My answer: There isn’t a clear No. 2, and I don’t think there will be until either this spring (at which time I guess it would be No. 1) or if both see the field later this fall. It could also very well depend on the circumstances in the game or what have you. Maybe if it’s a tight game, it’s King, or if it’s the second half or something on Saturday or in a couple of weeks, it’s Calzada. I think that’s still TBD.

Bigger picture... How much stock do you put in week 1? Do believe Mike Leach is taking over the SEC, or do you need to see more?

Need to see a LOT more.

LSU LIVED in man coverage and did so without Stingley. They also returned THREE starters on defense and one on offense. How good was that LSU offense (or bad) because Brennan and the Tigers did score in the 30s against the State defense.

What about the Ole Miss/Florida game? How bad is Ole Miss defensively, and how good (or average) are they on offense because they put up 600 yards on UF’s defense? A lot still to be determined.

For example (and I know what the Aggies looked like on offense against Vandy, and it’s a REAL concern), how about the retooled Auburn defense? They’ll play a BAD UGA offense one week after playing Terry Wilson and UK, where it looks like Wilson still can’t pass the football. We won’t know much about the Tigers’ defense, but I do think we’ll learn a lot more about their offense this Saturday against the Dawgs. A lot still to sort out.

Does Mond’s lack of success with the deep ball thus far have a negative impact on the run game, or is that more on the offensive line?

I think it certainly hurts it, along with some issues in the trenches. Still, if he were able to complete some shots down the field (and if the Ags would take a few more), it would help back the safeties up and (eventually) maybe open some things up not only for the running game but for the shallow to intermediate stuff over the middle (which he typically does a nice job of throwing).

Billy, on a scale of 1 - 10, what is your level of confidence the Ags can go into Tuscaloosa and not only compete, but come out with a win? Or is Bama just that much better, and we have no chance?

Low confidence on the win. I’ve actually liked the matchup more in previous years than this one.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t ‘liked’ it as in thought it was favorable since about 2013, but I’ve liked it better than this particular one multiple times in the past. If they show up as the team I think they are, give the Ags a puncher’s chance. If last week’s team shows up, I put the odds at zero. I absolutely believe they’re better than they looked on Saturday night at Kyle Field.

Think Clemons can break eight sacks this season?

Possibly, but I also think we’re jumping ahead based on what he did against Oklahoma State and Vandy. Two pretty bad o-lines.

I’ve been the one saying Micheal Clemons has made a significant improvement. Seeing him in the range of a half dozen sacks wouldn’t surprise me at all. With two already in the opener, I guess eight is in play. Man, if he could come out and play impactful football this weekend — win or lose — how freaking good would you feel about the Aggie defensive line the rest of the way? Especially as guys like McKinnley Jackson, Donell Harris and Fadil Diggs continue to work their way in and add juice while Clemons, DeMarvin Leal, Jayden Peevy, Bobby Brown and Co. continue to progress as upper-classmen and future NFLers.

Most talented starting defensive unit since...?

Great question. Probably the best since the Ags have been in the SEC, but there might have been one under Sumlin that had close to as much on the first team at least.

Myles Garrett, Daeshon Hall, Armani Watts, Justin Evans, Brandon Williams, Donovan Wilson and Otaro Alaka as some of the names in 2016? Nah, this one has more across the board in the starting lineup and terms of depth. There might not be a No. 1 pick among the group, but I do think you’re going to see several of these guys go in Rounds 1-3. You probably have to go back to the Slocum days.

Another one-off might have actually been under Fran when guys like Melvin Bullitt, Kellen Heard, Jordan Pugh, Michael Bennett, Johnny Jolly and Red Bryant led the charge. Whatever the answer, by next year, I’d confidently say, “Not since Slocum and probably going back before the turn of the century.” (That’s 1999 or further, but ‘turn of the century’ is much more dramatic).

Who would you say are the “heart and soul” leaders of this team? With the senior captain opting out, it feels like that mantle has passed to Ainias Smith and Leon O’Neal.

I think guys like Buddy Johnson, Ainias and DeMarvin are the first ones that come to mind. I like what I’ve seen and heard from Peevy and Clemons as having a role there, as well. Leon has undoubtedly impressed and could become one of those guys if he’s able to prove himself as an on-field alpha in the coming three weeks. He’ll be tested as much as anyone on the field by the passing attacks in these upcoming games.

Any feedback from Bryce Foster‍ after he attended the game against Vandy?

Brauny had some. He had a great time, as he always does when he comes here. I said on the ‘In-Home Visit’ podcast, at the end of the day, it’s the Aggie Network and the entire ‘Aggieland experience’ that might be A&M’s most significant advantage in this thing. That doesn’t mean the Ags are going to win out (could absolutely still go either way), but it’s certainly one of the biggest pluses on the Maroon & White’s side of the ledger. Who knows, maybe OU continues to struggle and, man, that vaunted OL didn’t look very good at all against a K-State defensive front that got pushed around by Arkansas State.

How dominant is Bama’s defensive line this year?

Not nearly as dominant as past Bama d-lines, but their linebacking corps is filthy. That defensive front still might be the best that Texas A&M faces this season, so keep in mind that it’s all relative when talking about the Tide.

Will we be told which, if any, players test positive for COVID, or would such information breach health privacy rules?

I don’t think you’ll be hearing that. What’s interesting is that you’ll just see guys not play and probably wonder why. Then, they’ll be back out there in a game or two. You might hear the coach say, “He was out with COVID, so we’re happy to have him back,” but I doubt it.

There have been plenty of guys with it this summer, and none of that has ever come out in the way of specifics, right? The good news so far this week is that there doesn’t seem to have been any sort of spike following the weekend after the first game action. I haven’t heard anything concerning out of Vandy, either. Usually, it’s the Tuesday test though (as opposed to Sunday) that will start causing alarms to sound in terms of potential rising cases. I haven’t heard any of that, so that’s encouraging on that front.

Any chance Jimbo hands over play-calling one day?

I wouldn’t expect that, no. I don’t think that means he won’t, can’t or doesn’t want to adapt the scheme, however. I just think he’s always going to be the play-caller.

Which player has the hottest seat to lose their starting job?

Well, I think it goes without saying that Kellen cannot continue to turn the ball over. Beyond that, I don’t think his seat is as hot as many believe. Sure, another game with some bad turnovers on Saturday or in any of the coming games could force Fisher’s hand, but I think that’s about it at this juncture of the season.

As far as other spots, I still think we could see something along the offensive line if things don’t go well this weekend. The reason why is that someone like Layden Robinson might be close enough to where you might decide to give him a look to at least see how he responds.

Do you think the offensive gameplan for Vandy was an aberration? Not controlling the LOS and pass on first down was weird to see.

I do think the Ags kept things pretty simple, and I do think you’ll see them attempt to establish the run earlier in SEC games moving forward, as it seems to be A&M’s best chance (at least to me). Shortening the game against other opponents will be more necessary than you thought it might be versus Vandy. On Saturday, it was actually the other way around.

Everyone keeps talking about getting Demas, Moose and Achane involved, but one big takeaway for me is the lack of focus on trying to get Wydermyer the ball. I loved how Mullen focused on their TE in the Florida/Ole Miss game. Do you think we can see him get that kind of attention in games going forward?

Yeah, I definitely think we’ll see Jalen get the ball more moving forward. Look, he dropped two passes.

Since everyone likes to point to last year (Ainias) as proof that there is reason to meltdown and crucify the head coach over Demas not playing, let’s apply that same logic here. Look at Wydermyer last year and Jace the year before. I’d expect 85 to see his workload increase each week moving forward, but he also has to catch the ball, which he didn’t do on Saturday night.

A key against Alabama would be the run game. Give your confidence meter on if that O line can get the run game going?

I think for it to really get going, Jimbo and the offensive staff will have to craft an incredible game plan, and it’s going to have to revolve around #11.

QB draws. Options to Smith on the perimeter or Kellen keeping it and turning up into the teeth of that frightening LB corps. Spiller inside or Kellen pulling it on zone reads. Improvised scrambles by the QB when he’s in trouble.

I think it absolutely has to start there, and then, things can evolve off of that. You’re not going to be able to line up and pound away at them for first down after first down. That’s just not a realistic option, but as you said, they HAVE to be able to run the football. This isn’t Georgia last year, where you can hold that Bama offense to 16 points and hang around without having a positive net rushing total for the game.

How much of the playbook was kept on under wraps on the Vandy game?

Oh, they didn’t open it up by any stretch, especially considering that they barely topped 50 snaps.

Can we expect to spread the field more with deeper routes to allow Ainias room underneath? Give him some space to make some plays?

I think you absolutely have to. This isn’t going to work without stressing the defense vertically on at least some level.

Impact of losing Cupp, Ausbon, and Hines?

It’s significant, but I continue to say it’s the Baylor Cupp/Blake Smith loss that really hurts because I think either would have given the A&M offense a pretty lethal 1-2 punch at tight end. Smith was going to be a very effective blocker, and he’s an elite pass-catching weapon. As for Cupp, we know what he could bring to the table as a receiving threat. The fastest tight end on the roster by a longshot.

Jhamon Ausbon was clearly a significant loss, but not one the team can’t overcome, especially if Demas develops. The runway has been cleared to some degree to allow that to happen sooner.

As for Anthony Hines, it’s a depth hit. He may have started, and if not, he would have played a ton. You could have used him in T-Town this weekend and over the next three weeks from an experience standpoint along with Buddy and Aaron Hansford. Really though, the issue is the aggregate of what A&M lost. 

Are there any teams on the schedule you feel/better worse about now after opening weekend?

Better (and this doesn’t mean I’m predicting wins or losses on any of these): LSU, Tennessee

Worse: Mississippi State

That’s based on how those particular teams looked. I’m not ready to go all-in with my judgment on what I saw from the Ags as of yet. I really don’t think I’m going to do that until Florida in terms of how I see the rest of the season playing out.

Is there a December signing day this year?

As of now: Yes, there still is.

I actually think it’s going to remain that way, though I kept expecting it to change. Now we’re close enough that I don’t see how they’d adjust. I’ll be more interested to see what they do with the late signing period. With no visits until at least the start of 2021, what would it hurt to move the February signing date back a month? Would have no bearing on the 2022 cycle whatsoever (well, very minimal). It’s absolutely what they should do.

If A&M blew a 15-point lead to t.u. with 3 minutes left, AT HOME, how many days after would it take you to post the following week’s “Ask Liucci” thread?

I feel like I’ve seen that movie before. Maybe not to Texas, but quite possibly to Tech. Auburn wasn’t much different. Then again, I saw it shake out in the Ags’ favor back in ‘98.

But, no, that was really, really bad. As bad as I’ve ever seen. The perfect meltdown from a disgracefully bad Tech team. Texas and their fans are running around like they’re a bona fide top-five program. They just went to OT and needed a MIRACLE to beat the team that gave up 600 yards and held off a two-point conversion to beat HBU the week before. Some buffoons (not all) in the media are buying that the team or QB have accomplished anything to date. And next up? Another awful team in TCU.

But, yeah, we’d probably have to cancel the question thread for a while. Good thing it wasn’t around in 2011.

Where would this team finish with Trevor Knight at QB?

Interesting question. When healthy — and he had a shoulder issue ENTERING the 2016 season — Knight always seemed to find a way to get it done. With this A&M defense and the fact that Trevor did get to where he was an effective deep-ball thrower, I’d feel decent about this team reaching that 7-3 plateau or even 8-2.

The problem is that it’s tough to sit here and compare a lot of receivers who have literally never played with Josh Reynolds, Christian Kirk, Ricky Seals-Jones and even Damion Ratley, all four of whom are still in the NFL and two who are starting. Throw in Trayveon and Keith Ford (I think Spiller and Ainias could definitely prove comparable). I would say the OLs were similar, though I think Knight’s may have had London, Sutherland, McCoy and Gennessy if I’m not mistaken. That’s actually significantly better.

This would be fun to do with all of the recent QBs.

Billy, I’ll pray for you to have patience this week!

I initially thought you said you’d ‘pay for you to have patience,’ and it was instantly my favorite question on this thread! I would say the same for everyone else (including myself!).

Were you shocked at how awful the LSU defense was?

Yes, but I was also very impressed by MSU’s receiving corps. Not at all surprised with Costello and Kylin Hill. Those two are going to be a problem, and I expected as much. It will be really interesting to see things exactly how good is the State offense, and how bad is the LSU defense? Is the UF offense that good or is the Ole Miss defense that bad? What about a Gator D that gave up nearly 600 yards or whatever it was to Ole Miss?

Only time will tell, but I’ve maintained throughout the off-season that LSU’s fall-off was going to be significant.

Have the cliff-jumpers been around from the very beginning, or is this a recent phenomenon? Do you think it’s just a percentage of humans that have that personality?

I think Gabe stole this one. It’s in the audio answers. He and Dalton crossed wires here. They’ve been around from the beginning. Twitter has only made things exponentially worse.

 

What if I told you, the Aggies have no chance of winning the next three games? (Morpheus gif)

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11 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Myles Garrett, Daeshon Hall, Armani Watts, Justin Evans, Brandon Williams, Donovan Wilson and Otaro Alaka as some of the names in 2016? Nah, this one has more across the board in the starting lineup and terms of depth. There might not be a No. 1 pick among the group, but I do think you’re going to see several of these guys go in Rounds 1-3.

Every single one of these guys would start over the 2020 counterpart. Every single one. (ok maybe Richardson starts at FS but then Wilson would start at NB)  That doesn't make that 2016 group all-world, but it tells you exactly where the 2020 group is. 

 

11 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Another one-off might have actually been under Fran when guys like Melvin Bullitt, Kellen Heard, Jordan Pugh, Michael Bennett, Johnny Jolly and Red Bryant led the charge. 

Imagine posting this list of fucking nobodies and thinking of it as the halcyon days. Goddamn. This is fucking terrible. 

 

11 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Where would this team finish with Trevor Knight at QB?

literal white knight. fucking aggy.

 

11 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

How much of the playbook was kept on under wraps on the Vandy game?

 

 aggy. don't do this to yourself. Jimbo doesn't have anything new to bring out. No new wrinkle, no new formation. Dude thinks running an RPO from the shotgun is "spread offense". 

 

1 hour ago, Orange&White said:

Billy's take that this may be the best defense they've fielded since Slocum is going to age very, very well.

just wait stephen colbert GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

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