Texas A&M Football: 5 takeaways from Aggies’ Belk Bowl loss

2. The offensive line is still a problem

It’s been no secret that the offensive line has some major issues. Jim Turner resorted to full-scale shift changes during the season alternating between the starters and an all-freshman line, sometimes on alternating drives of the same game. Even with an extra month to prepare the Aggie offense battled protection issues all game long.

With Trevor Knight at the helm during the 2017 season the Aggies resorted to rolling the pocket to disguise some of their deficiencies. For whatever reason they elected not to implement a similar scheme this year and the result has been disastrous.

It can’t just be blamed on the young guys being in over their heads. Two of the most egregious mistakes both came in the first quarter and both were penalties committed by upperclassman. Both Koda Martin and Keaton Southerland were called for big penalties that negated conversions on third and long.

Texas A&M signed three more offensive lineman in their 2018 recruiting class including the last of the Matthews clan. With a large freshman class already on campus Jimbo Fisher will have plenty of bodies to work with next season.