Texas A&M football: 4 takeaways from close loss to Clemson
By Jeff Shull
Texas A&M beat themselves
Football is a sport where the best team on the field often doesn’t win because they beat themselves. The Aggies did this last night.
Kicker Daniel LaCamera missed a chip shot after a good first drive by the Aggie offense, and later had another field goal blocked by Dexter Lawrence. You cannot leave points on the board against a good team. Making either one of these would have changed the game’s trajectory and possibly the outcome, given the Aggies only ended up losing by two and missed a two-point conversion to tie it.
They also were unlucky in Kellen Mond getting hurt and having to come out for a play. The Aggies were moving the ball into scoring position before Starkel got sacked and fumbled the ball right to Clemson. It was both a terrible play call and an unfortunate situation. Mond likely holds onto that ball. Clemson would end up scoring on the ensuing drive to take a 28-13 lead late in the third quarter.
Without these mistakes it’s most likely a different outcome.