Texas A&M football: Takeaways from Aggies dominant defensive win over Kentucky
By Jeff Shull
Texas A&M football earned its first win over a ranked opponent in the Jimbo Fisher era; here are the takeaways from the Aggies’ tough win over Kentucky
Jimbo Fisher was in search of a great win to prove to the rest of the world this season is not just a throw away. Nobody expected Texas A&M football to compete for even second place in the SEC West this season, and that eight or nine wins would be just fine for Fisher’s first year (myself included).
That’s never going to be enough for Fisher.
Kentucky wasn’t supposed to be a tough opponent, either. They came into this season with little expectations and tossed conventional wisdom out the door with wins at Florida and over Mississippi State and South Carolina. The former two of those teams are still currently ranked in the polls.
The Wildcats had beaten teams with great defense and a fantastic running game. The Aggies matched their intensity on defense and shut down the SEC leading rusher, holding Benny Snell to just 60 yards on the day. More incredible stats on this performance later.
The win builds confidence for the rest of the SEC slate, which suddenly doesn’t look quite as daunting. South Carolina already lost to Kentucky and struggled to take care of Missouri at home. Mississippi State was expected to compete for a playoff spot this season but has been anemic offensively, and Auburn just got waxed by Mississippi State and has not found their way on offense either.
The Aggies needed this win in a bad way and did just enough to squeak it out. Here are some takeaways from the victory.