Texas A&M Football fans probably needed to take a shower after last night’s game. Everybody was sweating out a close 10-7 win against Colorado, especially with backup Haynes King leading the charge.
Overall, there was much more to worry about in the game than there was to be excited about moving forward. Heck, it feels like a small miracle that the Texas A&M Football team kept their fifth ranking in this week’s Coaches’ Poll.
Still, among the panic and worry, there were more than a handful of positive takeaways. Today, I’m going to be going over three reasons for Texas A&M Football fans to be optimistic after Saturday’s close call at Colorado.
Reason No. 1: The Texas A&M Football team got much-needed clutch time experience
I know it sounds like somewhat of a reach, but some teams struggle in close games after a season full of blowout wins. Look at Ohio State the past few seasons. They blow the doors off of every Big Ten team and then struggle in late-game situations in the postseason.
If the Aggies didn’t struggle against this Colorado team, who would be the next big challenger? Next week, A&M takes on New Mexico, followed by a contest against Arkansas. After that, their last challenge before Alabama will be against Mississippi State.
Somehow, Arkansas, who just won their ninth game in the past four seasons, looks like the toughest challenger right now.
It would have been nice to get Haynes King some clutch time performance, but players like Zach Calzada and Isaiah Spiller shined. To take it a step further, the defense was able to step up when it really mattered, which was a great sign going forward. This leads me to my next point.
Reason No. 2: The Texas A&M Football team’s defense continued to look elite
It’s hard to think about anything outside of the Aggies’ terrible offense on Saturday, but if you’re able to look past it, you’ll see an extremely stout defensive performance.
You thought Texas A&M’s 288 yards of offense was bad? Their defense only allowed 260. They held Colorado to 4-14 on third down and 0-2 on third down. The rushing defense wasn’t great, but Colorado ran the ball a lot.
Jimbo Fisher’s defensive unit made up for it with a passing defense that was impossible to penetrate. The Buffaloes weren’t even able to manage 100 yards through the air. The Aggies have allowed the 14th-fewest passing yards in the country.
If this offense had even had an alright game, Texas A&M’s defense would have been the talk of the town.
The only area that this unit hasn’t excelled in particularly strongly is creating turnovers. The Aggies had a single interception by Jayden Peevy, who had a monster game. The senior recorded two tackles for loss and the aforementioned pick.
More turnovers will come for Texas A&M. If anything, their success defensively without creating turnover should seem extremely promising to fans. Imagine if they were getting turnovers this entire time.
Reason No. 3: Texas A&M Football backup QB Zach Calzada getting experience could go a long way down the road
It’s important to remember that this team isn’t necessarily married to the idea of having Haynes King as their starting quarterback. King and Zach Calzada were still dueling it out for the starting job up until a week before the season.
You’d also be lying if you thought that King was doing anything that Calzada wasn’t before his injury. Yes, it was early, but the offense was struggling offensively with their original starter in the game. The Aggies accumulated 12 yards in two drives with King in the game.
It would be a stretch to say that he was at risk of being benched, but it’s also extremely important to remember that if King isn’t doing an adequate job, Calzada is the next guy up. Getting him real snaps will be huge down the road.
Calzada didn’t have a great game. He had a performance that I will continually refer to as “adequate.” The backup quarterback completed 18-of-38 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but it was reminiscent of Kellen Mond — it was safe.
Even if Calzada continues to ride the bench, it’s infinitely rewarding to have a backup quarterback with meaningful experience, something that Calzada has in spades after the Aggies’ close call against Colorado.