Texas A&M Football: 3 takeaways from a setback loss to Mississippi State

Moving forward

Look, for as bad as that whole game looked and felt, it wasn’t as sound of a beatdown (when it comes to metrics that are repeatable and indicative of a team’s actual quality) as it may have seemed.  The success rate (which measures, accounting for down and distance, how efficient your offense is) for each team was virtually even, according to both Bill Connelly and Parker on Twitter.

This really was the team’s best offensive performance since Sam Houston.  They were running the ball at will, and, later in the game, Moose Muhammad began to emerge as a real weapon, notching a 6-catch, 119-yard, 1-touchdown day.  That’s certainly far better than any A&M receiver since the opening game.  Achane continued to show his ability, ending the day with 16 carries for 111 yards and garnering a 6.9 YPC average.  The Aggies’ SP+ rating actually rose slightly, from 14.5 to 14.6.  This was mostly driven by an almost 3-point jump in offensive rating, even as the defensive and special teams ratings took a hit.

There’s been a lot of complaints about the Aggie offense so far this year, whether regarding play calling, play design, general philosophy, or anything else you care to name.  But when you turn the tape on, you can see lots of reasons why Jimbo Fisher feels his team is close.  The fact is, however, that the offensive output remains extremely inconsistent, which is attributable to the scheme, regardless of whether guys are open or not.  If players are having to think too much while they are out on the field, they’ll remain tentative and awkward— two words that, all too often, describe this offense to a T.

On the other side of things, the pass rush that I alluded to earlier simply has to emerge.  The Aggies have 6 sacks through 5 games, with a big fat 0 coming against the Bulldogs.  The youth movement on the defensive line has been a product of necessity, to be sure, and will definitely reap rewards in the coming weeks, but they’ve been unable to execute at the necessary level so far.  I don’t think the rushing defense has been a product of the 3-man front that we’ve seen Durkin employ so much; he ran it with Ole Miss with success, as we saw in the Aggies’ game against the Rebels last fall.  Once the pass rush shows up, I really believe everything else will fall into place, whether that comes in the last half of the season or whenever.  The Aggies better hope everything flips quickly, however, as they stare down the barrel of a trip to Tuscaloosa against top-ranked, revenge-seeking Alabama this weekend in primetime.