Texas A&M Football: 3 Takeaways From a Last-Second Loss at Alabama

Defensive Line shows its resolve

What a difference one guy makes, huh?  McKinnley Jackson finally returning to the lineup provided an immediate and noticeable boost to a group that has been racked with injury thus far this year.  The pass rush and run defense looked noticeably better on Saturday.  They gave up more than their fair share of big plays, but an outsized amount of those came on Milroe dropbacks when he couldn’t find anything downfield and scrambled into the open field.  They had just as many plays where runs were stuffed for short yardage or behind the line of scrimmage.

And how about Fadil Diggs?  What an emergence.  How’s this for a statline: 3 TFLs, 2 sacks, and 2 fumbles forced, both of which were recovered by the Aggies and led to points.  He came up big in a game when the Aggies needed it, as did the young freshman Walter Nolen, who had a sack of his own and was in the backfield all night.

I’ve said it before, but this Texas A&M football team is so, so young.  They’re only going to get better from this point out.  That’s not an excuse— it’s on the coaching staff that they’re having to play this many young guys in year 5 of the Jimbo era— but it is an explanation for some of the stuff we’ve seen so far.  If this pass rush continues to emerge, along with the passing game on the other side (especially with Weigman’s time possibly looming), this could be a team nobody wants to play by the end of the year.