Texas A&M Football: What Jimbo Fisher Had to Say After the Loss to Ole Miss

Texas A&M Football HC Jimbo Fisher’s Weekly Press Conference

You could tell the disappointment in his voice as well as his face as soon as Texas A&M football’s head coach Jimbo Fisher got to the stand. The first thing he said was, “Like I said, very disappointed we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted. Had some opportunities there, I will talk offensively first. I think we started much better out of the blocks really well. Got good balance run-pass, guys were mixing, line was doing a good job. Of course Conner was playing I thought outstanding in the game, Achane was outstanding, receivers are doing a good job.”

“Were executing very well. We got a good jump. We had some good opportunities. I wish we could have gotten some points right before half.”  The issue I have with this quote is that it falls back on the play calling. The Aggies were cruising down the field twice before the half was over only to get stalled out by 2 sacks and a penalty. The possession before that, A&M couldn’t even convert on a 3rd and 1 on their own 44. It is very concerning the way the play calling and execution has happened— especially in crucial situations— this year.

QB Optimism and Looking Forward

But the positive spin on the Ole Miss game is the fans and Jimbo knows who the QB1 is going forward. “I thought he (Conner Weigman) played really well in the game. Controlled the game, managed the game poised, moment wasn’t too big for him at all. That’s the part of maturation coming on and he was accurate with the football. Took care of it, no turnovers. I thought Achane ran the ball well up front. We did a good job up front a couple of times we got some pressure. For the most part we blocked really well.”

The impressive stat of the weekend outside of Weigman’s stat sheet was the Aggies were 4-4 in the red zone, getting all touchdowns — a huge improvement over their season average of 68% RZ touchdowns.

One area of concern that I have seen this year from this Texas A&M football team is the run game. On that front, Jimbo commented, “They come out really fast. They have the tempo which is hard to, they got that first drive. They got another drive that we stopped then we settled down. Made some really good stops, made some adjustments. Fit the runs a lot better. Did a good job of causing disruption… In the second half they got the run game going. We got to fit the runs better and that’s what it was and you see we got to be quicker and trust our eyes. Trust it and let it go. Not hesitate, close the gaps whether you’re a linebacker or safety or defensive end. We just didn’t fit it.”

Looking ahead to this weeks game, this Texas A&M Football team is playing the Florida Gators, and Jimbo had some high praise for their QB Anthony Richardson. “Anthony Richardson who is a phenomenal athlete at Florida. He does a great job of those things and keeping plays alive. We gotta get ready to play a really good Florida team.”

“Defense is really physical up front, linebackers are excellent, secondary is always good. Their physical upfront on the offensive line, really well coached. Running backs are really good players, good speed on the outside. Then of course their quarterback is a tremendous athlete, can throw it, run it, and do all the things hes got to do. But we got to have a good week of practice and move forward and play better.”

Jimbo very much feels the frustration of Aggie nation at the moment. There will be some tough challenges these next 4 games, but they are 4 manageable games in my opinion. At this point, Jimbo needs to give the keys to Weigman and build up some momentum going into the offseason. The offense will need to be more consistent and, just like everyone has spoken about, this may be the time Jimbo needs to start looking for an offensive coordinator.

Next up is the Florida Gators at Kyle Field for a 12pm/11am (EST/CST) kickoff on Saturday. I hope to see the offense change it up a little and trust the arm of Weigman. There has not been a more inconsistent team than Florida this year in the SEC, so it will be a good test to see how Texas A&M can do when their backs are against the wall. They are playing for pride and momentum at this point. Hopefully Jimbo can get it done.