Texas A&M Football: 3 Takeaways from a Setback Loss to Miami

This was a game for Texas A&M football that much more reminded me of the 2022 season than I cared for. Of course, it was very different in a lot of ways: in only maybe one game last year was it the defense’s fault that the Aggies lost. Usually, it was offensive ineptitude that consigned the Aggies to another tally in the loss column rather than defensive issues; but when it was defensive issues, it was giving up too much on the ground. All told, it was neither a terrible offensive outing nor an issue with rushing defense that cost this game.

So what was it?

Well, like I say, it wasn’t that the offense was bad, really. There were very untimely failures at different points throughout the game, but the offensive totals were, all things considered, very similar for both teams. I’ll get into it more in my Notable Numbers column on Monday, but the Aggies were only outgained by about 20 yards by the Hurricanes. Notably absent from that number is special teams yardage, of course, which showed up as both a boon and a thorn for this Texas A&M football team on Saturday.

Early in the game it looked like the Maroon and White would be the beneficiaries of some stellar play in the third phase, but an uncalled hold in the third quarter against 12th Man Sam Matthews sprung a Hurricane returner free for a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. That was a bounce of the ball from which the Aggies never really recovered, along with two ill-timed turnovers, including the first interception of Conner Weigman’s college career.

That’s enough about why we lost, though. Let’s get into takeaways as we try to pick up the pieces of a real downer of a college football Saturday and move forward.