Instant Reaction: Texas A&M Falls on Rocky Top; Fire Jimbo?

Instant Reaction: Texas A&M Football Falls on Rocky Top: Time to Fire Jimbo?

I’ve seen some ugly games while watching Texas A&M football, but that one might take the cake. That was just a slog basically the whole time on offense, full of penalties, and ended in a very sad fashion.

A word about the defense, though, first: that was a herculean effort. They really only gave up 10 points on their own merit: 7 were scored on special teams, and 3 were the result of a possession that started inside the 5 yard line following an interception. On that latter possession, too, the Aggie defense moved the Vols back over the course of the three plays they ran. They were stellar all throughout the day, and adjusted very well to the Vol running game after the half. Tennessee still notched a decent mark, and highest of any opponent of Texas A&M football this season, but they did what they needed to do to contain them when it mattered. The nature of the Tennessee offense and the fact that they have an all-senior offensive line was going to make it hard to tally a lot of sacks the way they have over the last few weeks, but they made it tough on Big Orange themselves.

Okay, now to the offense!

This was so, so bad. I thought coming into this game that there were places Texas A&M football could exploit in the run game against the Vols. Granted, I thought that same thing last week against Alabama, and it looked about the same on Rocky Top as it did in Kyle Field last Saturday. I think it was 1.9 YPC both last week and this week, which is plain unacceptable. This game was once again a tale of two halves, as the offense looked fine-not-good-much-less-great in the first half, and abysmal in the second half. I think one of my takeaways after the Auburn game was saying that Petrino is really good at halftime adjustments, after seeing how that and the Miami result were. The truth, though, is that this just might be a Texas A&M football team that is inconsistent. They can neither throw nor run when they really need to. They can’t pick up short yardage more often than not. They can’t convert in the red zone. What happened?

Well, something obvious happened, but this isn’t the time to discuss that, as I’m sure emotions running high right now would not make naming it a very fruitful endeavor.

But maybe it should be brought up, because we are about to endure two whole weeks of people saying that Jimbo should be fired. That was honestly the thing I was most afraid of coming into this game—having to listen to people say that all through the bye. But the reason that the QB injury should be brought up is because that, along with a couple other factors, is exactly why Jimbo is not going to be fired, barring another losing season. The championship level recruiting is still here. The championship level QB was lost for the season early on (and no, as much as pattern-seeking reptile brains want to blame the QB injuries on coaching, that has nothing to do with it). There is one more season of leash left. Those of you in the camp of firing Jimbo, rest assured that you will get your wish if the 2024 season starts to go downhill. If we fire him now, it’s guaranteed to be a down year anyway, as opposing coaches from all over the country would gather to this roster like vultures, trying to grab a five star through the transfer portal. So bide your time. Get out of your feelings. Keep a level head. Support this team.

We’ll have more on Texas A&M football and what’s next for the Aggies soon.